Funny, how we develop tastes or preferences.

I grew up on Betty Crocker Butter Recipe Yellow cake with homemade chocolate frosting, which was our standard Sunday Dessert.

My mother couldn't abide Pillsbury or any cake mix with "pudding in the mix" because the promised moisture is just a chemicaly-tasting oily mouth feel.

She liked her box cakes and had her preferences.

Therefore, when you say it's hard to beat a bakery/homemade cake, I'm not always sure that's the case. I've been disappointed dozens of times with the dry and flavorless texture and taste of a bakery cake which *looked* beautiful but didn't *taste* beautiful.

Enter the Cake Doctor cookbook. Sure, it's hokey, but she has some really easy and proven methods to spruce up a boxed cake mix. I admit I've made her beefed up yellow cake with caramel frosting many, many times to rave reviews.

It's Betty and the Cake Doctor in our house. And we admit it proudly.

K.

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I second the comment about the Cake Mix Doctor. I own both the original book, and the cupcakes book - and haven't had a bad recipe yet. And I agree that the "doctored up" cakes can be (and usually are!) better than homemade or bakery cakes!

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How about recipes that make use of cake mixes? Like making cookies or brownies out of cake mixes... etc... That would be really cool.

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Incidentally, the website Nicole links us to is a "member site" requiring a monthly membership starting at $3.95 per month and up, to read the recipes and the cake testing article she refers us to. Bah humbug.

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I bake and decorate cakes as a business. Boxed cake mixes are a must for me. I never make them according to their directions but as a main ingredient in my own homemade cakes. I've made many a wedding cake with my favorite Duncan Hines Classic White mix, adding 1 cup of sour cream and a half cup of sugar to the mix and the water, egg whites, and oil as per the package. This makes a great flavored cake and makes for a more solid cake for stacking and decorating. I also have a very buttery flavored very moist pound cake that I make with any butter yellow mix. My family goes crazy over my "cake scraps" when I'm using these for a cake job!

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DUNCAN HINES & BETTY CROCKER ARE ABOUT THE SAME TO ME. I ALWAYS ADD 1/3 CUP OF MAYONNAISE TO THE MIX AND 2 TABLESPOONS OF APPLESAUCE (YOU CANT TASTE THE APPLESAUCE) TO MY BATTER. MAKES A SUPER MOIST CAKE EVERY TIME!

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what's a cake doctor/?!?! *googles*
I think boxed cake mixes are better than bakery. They still don't have that preservative taste and are fresher tasting so the kids gobble them up, especially when making cupcakes for a party.
We don't eat much desserts but when we do, it's good to see whos rated higher, I usually go for whoever I have a coupon for. WHOOPS. Thanks for the cake doctor info, I'll google it.

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Wow, I am really surprised about this. I always use Duncan Hines cake mixes because they are recommended by Wilton and I just assumed that Wilton had already done the work of determining THE BEST cake mix available. Silly me!

Also surprised about the King Arthur mix, though I haven't personally tasted it, because you expect the BEST from King Arthur and the Baker's Catalog...

The first couple of Cake Mix Doctor's books are so much fun! When it comes time for a child's birthday, I hand the child the books and say, "Here, pick one!" Alot of fun for me and the child!!!

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RE: Pat's 12/6 comment about adding mayo and applesauce to a box cake mix. . .do you omit the oil then? Judi

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While I do agree with the statement that made-from-scratch cakes are preferable, sometimes there's no time for that, so it's definitely useful (for me anyway) to know which mixes provide the best results. However, in my house we are 100% chocolate cake eaters, so I'm wondering if this taste test included the chocolate mixes and they didn't measure up, or was this just a test of the yellow cakes? Thanks for the tip about the Cake Doctor book - sounds really handy.

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I DONT BELIEVE IN BOX CAKES I MAKE ALL MY CAKES FROM SCRATCH. PLAIN,RED VELVET,CHOCOLATE AND PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN. I AM QUITE THE BAKER AND PEOPLE HAVE ACTUALLY PAID ME TO MAKE THEM CAKES FOR THE HOLIDAYS THATS HOW I MAKE EXTRA MONEY. SO IF YOU NEED A RECIPE LET ME KNOW..................

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Me, too - about the mayo and applesauce - and does it increase the baking time???

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I bake a LOT. Usually I make "from scratch" cakes (my favorite is brown-sugar pound cake) but occasionally I have used some cake mixes for both cakes and cookies/brownies. The "Cake Mix Doctor" books are great resources. They use many of the same "tricks" to make cakes more moist that I've used in my own cakes. (mayo in chocolate cakes, applesauce in yellow cakes) I also love adding different flavors & spices to enhance the mix (extra citrus zest and lemon or orange oil added to yellow cake mix; and adding kirsch or kahlua to chocolate cake mix) For me, baking from scratch isn't that difficult, but if you don't have the time or if you don't bake that much, there's nothing wrong with using a cake mix & sprucing it up yourself.

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I have been making cakes from scratch for years and dollar for dollar the box brands are pretty close.I think they are actually a little more moist.For all the expensive ingredients it takes for scratch,I'll make a box cake for 99 cents!!

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MY HUSBAND MAKE THE GRANDCHILDREN A BOX CAKE WITH BETTY CROCKER AND THER FROSTING
WHET EVER HE DOES THE CHILDREN LOVE IT
HE SAID IT IN THE BEATING BY HAND NOT TO OVER DO IT
DOES NOT USE A ELECTRIC MIXER HE SAD BY HAND IS THE OLD WAY WHE I MAKE IT IT IS NOT LIKE HIS
SO I LET HIM MAKE THE CAKES ONLY IN A BOX

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IT IS EASY TO MAKE A PLAIN CAKE IT TAKES THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME THAT A BOX CAKE TAKES TO MAKE.

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I make all types of cakes for all occassions from birthdays to weddings. I have found that boxed mixes turn out the best for decorating and I have had the most success with Duncan Hines. People always tell me that my cakes always taste wonderful too!

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I doctor up a chocolate cake mix (usually Duncan Hines) with about 1/2 cup of Grand Marnier and then add 2 tablespoons to a homemade chocolate ganache. The alcohol cooks off in the cooking process and it is the yummiest combination - chocolate and orange.

Bailey's is another great add-in and frosting "extra."

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I used to make cakes for all the employees in my section (all 28) for their birthdays. I ALWAYS used box cake mixes and everyone thought they were homemade because they were so good!

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As far as making a boxed cake, I agree that some can be decent, such as a yellow duncan hines with a chocolate frosting, but how hard is a from scratch cake to make? It takes almost the same exact amount of time. I do not know what the issue is. As far as people saying that home made cakes are not as good, I think that is because they do not have the correct recipe and are possibly baking their cakes 5 minutes too long. Most home made dry cakes are dry because of too much cooking time. And the flavor should be better since they are not in a box in plastic for months!

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