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A quality homemade cake is going to trump a cake mix cake every time, but that doesn't necessarily mean that cake mixes are never worth using. After all, they are quick, easy and inexpensive -- a tough combination to beat. In a recent issue, Cook's Country collected eight different brands of cake mix to see if any could come close to homemade.
They were quick to point out that none of their testers were fooled by the store-mix cakes, easily identifying the unusually uniform crumb and the ultra-fluffy texture that is created by the emulsifiers and other additives in the ingredients. Even so, five out of the eight mixes were still recommended: Betty Crocker Super Moist Butter Recipe Yellow Cake, Betty Crocker Super Moist Golden Vanilla Cake, Pillsbury Moist Supreme Classic Yellow Cake, Betty Crocker Super Moist Yellow Cake and Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Butter Recipe Golden Cake. While the textures and colors of the winning cakes varied slightly from mix to mix, all had nice butter and vanilla flavors that make them worth eating, and only a very minimal (if any) artificial-ness to their flavor.
The cake mixes that didn't make the cut were panned by tasters for both poor texture and "insipid, stale" flavors. If you're going to buy a cake mix, stick with one of the brands above and avoid Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Classic Yellow Cake ("a 'spongy Twinkie' "), Jiffy Golden Yellow Cake Mix ("dry and terrible") and King Arthur Flour Vanilla-Butter Cake Mix ("grainy, crumbly ... strong almond extract aftertaste").
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12-06-2006 @9:55PM Doc said... The "Doctor" is In! I have been baking cakes for only the last few years. I absolutely use Duncan Hines only. I make cakes for all occasions, mainly church functions, and I'm always highly complimented on them. My main doctoring ingredient is pudding. Whatever the cake flavor is, that's what flavor pudding I use. I believe that's what gives it that "homemade" look and taste. If I'm really bogged down, I'll "doctor" a frosting as well. Hey, whatever works. And so far, it all works. Thank you Duncan Hines.
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12-07-2006 @8:58AM Diane Blackwelder said... I make cookies from cake mixes and have found that the Duncan Hines brand works the best.
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12-06-2006 @8:42PM Joan said... Ethel, I would love your REd Velvet recipes. So nice of you to offer, you must be proud of it!
Thanks, Joan
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12-06-2006 @8:14PM Maria Eaton said... I use the Cake Doctor book and I really like all the ideas. I use cake mixes a lot. I am trying to find a Cake mix I found in Kentucky in October of this year and I can't find one in Florence, Oregon, {small town on the central Oregon coast}, I can't remember who makes it. It is one of the common cake mix makers. Please help Thanks meaton9144@aol.com
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12-06-2006 @8:13PM Maria Eaton said... I use the Cake Doctor book and I really like all the ideas. I use cake mixes a lot. I am trying to find a Cake mix I found in Kentucky in October of this year and I can't find one in Florence, Oregon, {small town on the central Oregon coast}, I can't remember who makes it. It is one of the common cake mix makers. Please help Thanks meaton9144@aol.com
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12-06-2006 @8:16PM Terry said... I have a children's party business and I make a LOT of cakes every week. I use Betty Crocker Yellow or Devil's Food and adjust the recipe. I substitute water for the oil (in addition to the water in the original recipe) and use 2 eggs instead of 3. Beat the cake longer. It's light and lower in fat. Everyone comments about our cakes!
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12-06-2006 @8:21PM sissi said... I have made my quick homemade cake faster than anyone can put together their egg,oil and water. I micro a cup of milk and a stick of butter until the butter melts,save, beat two cups of sugar with four eggs, dump in two cups of flour that have 1 tsp of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, mix, add in hot milk/butter mixure and a teaspoon of vanilla...done.. 350 for the same time as the mix..But nothing is better than boxed brownies, homemade just isn't close in texture and flavor.
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12-06-2006 @8:22PM carol said... I bake cakes all the time and swear by Duncan Hines....I BAKE A LOT....and I bake from scratch too but the cake mixes have gotten so great and they are just very very easy....
When I use Duncan Hines mixes, I get a LOT of compliments...I believe they are really the best...
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12-07-2006 @9:02AM Diane Blackwelder said... I make cookies with cake mix and have tried with Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker. The Betty Crocker cookies had a texture more like cake instead of cookies. I got the original recipe from a Duncan Hines box.
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1-01-2007 @2:52PM Mary Enneka said... I have been in search of a good 3-layer yellow cake recipe for 15 years.... The scratch cake and the box cake recipes that I have tried all taste about the same...I am looking for a cake that has the texture and feel in the mouth of pound cake that is dense, yellow, buttery and taste of real vanilla. Yet light enough to stack and cover with chocolate icing. It is the cake recipe my 92-year-old grand mother failed to write down. I own more than 100 cookbooks and have tried more than 50 recipes over the years but nothing really comes close.... Please post if you have a recipe that comes close to the description...Thanks
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1-31-2007 @3:01PM Beth Noble said... Betty Crocker used to make an Orange cake mix, you had to add vanilla pudding and oil, if I remember correctly,to make an orange pound cake. It was wonderful. Where can I find the mix or who knows how to doctor up another mix to make the same consistency of that cake?
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1-23-2007 @4:45PM John Scannell said... I am trying to get your address on the internet, I have a problem with a recipe in magazine dated Feb/Mar issue. Balsamic Glazed Chicken on recpie card, 30 minute meal. I dont have a updated oven. My broiler is on the bottom of the stove and has a range height aprx 6 inches to the burners, not like the ones inside the oven. Any suggestion how I can make tthat recipe with out buying a new stove.
Thakns for any information, Top Dog
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