Honestly, it’s not that hard. Really. If you try it, you’ll see. Not some fussy chiffon cake (although I do enjoy baking those :)) but a regular layer cake. It requires a little more measuring, and mostly it requires some careful mixing in order to get the consistency right. And the results are so much better.
I’m not normally a food snob. Honest. One of my favorite foods is Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, like from the blue box. I eat takeout pizza. I enjoy all manner of “low brow” cuisine. But making cakes (or muffins, or even brownies) from mixes? They aren’t even in the same ballpark. The time you save is minimal compared to the quality you get in return.
Please. Try it. Find a good recipe. A sour cream chocalate cake, maybe. With a nice, not to sweet, intensely chocolatey frosting . . . :: begins to drool, lapses into confectionary reverie ::
Sorry if you consider it snobbery, but there really is a difference. Besides just the general quality, you also have infinite more variety in flavors if you do it yourself.
And, honestly, it’s really not a major time difference. Instead of dumping out a big box of stuff into the mixer and then adding the liquids, you measure out some flour, some sugar, salt, baking powder, some flavorings, eggs, butter or oil, and maybe milk or buttermilk. Individually measuring the ingredients may add 5 minutes to your task at most. You may have to wash a measuring cup or two and your measuring spoons in addition to what you would have otherwise have to wash up.
So, as someone mentioned earlier, I’ll use a doctored up cake mix if it’s for something like cupcakes to send to the kid’s school. If I’m making a dessert to impress, I invest the extra 5 minutes and make something better.
See, I’ve had this theory that the average American has been convinced by the advertising industry that s/he cannot cook. Cake mixes – especially pancake mix – exemplify this. I mean, WTF does anyone need pancake mix for? Making pancakes from scratch takes maybe one extra step. Same with cakes. Baking a sponge or pound cake ain’t rocket science. Cheesecake is particularly difficult to screw up, yet they have powdered cheescake mix. How awful.
I understand if you don’t have the time to bake a loaf of bread (which also is not as difficult as it seems, but does take some practice and patience). But cake? Anyone can make cake.
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PS - A small suggestion: My favorite cake in the whole damn world is devil’s food cake with peanut butter frosting and chocolate sprinkles (also know by Godless heathens [who probably get their ice cream from Dairy Queen] as “jimmies”) on top. Or, in the absense of chocolate sprinkles, crushed Oreo cookies. Yum.
My vote is about the same as everyone else’s: yellow cake w/ choc. frosting = yellow cake w/ choc. frosting. Chocolate cake = cake that is chocolate (frosting irrelevant). I had been to a party and was handed a plate of “chocolate cake” only to be sorely disappointed to cut into the corner piece and discover yellow cake. I scraped off and ate the chocolate frosting, and left the pitiful yellow cake to mope on its own at another table. Yellow cake should be banned. It’s cruel and unusual punishment.
However, I have not been able to make it through this thread without repeatedly singing, “Dad is great! … Give us the chocolate cake!”
There’s no way Bill was talking about yellow cake! He just wouldn’t do that to children.
There is quite a bit of difference between imitation and real vanilla. For cakes, I can usually get away with imitation vanilla, if it’s not the dominant flavor. For custards (like, say, creme brulee), ice cream, or anything where vanilla is meant to be the main flavoring essence, I stick with real vanilla extract or imported Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans (which I get via Hungary for a fraction fraction fraction of the cost here.) I’m a self-confessed foodie, but my brother – who has more straightforward tastes and is my taste-test guinea pig – also cannot stand artificial vanilla. Taste them side by side, mixed with a little bit of milk and sugar, and you’ll know what we’re talking about.
Is it really time in the kitchen you are talking about or effort? If you’ve never had a cake from scratch what makes you think it takes longer? The steps are basically the same.
It takes me maybe three to five minutes longer to make a chocolate cake from scratch, than it does to open a box and add the required three our four ingredients to the dry mix in the box. I kid you not.
Scratch Chocolate Cake
Preheat oven to 350. (Go with 325 or a bit less if you are baking in a glass 9 x 13 casserole dish. Go 325 even in a regular 9 x 13 cake pan if your oven cooks hot.)
1 1/2 c sifted flour it takes maybe 30 seconds to sift a cup and a half of flour)
1 1/4 c granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 c cocoa (you may want to go on the scant side of this measurement)
2/3 c oil
1 c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
Mix all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl just a minute or two, just enough to get the lumps out, no need to over mix. Mixing too much or too long just makes for a hill cake. If you’re mixing by hand instead of a mixer you may want to take 30 seconds and beat the eggs in a small separate bowl before adding them.
Pour into a pan sprayed with non-stick spray and floured on the bottom, just like you would a mix cake. Bake for 30-35 minutes. (I suggest you check it at 30.)
Put away the above ingredients while it’s baking and get out:
Frosting
3 TBS butter
6 TBS condensed milk (I do use regular milk, if I don’t have canned but it takes less and there is a slight difference in the flavor of the frosting.)
3 TBS Cocoa
1 TBS Vanilla
1 box (about 2 cups) powdered sugar
Put the above ingredients in a saucepan and turn on a medium heat. When it’s blended and starts to simmer, cook 1 minute. This is where it’s good to use a mixer and mix thoroughly. Remove from heat pour into mixing bowl and add powdered sugar starting with a cup and adding more until it is spreading thickness, this usually takes almost two cups. I live in a very humid area year round so it might differ for you. The frosting may take all of five minutes to make and as it’s done when the cake is baking, it’s no extra time.
You’ll want to let the cake cool a bit before you spread the frosting even if you like the frosting warm and meltly as it’s just too hot when it first comes out of the oven. This cake on it’s own is chocolately but not very sweet, so I do not recommend it without the powdered sugar frosting. If you like walnuts it’s particularly good with chopped walnuts thrown in the frosting while you make it.
On my honor this takes no more than three to five minutes longer in the kitchen than a box cake mix. There is a little more effort in getting things out and putting away (12 ingredients instead of 4) while the cake is baking, but that is kitchen time anyway.
It’s easy peasy and does not take significantly longer as you seem to think. If you doubt me, try it.
<topic mode=“0”> I’ve seen this thread several times. It’s obviously been up for a while. Every time I’ve seen the title I think it’s about Uranium until I actually read it. Every time.</topic>
Well, I also think that ready-to-spread frosting in a tub also pales in comparison to homemade. Chocolate doesn’t taste too bad, since, well, it’s got a lot of chocolate in it, but I still would rather have homemade icing based on butter or cream-cheese. YMMV.
If you’re used to scratch cake made with real vanilla, a storebought cake with fake vanilla and crisco icing just won’t cut it. It’s sort of like bagels — if you’re used to buying good quality fresh ones from a bagel store, you probably wouldn’t compare them to the frozen ones in a bag. (Am I opening a whole 'nother can of worms here?) You might still eat the frozen ones in a pinch, but you know you’re just not getting the real thing.
I’m not a big fan of box-cake, but hell, I loves me some Mac & Cheese (and I sometimes prefer the cheaper non-Kraft kind) and I’m certainly not gonna snoot up the place. Scratch cakes may not be that hard, but it’s pretty easy to go wrong the first couple of timeBesides, one of the big advantages of box cake is that it requires so little else in the way of ingredients - a lot of people I know don’t have flour in their kitchens, let alone baking powder.
Now, as for bunnies - have you ever made the Cat Cake? Same basic idea as the bunny, taken from the Betty Crocker cook book. Again, two round layers - one is the body. From the second layer, carve out a tail like a sliver moon, then cut the remainder into three pieces - two matching ears and a larger head. This was the birthday cake my Mom made me when I was five.
But if you don’t get the genuine Kraft variety, you miss out on the day-glow orange color of the cheese powder.
Fun fact: The cheese powder for boxed macaroni and cheese won’t last forever. When it goes bad, it takes on a funny smell that can’t really be described, and its brilliant orange luster turns a dull tan. It’s still edible, though, if you add extra milk and butter/margarine and plenty of pepper. You can eat practically anything with enough pepper.
