Boxed Cake Mix Better Than From Scratch ???

N

Nasty Nate

New member
Mark Thorson wrote:


Pastorio used to say that consumer surveys would consistently
return rather interesting results in the box vs made from
scratch issue

1> When asked whether they would prefer box or scratch cakes, scratch
would consistently win

2> When boxed vs scratch were blind taste tested, boxed would
consistently win

I don't doubt it, but I'd like to see some real data.

--
Mort
 
In article , [email protected] says...


The flaw in his argument is that he only tested box mixes against other
box mixes. He may well have identified which box cake is the least awful,
but he hasn't proved it was better than made-from-scratch because no such
comparison was made.

I don't have any problem weighing ingredients exactly.

Janet
 
This web site makes the bold claim that most home bakers
cannot make a cake from scratch better than from a boxed
cake mix.

http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/cake.html

His reasons are that the ingredients are better measured,
and they use ingredients that you can't get.

He also says that making certain changes to the recipe
on the box results in even better cakes. He cites a
book, _The_Cake_Mix_Doctor_, which agrees with him and
describes some of these methods.

Most of his page describes the experiments he did to
verify the tips in that book, and to compare all of the
boxed cake mixes he could get his hands on. Most of
the tips didn't pan out, but the modifications he
developed worked very well.

I think this will come as a surprise to many bakers,
that making a cake from a box mix gives a better result
than most bakers can achieve from scratch with butter, etc.
 
Mark Thorson wrote:

"MOST" bakers may be the key point. MOST people are lousy cooks in general.
That doesn't mean that a good cook cannot prepare a dish that outshines
something produced in a mediocre restaurant or a boxed mix. If people bake
cakes from scratch using lousy technique, ingredients, recipes, and
equipment, then indeed a box might be better, because it has been
contstructed to be more or less idiot-proof.

I can assure you that I can bake a cake that is better than boxed mixes. I
use cake flour and superfine sugar, I use real butter, and I use the
excellent recipes and techniques found in The Cake Bible and some Maida
Heatter books. I measure precisely. I use good cake pans and magicake
strips. I am careful to remove the cake from the over when it is just done
rather than letting it sit for another 5 minutes to dry out. And so forth.
 
On Sun, 13 Mar 2011 12:00:19 -0800, Mark Thorson
wrote:


As a market researcher of 35 years' experience, I say hooey to the
broad conclusions.

The major flaw is that most folks were raised on mix cakes - doctored
or otherwise - and that sort of taste and texture is what gets
established as the gold standard in the mind of these beholders. Same
reason that McD's usually wins in French fry contests.

Boron
 
On 3/13/2011 10:00 AM, Mark Thorson wrote:

My favorite cake does indeed come in a box but it's a frozen Pepperidge
Farms coconut three-layer cake. It's tasty and delicate and the right
size - small. My mom used to buy frozen cakes back in the old days but
it never occurred to me do such a quaint thing. I don't know what the
hell they put in those cakes but I'm pretty much hooked. The lemon cake
is good too. :-)
 
On Sun, 13 Mar 2011 12:00:19 -0800 in rec.food.cooking, Mark Thorson
wrote,

It's not that people can't get cake flour, but why bother when they
already have "all purpose"?
 
"David Harmon" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

On Sun, 13 Mar 2011 12:00:19 -0800 in rec.food.cooking, Mark Thorson
wrote,

It's not that people can't get cake flour, but why bother when they
already have "all purpose"?
Janet replies to David: All purpose will make a far coarser cake than cake
flour. If you want a fine cake, use cake flour. If you want to make carrot
cake, or applesauce or zucchini, go ahead and use all purpose. Those cakes
were never meant to have a fine texture.
Janet
 
On Mar 13, 9:46?pm, Mort wrote:

I think that David's question was rhetorical, and he, and nearly
everyone who posts here, or even lurks here, already knew what you
wrote. I guess that cake mixes that had only the dry ingredients pre-
mixed might be fine, but I don't think they'd save much work anyway.
Cakes are easy if you follow instructions and use only great
ingredients. The Cake Bible water bath method is pretty fool proof
for the easiest cakes. The cakes where you separate the eggs require
a little know how. Anyone who uses Duncan Hines, Betty Crocker or
Pillsbury cake mixes is worthy of nothing better than ridicule.

--Bryan
 
On 3/13/2011 4:01 PM, David Harmon wrote:

I've used cake flour but didn't like the results. You get a finer
texture which I think is proper for a pound cake but not good for a
regular cake. I stopped using cake flour decades ago.
 
On Mar 13, 4:00?pm, Mark Thorson wrote:

Maybe they used lousy recipes for the from scratch cakes. The best
from scratch cake is going to be loads better than a comparable cake
from a mix.
 
Mark Thorson wrote:

I have read that in many places. So back when I used to bake cakes, the
only one I ever made from scratch was chocolate tweed because there was no
such mix. But now that I think about it, I'll bet if I were to add grated
chocolate to a yellow cake mix, it would taste the same.
 
Cheri wrote:

Most people here do not cook! Or not what I would call cooking. Yes, they
can buy some kind of Hormel precooked meat in sauce or gravy and then cook
some pasta or potatoes or rice to go with it. And that's as close to
cooking as they'll ever get.
 
Boron Elgar wrote:

I actually know quite a few people who say they prefer the type of bakery
icing that has Crisco in it. Blech!
 
dsi1 wrote:

I used to buy the chocolate layer cakes. I too liked them for their small
size. I don't eat cake but I would take them to work for parties and
things. We didn't have a lot of people in our office. If I were to bake a
cake, it would be too much.
 
David Harmon wrote:

Because they're not the same! Yes, you can use all purpose flour in some
cakes. But if the recipe calls for cake flour then that is what you need.
It won't work to substitute the other.
 
Back
Top