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Cake Mixes
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By
enhancing a packaged cake mix, almost any type of recipe can be made.
Mixes are virtually foolproof, so they are a good place to start
for the beginner. |
|
 For
those of you who wish to make a boxed mix, but not in the usual way, you
can check out
"The
Cake Mix Doctor" by Ann Byrn.
This is a great book that takes you through many recipes
that begin with a boxed cake
mix and have you end up with a much different type of cake |
Cake mixes are easy, well-tested and are a
quick and simple way to make a cake; they're hard to screw up. They were
introduced by Pillsbury and General Mills in 1947-1948, but other have joined in
since. Cake mixes are usually found in the grocery store.
There are many baking mixes on the market. Bisquick is a
popular mix for pancakes, biscuits, and toppings for pot pies. Cake mixes,
brownie, muffin and bread mixes. They are all a commercial mixture of dry (and
many times dried fats as well) ingredients that are intended to save you time
and baking ability in the kitchen.
 Q:
How do you make a wedding cake from a
mix? A:
Yes. Figure out
how much one boxed mix serves.
With
one serving per person, figure out how many boxes you
need to make -- and, always round up, if necessary! |
With a cake mix you simply
place the liquid ingredients, usually eggs, oil and
water into your mixing bowl, add the dry mix, stir to
moisten and beat for the amount of time listed in the
box's directions. To doctor a cake mix and
boost the flavor, you can try lemon zest, coffee, unsweetened cocoa powder,
peppermint schnapps or fresh strawberries. To make it richer, add buttermilk,
sour cream, eggs, yogurt, butter or peach puree. To guard against the real
villain, cake mix taste, use dry sherry, lime zest or pure almond
extract.
Q. Can I made a chocolate
cake out of a
 mix?
A. Yes. To make a chocolate cake, sift
together 4 to 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa with a white or yellow cake
mix. Then bake as suggested. |
Some shun cake mixes and criticize those who bake with them as
not being a true baker. I have the opposite view -- whatever gets a person to
experience home baking and be successful at it, so much the better ! You can
take just as much pride in baking something from a box as you can from a recipe.
Also, a
great way to start learning how to bake a cake is with
a boxed mix from any brand.
Once you master it, then try to bake a cake from scratch. A good recipe to start
with is the Easy Apple Cake Recipe.
Cake Mix Facts
and Tips:
 | One cake mix yields 4 to 6 cups of batter.
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| Always keep on hand two devil's food cake mixes, two
yellow cake mixes, one spice mix, one lemon mix and one orange mix, and
you will have an almost limitless repertoire of desserts. |
| Experiment with different brands - some yellow mixes
have a coconut overtone, one white mix has a cherry taste. |
| Don't use a mix with pudding inside if you're using a
recipe that calls for instant pudding as an ingredient - the
pudding-inside cakes will turn out heavier and wetter. |
| Use regular salted butter to balance the high sugar
content of cake mixes and give a more homemade taste. If you must use
margarine for health reasons, make sure it is stick style and has more
than 65 percent vegetable oil. |
| For the regular 11x15x2-inch pan, I use 2 cake mixes.
For the 12x18x2-inch pan, I use 3 cake mixes. |
| Cake mixes have a shelf life of up to two years if
kept in a cool, dry place, like your pantry. So, if you live where it's
humid in the summertime you'd best not stock up on cake mixes for the
long haul. |
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