Do You Even Bother With Baking-from-a-Box anymore?

[ACSAPA]

This looks insanely easy. It's a 2 ingredient pumpkin spice coffee cake that just calls for a box of spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin.

http://cookincowgirl.blogspot.com/2011/11/pumpkin-spice-coffee-cake.html

 

[Rubymusic1]

I don't, I near enough always bake from scratch with ingredients i've bought seperately. I don't have anything against cake mix though!

And there's places over here that you can buy stuff from in bulk, but unless you mean like a hamper, then i'm not too sure apart from at Christmas. I have no idea what Sam's Club is, but on Flickr, I keep getting views on my photos through people searching it daily! Haha.

 

[Shellyann36]

This looks interesting. These are cake mix dessert waffles. You pour devil's food cake mix in the waffle iron, make chocolate waffles and put ice cream and the dessert topping of your choice on top.

http://thecakebar.tumblr.com/post/50860519405/chocolate-cake-mix-dessert-waffles

Now isn't that a clever idea! You could have a little topping bar set up for everyone to enjoy their favorite toppings. It is so imaginative! I would have never thought of this.

 

[ACSAPA]

Here's a whole compilation of recipes using boxed cake mix.
The cake mix pancakes sound so decadent that I would only make them as a special birthday breakfast.

http://www.chef-in-training.com/2013/03/40-cake-mix-recipes/

 

[shopgirl]

I have to admit that box is all that I use :-/ I am lazy I guess! I need to get out of this habit. I would love to be able to make brownies, cakes and cookies from scratch. It is such a huge difference.

I attempted to make a pound cake once. It was a disaster. The original cake that inspired me to try to make one of my own was soooo melt in your mouth delish and moist!

I know a lot of people like to add stuff to the top of their pound cake, like preserves, but with this cake, it did not need anything additional to make it good. It was soooo good all by itself. Actually adding something to it would just mess it up.

Mine, however, came out a bit dry. It was a lot of work and a lot of money buying all of the ingredients for it not to come out like I expected it would. I haven't tried making it again.

 

[Elizabeth]

Yes I certainly do. Baking from scratch is fantastic but it takes so much time, and when you are having a large gathering or even just friends over sometime you just don't have time. There are a lot of recipes that u have found where you can take box cookie mix, or box cake Mix and add to it. This is a faster and easier way to make a simple recipe magnificent

 

[OhioTom76]

Cake mix is such a basic ingredient, it's really not much different from mixing it from scratch, so I usually go with the boxed mixes. The only exception would be if its a flavored cake, something like carrot cake for example, I will start with a yellow cake mix and add all the extra fresh ingredients to make it a carrot cake.

 

[NThomas]

There is nothing wrong with using a box mix. On The Chew I saw Jacques Torres and he was using boxed cake mix to bake a chocolate souffle. There are a tons of recipes written that use box mixes to make amazing baked goods. I keep box mixes on hand because you never know when you will have to whip up a quick sweet treat , but I never follow the direction on the box.

 

[kammy]

I do buy cake mixes occasionally however it is mostly used by my daughter as i've now granted her access to start baking her own cakes and i think cake mixes would be much easier than making a cake from scratch.

 

[confettine]

I'd never use a box mix in most situations. Simply because why would I when I have so much flour and sugar and baking powder etc sitting around to mix? It just does not seem in any way more convenient.

I do use powder mix for making pudding though. I have no idea how I'd go about making pudding (or custard cream) from scratch without at least an amount of ready made powder.

 

[Winterybella]

Well I stumbled on this old thread and it's taking me down memory lane as I was the girl with ALL the boxes. Some months ago, the answer to the question raised would have been a resounding "YES". These day I have to admit that I am not so hooked on the box cakes anymore. Thanks to this forum I have been trying a lot more things from scratch. I am glad I found this thread though. ACSAPA's variation on the box cake is inviting.

 

[confettine]

I have to admit that box is all that I use :-/ I am lazy I guess! I need to get out of this habit. I would love to be able to make brownies, cakes and cookies from scratch. It is such a huge difference.

I attempted to make a pound cake once. It was a disaster. The original cake that inspired me to try to make one of my own was soooo melt in your mouth delish and moist!

I know a lot of people like to add stuff to the top of their pound cake, like preserves, but with this cake, it did not need anything additional to make it good. It was soooo good all by itself. Actually adding something to it would just mess it up.

Mine, however, came out a bit dry. It was a lot of work and a lot of money buying all of the ingredients for it not to come out like I expected it would. I haven't tried making it again.

Oh my! I think if any recipe can convert you to want to not bake from a box, it'd be this:

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/10/cheesecake-brownies/

It's cheesecake brownie and I regret not having creamcheese right now because by molly I would bake up a storm!

 

[PattyCakes]

I always have flour, sugar, butter, eggs and various other baking bits and bobs to hand, so I've never seen the reason to buy a cake mix from a box. However, for some unknown reason(!) and even though I can bake a lot of things pretty well, muffins are something I cannot master!!! It's not that I haven't tried - I've tried loads of times, but they don't come out right for me at all. I've paid heed to the warning about over-mixing, and even that doesn't help.

So, I am guilty of recently purchasing a box of chocolate muffin mix. I haven't used it yet, but I am looking forward to seeing how I get on with it.

 

[confettine]

I always have flour, sugar, butter, eggs and various other baking bits and bobs to hand, so I've never seen the reason to buy a cake mix from a box. However, for some unknown reason(!) and even though I can bake a lot of things pretty well, muffins are something I cannot master!!! It's not that I haven't tried - I've tried loads of times, but they don't come out right for me at all. I've paid heed to the warning about over-mixing, and even that doesn't help.

So, I am guilty of recently purchasing a box of chocolate muffin mix. I haven't used it yet, but I am looking forward to seeing how I get on with it.

I don't want to spam this thread with recipes (oh, darn it, yes part of me wants), but I've once made this healthy raspberry muffins (you could add chocolate chips to it, but they're pretty delicious on their own) and you have little chance of over mixing if you follow the instructions right, I think. Mine came out tender and amazing, almost like little healthy cakes!
I'm pretty sure that any baking from the box is a symptom of not having found the right recipe!

 

[PattyCakes]

I don't want to spam this thread with recipes (oh, darn it, yes part of me wants), but I've once made this healthy raspberry muffins (you could add chocolate chips to it, but they're pretty delicious on their own) and you have little chance of over mixing if you follow the instructions right, I think. Mine came out tender and amazing, almost like little healthy cakes!
I'm pretty sure that any baking from the box is a symptom of not having found the right recipe!

Thank you, confettine!! This recipe is a different method to any other ones I've tried, so I will try my hand at it and see how I go. I always have yogurt in my fridge, and I have some frozen raspberries in the freezer - all I need is the jam. I'd really like to make my own muffins and have them turn out well, so thanks for your help.

I'll let you know how I get on

 

[confettine]

Thank you, confettine!! This recipe is a different method to any other ones I've tried, so I will try my hand at it and see how I go. I always have yogurt in my fridge, and I have some frozen raspberries in the freezer - all I need is the jam. I'd really like to make my own muffins and have them turn out well, so thanks for your help.

I'll let you know how I get on

I actually used strawberry jam instead of raspberry the one time I made this, because I only had that. Turned out to be pretty good.

You're welcome! And yes do tell the results

 

[Winterybella]

Here's a whole compilation of recipes using boxed cake mix.
The cake mix pancakes sound so decadent that I would only make them as a special birthday breakfast.

http://www.chef-in-training.com/2013/03/40-cake-mix-recipes/

I felt the need to do something before the weekend and the opportunity presented itself. I went to pick a few things from the mini mart and sure enough there was a Red Velvet box cake. I could not resist the temptation. I bought it and went home and make it immediately. I feel like the baking pan was a little to big so it did not rise as much as I thought it should. Besides that the texture was great and everyone is enjoying it.

Now I am looking at the link , next time I should probably try the Red Velvet Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze to make it something of my own. I am sorry I did not study this link more carefully

 

[primalclaws1974]

I am almost 41. When I was younger everything I ate and cooked seemed to be prefabricated and boxed. The older I get, the more natural I want my food. In the last year or two I have cooked and baked from scratch more than I did in my entire life. I admit, because time constraints sometimes are an issue, I occasionally will still make side dishes from a box. The entire family can tell the difference (obviously), so I try to limit this as much as possible.

 

[Winterybella]

I am almost 41. When I was younger everything I ate and cooked seemed to be prefabricated and boxed. The older I get, the more natural I want my food. In the last year or two I have cooked and baked from scratch more than I did in my entire life. I admit, because time constraints sometimes are an issue, I occasionally will still make side dishes from a box. The entire family can tell the difference (obviously), so I try to limit this as much as possible.

Can they tell the difference all of the time? Sometimes in my experience it's not that obvious. I have known of people who were putting out box cakes for years and no one ever noticed. I think if I wanted to I could fool some people with mine. I am not about to anyway. Whenever I bake a box cake the household knows. These days I am coming out of the box slowly but surely.