Say Goodbye To Cake Mixes
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Say goodbye to 18 ounces... |
First Betty Crocker (I think) reduced the size of their cake mix box from 18 to 16 point something ounces, and now *gasp* Duncan Hines has apparently followed suit! Oh, the tragedy! Will Pillsbury be far behind? I tremble with fear waiting to see what transpires.
Well, actually, I don't, because I don't buy cake mixes.
I suggest that if you're emotionally devastated about this, you should back away from the cake mix aisle and learn to bake from scratch. And yes, a lot of people will probably have to learn.
Baking is a learned skill, just like learning how to cook a perfect steak is, or learning how to make pasta from scratch. I don't know why people who use cake mixes are so determined to pretend that it's the same as baking from scratch, when it clearly isn't.
"Oh, but I add things to the mix, so that's it's not just the straight mix, it's scratch baking" they say. To that I reply "Would you like a pair of blinders with your rationalization?"
If I take a frozen lasagna out of the box (which I wouldn't do because they're gross, but that's a different story) then add cheese to it, I don't claim to be an Italian chef, and I don't claim that I made it from scratch. Adding things to a cake mix doesn't remove the fillers, gums and additives that are put in there to keep a consistent result, so no, it isn't baking from scratch.
Anyway, if I might suggest some books for the person who would like to be set free from cake mix bondage, they would be the following:
The Cake Bible
Perfect Cakes
Baking: From My Home to Yours
The Professional Pastry Chef: Fundamentals of Baking and Pastry, 4th Edition
If you want to get tips from people who really bake, maybe you should change message boards and start hanging out at Real Baking With Rose's message boards. You can get tips on baking, ingredients, and why recipes do what they do from the members there.