DIY Cake Month: Boxed Mix or Scratch
Your next major cake decision, and one that tortures many a would-be DIY cake maker, is what kind of cake to make. In a later post we’ll go through flavor and filling options but this one’s devoted to the boxed mix or scratch dilemma.
There are few debates as heated in the cake world as the use of boxed mix versus scratch cakes. While I am a strong advocate of the latter, I do want to give a fair look at both sides to help you discover which option is best for your needs.
Box Mix Pros:
- Convenient, pre-mixed packages mean little measuring and no guesswork with ingredients yielding a pretty consistent result from cake-to-cake.
- Packages can be purchased way ahead of time and stored until needed.
- Box mixes are inexpensive, especially when purchased on sale.
- Most people are very familiar with box mix flavors and have fond associations of those kinds of cakes (reminds them of childhood, for example).
Pros of Scratch Mixes:
- Unlimited flavor options. If you can dream it, there’s likely a perfect cake flavor waiting for you to discover it.
- You control the ingredients and can add to or modify recipes to suit your needs. Wheat allergies? Vegan? Organic ingredients only? Carrot cake without nuts? No trans fats? Diabetic options? No problem!
- Freshness. Made-from-scratch cakes don’t need chemical stabilizers or preservatives. (Take a look at the ingredients on a box mix cake.)
- Pride. There’s definitely a satisfaction that one gets from making something that takes creativity, patience and skill that can’t be experienced with shortcuts.
Many box cake devotees argue that box mixes are faster. Over at Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn, they proved that wrong. [Do check out their other article about scratch cakes as healthier than boxed mixes.]
As for cake mix being less expensive than scratch, you may be surprised at what we found in the DIY Bride Test Kitchen. That’s another post, though.
My best advice is for you to do a taste and bake test with scratch cakes and box cakes to find the ones that fit the taste, texture, and budget that you’re aiming for. (Check back for the DIY Bride Test Kitchen results.)
Remember: a wedding cake needs to taste great, no matter how clever or fancy it looks.
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Hi – Thanks for linking to my blog about which is faster – box mix or scratch. That was certainly an illuminating experience!
But I do worry about the advice that you are giving brides here. Anyone who is planning to make a tiered cake, or who needs to carve it should not be looking at just any old cake recipe or box mix. They’ll need a recipe that is able to support the weight, along with straws, cardboard rounds and other supports.
On my other website, weddings.about.com, I’ve got a guide to assembling and decorating a DIY wedding cake. http://weddings.about.com/od/weddingcakesfoodmenus/a/weddingcakedeco.htm
Hope that is helpful.
Nina
I don’t see where DIY Bride is advising anyone to use any old cake.
Gah! Did I advise anyone to use any old cake? I honestly hope not and will review the posts just to make sure. That’s not my intent, by any means. There’s still some posts to go in this series with more info about building/structure so I can clear up that issue if it’s lurking in the minds of my readers.
Nina, thanks for linking to your post at about.com.
[editing to add: I did talk a little bit about cake density/structure and the importance of selecting the right cake for your design in the Tier or Not To Tier post. http://www.diybride.com/2008/05/29/diy-cake-month-to-tier-or-not-to-tier/
Good things about boxed mixes (the context of wedding cake or bulk baking):
1. Consistency. If you are making a lot of cake and therefore can not possibly make all the scratch cake in one good, box mix is good for consistency. The bakers I know who use box mixes as a base do it for just that reason (including a company that has it’s box mix custom made). It can be really hard to get scratch cakes from different batches to turn out the same.
2. Consistency. Uh, texture, that is. Box mixes tend to have a finer texture than the more crumby typical scratch cake. This is a preference issue. Most people are more familiar with the fine texture of boxed mix cakes.
3. Box mixes can be jazzed up. There are lots of “semi-homemade” recipes out there that start with box cake mix.
I can’t remember the last time I baked using a box mix. I prefer scratch baking. But, the baker I hired makes the best cake I have tasted in a while and she uses mixes as a base.