Do you use box cake mixes instead of making cakes from scratch? Have you tried one of the many pinterest hacks to make a box cake mix taste more like homemade? I was surprised to see that someone took the time to figure out how to make a box cake taste more like scratch. Why wouldn’t you just make the cake from scratch and skip the box all together?
It got me to thinking what the benefit would be to making a box mix over a scratch cake. It certainly could be that a box cake is faster. Is the time you save worth the quality of cake you get though? It must not be if someone went through the time of figuring out how to make their box cake taste more like scratch. So what is the difference in time? How do the taste of the two cakes differ and would anyone notice?
Here is what I found out from making my own basic yellow cake and a Betty Crocker yellow cake mix and why I think you should just bake your cake from scratch. Just like in the above photo homemade cupcake is on the left and box cake is on the right.
Homemade vs Box ingredients
The box has many ingredients you wouldn’t want in your cake including some I can’t pronounce. The cake from scratch has only the ingredients pictured above. Just what you would want in it and I can, not only pronounce them I can tell you where they came from. Don’t even get me started on the icing ingredients!
Homemade vs Box time
The start time was opening the box and the first ingredient measured on the scratch cake. The end time was after I filled both cupcake trays. No surprise the box cake took less time. I did go the extra step and sifted my flour when I made the scratch cake.
Homemade vs Box rise
In an effort to get accurate results, I used an ice cream scoop to make sure they had the same amount of batter.The had about the similar height above the cupcake liner. The homemade cupcake seemed to fill out the entire liner better than the box cake.
Homemade vs Box color/texture
The homemade cake has a light color that is consistent over every cupcake. It is soft and smooth to the touch. The box cake has some spots that browned more than others. The box cake texture was one of the things I like the least about the box cake. It was sticky. It had a tacky feel like paint that isn’t quite dry yet.
Homemade vs Box crumb
Even with my macro lens it is hard to show the difference in the photo. The biggest difference was the homemade cupcake was fluffier and lighter.
Homemade vs box taste
It is a shame you couldn’t have stopped by and tasted them both. Take my word for it the scratch cake was much better. It just melted in your mouth. The box cake was good but left and odd coating in my mouth.
All the cupcakes went to work. The homemade was the bigger winner. The icing on the homemade version was a seafoam icing. It is a boiled icing made with only 6 ingredients; egg whites, sugar, water, light corn syrup, cream of tartar and vanilla. Using brown sugar instead of white is what makes it a seafoam icing and gives it a caramel flavoring. Boiled icing has a sort of marshmallow consistency that makes it one of my favorites.
The differences weren’t drastic in the finished products but for me and mine the extra minutes are worth it. I think the homemade cake tasted so much lighter and delicious compared to the box cake. Plus I like knowing exactly what is going into my cake. and it feels like more of a labor of love to make it from scratch. Bonus is that when you tell someone you made it from scratch they will inexplicably be awed.
LOVE this post. I can’t stand cake mixes. Those mile long ingredients lists alone. Of course taste wins every time. Pinning!
Thanks Katja! I have had this post in my head for months and then in my camera for weeks. Glad to get it up and find people are enjoying it. After doing the whole 30 and eating paleo I can’t eat “food stuff” I need real food, even if it is sugar!
What a great post! I have to admit I’m the lazy one that uses the box mix, but you may have convinced me to get out some measuring cups and go for homemade next time!
I hope you do. If you cut out the sifting flour step it is even closer to the same time and the cake still taste great.
I never use box mixes, but I grew up on them. Definitely agree that homemade is tastier. Now for pancakes, I use Bisquick. Horrible, I know, but I haven’t found a recipe I like better! We don’t eat a lot of processed food, so I figure one vice is OK;)
jen says
I love to bake from scratch, I enjoy the challenge and as you said, the far less ingredients,especially those mystery ones. Anyhow, there is something about the finer crumb and the way a boxed cake rises that i wish i could better accomplish in my baking from scratch. Especially vanilla or white cakes, I always have a challenge of the cake being slightly dry, not as moist as it should be. If you have any tips on scratch cakes id love to know!! Thank you, Jen
Not sure what would cause it to be more dry without seeing the recipe. The things I would check are that your oven is not too hot. My oven is old and I need to get a thermometer to make sure the temp I set the oven to is the actually temp it reaches and stays at. If you are using all purpose flour try using cake flour instead. It has less protein and may give you the kind of cake you are looking for. Good luck.
I think what you want to look for is a high ratio cake recipe. They are frequently used in bakeries so it may give you the texture you are looking for.