Cake From Scratch...

[Cookiemama]

I admit, I've done A LOT in my life. Some the usual stuff, graduated from high school, graduated from college, paying a home mortgage, got married, had a baby, raising a child... Then some NOT so usual stuff such as went flying off of a carnival ride , had my tonsils removed while wide awake , woke up on the operating room floor after being dropped after surgery , got engaged after knowing "the guy" for 7 weeks, got married 7 months later and we've been married for 15 years this year . BUT I'VE NEVER MADE A CAKE FROM SCRATCH!!

So tell me, is it worth it? Is a homemade cake really that much different than a cake mix and especially a doctored up cake mix? My image of cakes from scratch involve tears because the cake fell, a messy kitchen (but believe me, that's nothing new in my world!), and just a general pain in the neck.

If I owe it to myself and to my loved ones to take on this daunting adventure, what easy, beginning (Very forgiving!) recipe would you recommend? AND, here's the kicker, we live in Colorado, high altitutde - between 6,000 to 7,000 feet.

I'm up for a challenge; it can't be worse than a very freaky gallbladder surgery, right? Promise??? LOL

CookieMama <----- cookies, yes; cake? Um, not so much!

[KittenCal]

Hi CM! Well it all depends on what you like obviously a cake mix is much easier, I have a fantastic recipe for white cake that uses a white cake mix, you would never know it though, I have made cakes from scratch some good and some not so good, for the best results a heavy professional grade pan and convection baking will really improve the end result

[elsie]

I haven't made a box cake in nearly 35 years! All my cakes are made from scratch. My grandmother could always tell when a cake was made from a box or from scratch. Box cakes have a distinct taste to them after you have eaten MANY cakes from scratch, imo. It's not that box cakes are bad; it is just a personal preference on my part to make cakes from scratch.

[Felix4067]

I hadn't made a cake from scratch until I was almost 40, for most of the same reasons. But now I wouldn't use a box mix if someone gave it to me. Making one from scratch is no harder or messier than making one from a box, and it tastes a LOT better! Sure, it takes a little more time, but we're talking a few minutes, not a hundred years.

[KittenCal]

I find the boxed mixes have a, well "funky" flavor no matter what flavor you use, mabey it's my imagination but Betty Crocker white cake mix has a strawberry flavor

[invictus]

I think it is definitely worth it. I personally don't think that baking a cake from scratch takes much more time than one from the box. If you think about it in the box there is flour, sugar, salt, a leavening ingredient, flavoring such as cocoa powder, and a bunch of preservatives. Those items are pretty easy to combine in just a minute or two plus you get to leave out the preservatives. As far as taste goes a mix just doesn't compare.

When I first started baking cakes from scratch I was disappointed though. The cakes are more dense with less air pockets generally and that really caught me by surprise. Also, my first cakes were much more dry than one from a box but that was part user error and part recipe selection.

[invictus]

I'll search for recipes a bit later for you, I don't have much time right now.

[HeatherFeather]

I don't mind box mix cakes at all, doctored up or otherwise. They have come a long way to make them taste very good. The homemade icing, fillings, and decorations can take a box mix to great heights.

However, I make most of my cakes from scratch. There is a notable flavor difference when you taste a good scratch cake.

You do have to follow the exact measurements, pan sizes, temperatures of ingredients, cooling times, etc in order to have a successful cake. This might sound hard initially, but it really isn't hard once you have gotten used to it.

Cake mixes eliminate the measuring, purchasing, and storing of the many ingredients required in baking a cake. Your ingredients must be fresh. If you don't already regularly go through baking ingredients, then baking a cake from scratch might end up being expensive when compared to the mix.

Also, because cake mixes have stabilizers and other ingredients added to make their cakes look great when baked, you may notice that some scratch recipes will bake up less lofty and poofy compared to a mix.

[racrgal]

CM, if you really want to make a cake from scratch, find a great baker in your area to instruct you. I baked wonderful cakes from scratch all of my life. Five years ago I moved to a high altitude, low humidity climate. Let me say, high altitude cake baking is a CHALLENGE! What works at lower altitudes, does NOT work at higher altitudes. I never did remaster my tried and true cake recipes. Thankfully I have moved back to a lower altitude and look forward to cake baking again soon.