Do you make cakes from scratch?

[Anonymous]

Both, but mostly scratch. I use Barefoot Contessa's recipe for cake/cupcakes, and have good luck with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Who makes cakes? serious question. I make, maybe, one per year on DS birthday.


This is me too. Made one came from a TJs mix a year ago for DHs bday. Other than that last came was maybe a few years before? Have made cupcakes from scratch once or twice.

But we're more of an ice cream / cookie / pie family.

I wrote the first PP and I realize now that it does sound snarky but I did not mean it to be so. I must come from a culture that sees "cakes" as truly celebratory (wedding, birthday, Christmas stollen, first Communion) and such events arise pretty rarely. So this question never comes up. I never arrive home from work and think, 'aw what the heck, I feel like a triple-layer lemon cake with alternating raspberry and Bavarian creme filling. Honey, get out the mixer! Whereas I might throw together 6 ingredients and make cookies for lunch boxes from time to time. But we are not a have a cake on display on the cake stand on the kitchen island family ....

So back to my question ... I'm curious about who these men and women are who are making cakes from scratch. Is the impetus really just to have dessert on hand, M-F?

#1, what culture is that? Sounds Catholic...Spanish? I'm Italian-American and we like some cakes (just not the traditional "chocolate cake with chocolate frosting" that springs to mind when people think "cake"). We like some cookies, too, but let's face it, most Italians buy their cookies (I'm not making sfogliatelle, pizzelles, or biscotti at home)!

#2, cookies are so much more fussy to make than cake...I'd rather make cake any day! Seriously, if you're making something non-frosted (rosemary olive oil cake, pound cake, etc), it's easier than cookies by a factor of like 100, purely because there's no creaming and futzing around to keep the batter cool enough to get a good crumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Who makes cakes? serious question. I make, maybe, one per year on DS birthday.


This is me too. Made one came from a TJs mix a year ago for DHs bday. Other than that last came was maybe a few years before? Have made cupcakes from scratch once or twice.

But we're more of an ice cream / cookie / pie family.

I wrote the first PP and I realize now that it does sound snarky but I did not mean it to be so. I must come from a culture that sees "cakes" as truly celebratory (wedding, birthday, Christmas stollen, first Communion) and such events arise pretty rarely. So this question never comes up. I never arrive home from work and think, 'aw what the heck, I feel like a triple-layer lemon cake with alternating raspberry and Bavarian creme filling. Honey, get out the mixer! Whereas I might throw together 6 ingredients and make cookies for lunch boxes from time to time. But we are not a have a cake on display on the cake stand on the kitchen island family ....

So back to my question ... I'm curious about who these men and women are who are making cakes from scratch. Is the impetus really just to have dessert on hand, M-F?

We don't have dessert most nights. But when we do want a cake, for whatever reason (guests, special occasion, just for fun) I make it from scratch. I don't make elaborate cakes, but a simple butter cake or chocolate cake is easy and doesn't take much time.

[Anonymous]

Always from scratch. Cake is easy to make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you make them from scratch without a fancy mixer? I don't have a KitchenAid, and can't afford one right now.

It's cake batter not bread dough, you need a wooden spoon & a mixing bowl.

I think creaming butter and sugar is a bit hard with just a wooden spoon, so I often use my hand-held electric mixer--not necessary to have a fancy KitchenAid type mixer.

You cream butter & sugar for cookies. For a cake you melt the butter. Cake batter is more liquid, thus it's a batter, not a dough. Read the recipes, please, then decide what tools you need.

Have you ever used a box mix? You use vegetable oil. There is no creaming butter & sugar in making cakes from scratch.

No. No no no no. You never want to melt the butter unless your recipe specifically calls for it. Creaming sounds complicated but it's easy. For a long time I only had wooden spoons and a wire wisk for when I baked. The trick is make sure your butter is soft before you start. If you don't have time (or like me) didn't remember to take your butter out to soften ahead of time, you can always put it in the microwave for 5 to 10 second increments until it's soft enough that you can easily smoosh it with your finger. Then you place in your mixing bowl, add your sugar and mix with a spoon until they are completely combined.

The only difference between using a stand mixer and a hand mixer is the stand up is faster (and you don't have to worry about putting a towel under the bowel to keep it from spinning).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you make them from scratch without a fancy mixer? I don't have a KitchenAid, and can't afford one right now.

It's cake batter not bread dough, you need a wooden spoon & a mixing bowl.

You know, it's pretty easy to make scratch bread, too -no mixer required.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The aisles at the supermarket are full of packet cake mixes. I'm curious. Do most people make cakes from packet mixes or from scratch?

I make them from scratch, it's really easy.

I use this recipe for chocolate cake - how much easier can you get and it's not full of 200 ingredients like the box stuff.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_chocol/

She is such a phony, and not a single recipe of hers that I've tried has worked out. Bluch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The aisles at the supermarket are full of packet cake mixes. I'm curious. Do most people make cakes from packet mixes or from scratch?

I make them from scratch, it's really easy.

I use this recipe for chocolate cake - how much easier can you get and it's not full of 200 ingredients like the box stuff.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_chocol/

She is such a phony, and not a single recipe of hers that I've tried has worked out. Bluch.

I'm curious, why do you think she is phony?

[Anonymous]

Scratch. Love making and eating cake! My favorite cake recipes (and basic recipes overall, probably) are from Alice Waters' Art of Simple Food. The chocolate cake and the almond cake are to die for. And simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Who makes cakes? serious question. I make, maybe, one per year on DS birthday.


This is me too. Made one came from a TJs mix a year ago for DHs bday. Other than that last came was maybe a few years before? Have made cupcakes from scratch once or twice.

But we're more of an ice cream / cookie / pie family.

I wrote the first PP and I realize now that it does sound snarky but I did not mean it to be so. I must come from a culture that sees "cakes" as truly celebratory (wedding, birthday, Christmas stollen, first Communion) and such events arise pretty rarely. So this question never comes up. I never arrive home from work and think, 'aw what the heck, I feel like a triple-layer lemon cake with alternating raspberry and Bavarian creme filling. Honey, get out the mixer! Whereas I might throw together 6 ingredients and make cookies for lunch boxes from time to time. But we are not a have a cake on display on the cake stand on the kitchen island family ....

So back to my question ... I'm curious about who these men and women are who are making cakes from scratch. Is the impetus really just to have dessert on hand, M-F?

I work M-F and I love to cook and bake. I make bar cookies a lot, it's my lazy way of satisfying my urge to bake and have something really good on hand. I will make a batch about once every two weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The aisles at the supermarket are full of packet cake mixes. I'm curious. Do most people make cakes from packet mixes or from scratch?

I make them from scratch, it's really easy.

I use this recipe for chocolate cake - how much easier can you get and it's not full of 200 ingredients like the box stuff.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_chocol/

She is such a phony, and not a single recipe of hers that I've tried has worked out. Bluch.

I'm curious, why do you think she is phony?

I'm not the PP but I think she is a bit of a phony, too. Whenever she makes pasta sauces, the pasts looks way overcooked and gross.

[Anonymous]

There are a few websites devoted to the ways in which Ree Drummond is a phony. Or, if you want to be kind, a marketing concept. She doesn't do most of that stuff herself; she hires it out. Which is fine, but I think there are women who look at her life, think she's doing it all, and feel bad because THEY can't do it all.

Also, negative comments about "her" recipes not working (qtn marks because they're almost always lifted from somewhere else) get deleted. Compare that with Deb of Smitten Kitchen, who replies and revises according to feedback.

I make my own cakes, but like others, I don't make them that often. My kids like to help, and help with cake is frustrating because I don't want things to get overbeaten. But there are some easy recipes out there if you're so inclined. (And don't melt the butter unless you're making genoise.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both, but mostly scratch. I use Barefoot Contessa's recipe for cake/cupcakes, and have good luck with it.

I won't touch Ina Garten's recipes anymore, not after I tried her lemon bars recipe and the lemon topping had flour in it (unusual) and was gel like the inside of a lemon jelly bean. All her recipes are suspect now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both, but mostly scratch. I use Barefoot Contessa's recipe for cake/cupcakes, and have good luck with it.

I won't touch Ina Garten's recipes anymore, not after I tried her lemon bars recipe and the lemon topping had flour in it (unusual) and was gel like the inside of a lemon jelly bean. All her recipes are suspect now.

Weird. You insinuate that you used to like her, but then you tried one recipe that you didn't like, so now you are scared of her. Is that right?

[Anonymous]

Here's my favorite cake:

1 cup sifted cake flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 pkg. Dr. Oetker Vanilla Sugar
2 tsp. Dr. Oetker Baking Powder
3 eggs (room temperature), separated
4 Tbsp. hot water

Beat egg yolks, 1/2 sugar and the vanilla sugar packet and four Tbsp. hot water until well blended
Beat egg whites until foamy, add remaining sugar and gently fold in using a spatula.
Add egg white mix on top of egg yolk mix
Mix baking powder w/cake flour and sift gradually into the egg mix and fold gently together using the spatula.

Bake in a dark fluted tartlet plan @ 350 F until done (make sure that you use Pam Baking Spray or use butter and flour). It will take about ten minutes. Cool on a rack and add your favorite fruit on top. Top with homemade whip cream and voila. A light and refreshing dessert.