Tracey, the link to the original recipe just goes to Arm n Hammer, and the recipe link there just has a tip. With your copied and pasted recipe, I have crazy symbols. Can you please repost the correct amts? Thanks.

Tami

Ugh, I am so sorry. Hopefully this link will work. As for the crazy symbols, someone will have to walk me through removing them. I am at a loss.

Tracey

Here is a link that might be useful: CAKE MIX

Thanks.

When I posted the recipe for the Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake, I copied and pasted. It looked fine until I hit preview. That's when I got funny symbols. I just went thru and deleted the amounst and re-typed them in preview. When I previewd again, the amounts were correct. Apparently Garden Web doesn't like numbers and symbols copied and pasted. Maybe try re-posting with the copy/paste, then delete the amounts pasted and re-type the amounts.

Tami

Cake or all-purpose flour? Some other additions to the mix you might consider: powdered butter, powdered shortening or sour cream powder, but keep the butter or oil portion when mixing the batter.

-Grainlady

Ok, I tried to copy and paste but even in preview the symbols do not show up to allow me to correct them.

Grainlady I just knew you would have experience with something like this. I used a combination of all purpose and cake flour. I also kept the butter in the dry mix but subbed oil for butter when I prepared the mix. Thank you for the suggestions!

Your cupcakes are beautiful! But, honestly, what is the advantage to making your own mixes? It takes only an extra minute or so to assemble all the ingredients from their original packaging, doesn't it? Powdered butter, shortening and sour cream? Huh?

I'm just an old crab, I guess, but is seems to me that the time and effort involved in making "shortcuts" and using powdered butter, etc., is a rather odd trade-off. Even when all six of my kids were home I seldom made more than one or two cakes (never as beautiful as yours, that's for sure!) or a couple pies a week - but maybe you make a lot more than I did and will find the convenience of making your own mixes a great time saver.

On the other hand, I love to sew garments, and I know that it sometimes costs me more to sew them, certainly in terms of time, if not often money, too, than it would to buy them, but it's what I love doing, so I understand.

Those cupcakes are absolutely beautiful!

I am definitely saving the homemade cake mix recipe!
I like the idea of it a lot!
And am anxious to make up a batch.

There are a number of recipes around,
(some are really good, too)
that start with a mix.
It can be a chore to change them into
a totally 'made from scratch' cake.

So I think the homemade mix is a wonderful idea.
You can use high quality ingredients,
and know exactly what is in your fimished product.

Thank you for posting this!

Rusty

Sherrman, thank you for your kind words about my decorating. I really appreciate it! As for the homemade mix, I did not use powdered butter, shortening, or sour cream. Only flour, real butter, baking powder, salt and sugar to which oil, eggs, and water are added. The only ingredient different than a typical cake was the powdered milk. Can I make a cake without a mix? Absolutely. The point of this was having a mix on hand when I need something quick. This makes up three mixes that I can keep in the freezer and make up without a fuss-throw the mix in the kitchenaid bowl along with the oil, eggs and water and mix. No measuring, other than the oil and water. I have two kids and I work so anything I can do to save time is a bonus. Gives me more time to practice my decorating skills :)

Rusty, you are welcome! Like you said, I wanted to find a homemade mix because I have several recipes that start with a mix but I hate all the chemicals and the transfats in them.

I totally get the idea of making your own mixes. I too make a lot of things from scratch, but sometimes you need something quick and it does save some time to have the dry ingredients and other things pre-measured.

But the main reason I wanted to post is because I LOVE those cupcakes frosted. My last name is Rosenberg and I have a thing for roses. Those are some of the most beautifully decorated cakes I have ever seen.

Just want to say that I've used powdered milk, eggs, sour cream, & butter (even powdered peanut butter) in my homemade baking mixes for decades. Just like all other ingredients...buy a quality product & you'll be pleased with the results. We maintain a food storage program & these products are baking staples. I use organic.

/tricia

Tracey, those cupcakes are just beautiful, I'm going to have to try that. So, 'fess up, what tip did you use and how did you do them?

I like the idea of a homemade cake mix, although I don't make many cakes any more with the kids gone. Like you, I try to avoid those transfats, the chemicals and preservatives.

Plus, they are absolutely beautiful!

Annie

Oh, and those weird symbols? Go to the top of the screen, click "view" (that's what mine is, anyway). Find "encoding". Click "unicode". If it's already on "unicode", click "Western European". Sometimes I have to do one, sometimes the other, but it unscrambles those darned unreadable symbols.

I think Seagrass actually told me how to do this, but maybe it was someone else, but it was someone here that's smarter with computers than I am!

Annie

Thanks for the compliments! I promise, this technique is super easy-it's a Wilton 2D tip. Just hold your icing bag straight up and starting in the center, pipe in a continuous circle til you get the outside edge.

Trisha, I've read about your food storage system and I am in awe. You posses a level of organizational skills that is beyond me:)
Tracey