Cake mix rankings from Taste of Home and a $15 cake mix

annie1992

6 years ago

Since we had that long discussion about cake mixes, I thought this might be interesting:

https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/we-taste-tested-the-most-popular-brands-of-chocolate-cake-mix/

They baked and tasted five different cake mixes, all devils food. The big loser was the Great Value/Walmart brand, being dry and bland. Number 4 was Pillsbury, not enough chocolate, too sweet and still dry. The cake had a domed top and air pockets. # 3 and 2 were ties, those were Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker. Betty Crocker Super Moist sure was, tasters thought it was soggy and tasted more like a brownie, they liked the rich chocolate flavor, though. Duncan Hines was light and fluffy, not enough chocolate flavor and tasters thought it was "good but not great".

The big winner was Williams Sonoma, but it's a LOT more expensive ($15!!) than the others and not as readily available. The difference was that it had coffee included in the mix, a trick that many of us here use in our chocolate cakes.

The final verdict was that none of them were particularly good or bad. The recommendation was that, when you are choosing a cake mix, just go with what's on sale, they're all about the same.

I'll continue baking from scratch, I guess, there is absolutely no way I'd pay $15 for a cake mix. And you still have to add ingredients!

I've often said that taste is not objective, it's subjective, but I wonder how many people would actually buy a $15 cake mix, especially one only available on-line or in-store, even one that is infinitely better than all the other mixes available out there. I can't even imagine "stocking up" when I make the 60 mile trip to the nearest Williams Sonoma. I'm waffling between appalled and confused, and now I know that my dear DIL spent $15 on a pumpkin spice cake mix for me last year, I'm feeling a little guilty that I didn't savor it more, appreciating every gold plated bite!

Annie

Featured Answer

sheesh

6 years ago

Yes, Annie, substituting prepared coffee for water AND adding a tsp of dry espresso powder completely changes and greatly improves any chocolate cake mix. Also, I also always sub melted butter for oil. I've always been a scratch cook/baker, but for a couple years now I've been making chocolate cakes this way. Neither I nor anyone who eats my cakes can tell the difference. I still make my other cakes from scratch, and use lard for pie crusts.

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Comments (14)

seagrass_gw Cape Cod
6 years ago
Trader Joe's has a good gingerbread mix. They might have pumpkin spice, too. I'm flour adverse and hate to bake.
annie1992
Original Author
6 years ago
But it's not $15 at Trader Joe's is it? Please tell me it's not, I'd break my teeth on all that gold.....

My dear friend San is also "flour challenged" as she calls it. Additionally, some people don't like baked goods well enough to bother making them, and maybe if company was coming for a meal, that $15 mix would be worth it. I remember you saying that you aren't crazy about sweets, preferring savory?

It still just seems crazy expensive for a cake mix, but I guess I don't know what a cake at a decent bakery would cost already prepared either. There are no decent bakeries here, only WalMart and Meijer, although we now have a little antique/bake shop called "The Pie Hole" and I saw the owner rolling out pie crust the last time I was there so maybe she bakes cakes too. Maybe not, given the name of the place, LOL.

And now my second question: Since the "secret ingredient" in the WS mix is coffee, could a commercial mix be made better by using coffee in place of the water, or adding a bit of espresso powder? One of the complaints was the lack of chocolate flavor, and coffee enhances the chocolate so maybe...?

Annie
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morz8 - Washington Coast
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
LOL, Annie. I picked up two of the boxes of Trader Joe's mix (pumpkin bread, muffin) last month, haven't used them yet - I just knew they are seasonal so bought them for 'just in case'. I'm not sure what I paid but think it was approximately $3 each. I'm hoping to go back on Sat (Costco and Trader Joes are an hour from here) and I'll check price, although I may not buy more.
annie1992
Original Author
6 years ago
Oh, thank goodness, Morz, I was just thinking a mix couldn't POSSIBLY cost that much at TJ's! My faith in them is justified, LOL.

Sheesh, I think coffee makes everything better. (grin) Both my girls use cake mixes, I use the recipe on the back of the Hershey's box and have convinced The Princess to use it too, for everyday cakes. I guess I'll be buying espresso powder for both of my daughters, to improve their cake mixes. Not that they'll remember to put it in...

Annie
Olychick
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Coincidentally, I've been thinking about cake mixes...on another thread I wrote about making cupcakes for my grandson's birthday. I was just going to buy plain cupcakes and embellish them, because I want some vanilla, chocolate and need some # of gluten free. So I am really not up to making 3 batches of cupcakes (mostly because I hate the clean up in between batches). But then I realized I'd have to get unfrosted premade cupcakes from the bakery and I thought, sheesh, how lazy is that, buying cupcakes then frosting and decorating on my own. I can just whip out the plain cupcakes. A MIX, I'll use a MIX. Then I started searching on this forum for people's favorites and found this thread.

And there are some references on the internet to TJ's having cake mixes, but I can't find out if they still do. Does anyone know? I love their pumpkin bread mix and buy a few boxes to last when they pull their seasonal stuff.
annie1992
Original Author
6 years ago
I don't know if TJs has cake mixes, but if you want a decent gluten free cake mix, try King Arthur Flour. None are wonderful, IMO, but KA doesn't seem to have that grainy/gritty texture that a lot of gluten free stuff has. Only available here in yellow and chocolate, but I made the yellow, cut a divot out of the middle and filled that with cherry pie filling, then added chocolate frosting. The GF people in the family were thrilled, I think it had been so long since they had a cupcake anything would have tasted good! Now Amanda wants a GF carrot cake, so I have to work on that....

Have fun and enjoy the party. Spending time with family is the best time of all.

Annie
User
6 years ago
But see I don't think they are comparing apples to apples -- they're comparing apples to oranges. The WS mix is BIGGER and you don't add oil, water and eggs -- you add BUTTER, water and eggs. You'll get a different result. If you made the other cake mixes with butter instead of oil, I am sure they would taste different and probably better.
sheesh
6 years ago
Annie: Coffee, espresso powder, and butter. Coffee, espresso powder, and butter! Makes all the difference in the world when you have the chocolate cake with gooey chocolate butter frosting (or ganache, my favorite) with that cup of fresh hot coffee. I wish I hadn't made so many cookies yesterday~~I want cake!

Martha: I don't know why the mix makers don't just say use butter instead of oil. I may try a yellow mix with butter for my next Apple cake.

I wish I didn't like to eat/cook/bake/ so much. Now that it's just the two of us..... And I've got a million butter cookies to eat.....And I have a beautiful 5# rump roast begging to be roasted, but the kids can't come this weekend......plus frozen cherries that keep daring me to make a pie every time I open the freezer.....

What I really want is a giant pot of beef barley soup, but no bones to make it with. Lament, lament, lament.
annie1992
Original Author
6 years ago
Martha, you're right, they aren't comparing evenly. And I wish they'd have done more than just chocolate, a yellow cake seems like it could be "messed with" more. Then again, I add more ingredients to a mix, I might as well make it from scratch, so I just send myself around in circles. I also agree that butter would probably make a better cake, because butter is always better. :-) Actually, I think if you use cheaper or lower quality ingredients you're always going to get a lower quality product.

Sheesh, you're right. I agree that butter is always better and how can coffee ever be bad? Not to play devil's advocate, but if you made that rump roast you could use leftovers to make beef barley soup. (grin)

Plus Thanksgiving is coming up and I always have at least TWO desserts, so there are those cherries. See, you really CAN have it all!

Annie
Olychick
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I wanted to report back that I bought and used the TJ's yellow cake mix and it was delicious. It didn't taste like a mix at all to me - no aftertaste, no chemical taste, etc. I'd highly recommend.
lindac92
6 years ago
Wow...I don't get it.... $3 for a cake mix? let alone $15!!!!
A bit of butter, sugar, flour, eggs milk and some salt, vanilla and baking powder.
And for chocolate....any one ever make this? I have a whole file of crazy cakes and sheet cakes....every one better than any mix!
https://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/136980/crazy-cake/
Olychick
6 years ago
If you want the ease and quickness of a mix, which some people do - at least once in a while, the TJ's yellow is a good one.
Gary Sutcliff (Ledyard CT Z6)
6 years ago
In a recent experiment, I cooked a box cake mix in a Pan De Mie pan. It was a double mix for a tight fit. What was surprising was how moist it was. I figure that it was due to the top preventing vapors from escaping.

Now I wonder if a cake baked in a covered pan would fare better than one open top.

Cake mix rankings from Taste of Home and a $15 cake mix

sheesh

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seagrass_gw Cape Cod

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Cake mix rankings from Taste of Home and a $15 cake mix

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