Do you bake from scratch or right out of the box?

[eliza61]

Depends on how much time I have. I love to bake, it's a hobby. So if I have time I'll play around with new recipes. I make a cinnamon breakfast roll to die for. If I'm in a rush then I have no problem doing a box.

 

[kimmyann]

Would one of you who does brownies from scratch kindly post a recipe? I've been looking for a while now and keep resorting back to box mix because I can't seem to find a really good one.

As for myself, I make a lot from scratch. Chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, muffins, pies, gingerbread at Christmas, etc. I've never tackled a cake - for some reason that intimidates me.

This is my brownie recipe. I double it & use a 9x13 pan.

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Now, I add choc chips to mine, not quite a full bag of dark choc.
Heat oven to 350
Mix 1st four ingredients
Stir in rest & pour into greased square pan
Bake 30-35 minutes

 

[bookgirl]

Depends on my mood and what I'm making. So old family recipies are done from scratch or I have a recipie that I prefer, but honestly if I'm making a basic cake/cookie/brownie then boxed ones (at least some of them, some I won't use) taste just as good so for convienence sake I just open a box.

I have been known to add to a box mix or to just use it as a component in a dessert, but I'm not bothered by using either method.

Somedays even if I did have a scratch recipie I prefer I still use a mix, because sometimes you just want to go from 0 to eating a brownie in less than 30 minutes.

I'm a good cook but only a so-so baker, and pie crust is always bought because well I suck at pastry.

I will say that I think method is the key to baking. When I use a box or from scratch I am really careful about overmixing, blending well, preparing the pan, making sure you get airbubbles out, etc. The box mixes tend to have pretty reliable ingredient amounts but if I'm going from scratch I measure really careful because in baking it's all about the science. You have to have so much, prepared in such a way, and cooked at a precise tempeture and with exact methods.

Cooking it's a pinch, until seasoned, to taste, until done. LOL Those methods do not translate to baking with the same results.

 

[mnrose]

90% from scratch. Sometimes, I'll use a cake mix. But, pancakes, waffles, biscuits, scones, sticky rolls, muffins....ALWAYS from scratch. They are ridiculously simple (I use recipes in my head), and I know what's in them. I prefer to use a whole grain flour, for example, and it's hard to find that in a mix.

 

[Wendy31]

It depends on what I'm baking, what it's for, & how much time I have!

I always use a mix for brownies though.

However, w/ cakes & cookies, it depends...

For instance, I make cakes like Hummingbird Cake or Carrot Cake from scratch. And I'll make quick breads from scratch like banana or zucchini bread.

I made a homemade Strawberry Yogurt Cake at Easter that was really good. I also have a recipe for "Better than Sex" cake that's a "from scratch" recipe that's yummy... but, honestly, not as yummy as it claims.

At Christmas time, most of the cookies we make are from scratch except the sugar cookies for which I use the Betty Crocker mix. I'll also make a couple of cake mix-cookie variations as well.

I'll also use a cake mix for various cakes & different recipes. There's a Key Lime cake I make that uses a lemon cake mix.

For birthdays, we usually buy the cake from a bakery. For my kids, part of what makes their birthdays "special" is an elaborately decorated/iced cake. And their momma can't do elaborately decorated cakes! I tried twice - once for DD's mermaid birthday & once for older DS's pirate birthday... and then I learned my lesson.

I used to always use store-bought frosting & then I figured out how easy home-made frostings & icings are, so, now, I usually make my own frosting - same thing w/ whipped cream. Easy & so much better tasting & better for us!

 

[java]

I started making cake from mixes but have gone back to baking from scratch, I just prefer it. Last thing I made was some lemon cupcakes with blackberry buttercream icing, the eggs wasn't so much room temperature as bum temperature as it came straight from the bum of the hen that laid it (got a peck for pinching it as well!!!!!!)

Recipe please sounds yummy

 

[SandrA9810]

.

 

[njmom47]

Some of each.
Cakes and brownies I usually do a box mix. But I do have a few tried and true from scratch recipes for desserts that I use.

 

[mtemm]

I'm a homemade girl except for brownies. I have never found a recipe that beats the ghiradelli mix!

 

[BearcatsFan]

If you want a Chocolate cake, use the Best ever recipe on the Hershey cocoa can. My 12 year old did it by herself, it is fantastic.

This is my brownie recipe. I double it & use a 9x13 pan.

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Now, I add choc chips to mine, not quite a full bag of dark choc.
Heat oven to 350
Mix 1st four ingredients
Stir in rest & pour into greased square pan
Bake 30-35 minutes

Thank you to both of you.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

Cakes and brownies...I usually doctor up box mixes. I do not used canned frosting. Cookies, pies, muffins and breads made from scratch.

 

[Disney_Dreaming]

I do both.

Just this morning I made two cakes from scratch for a party. They were a hit.

 

[snowweisz]

Scratch.

I love baking, I think it's an art and you have to work hard and practice a lot to be good at it.
There's this one cupcake recipe I use, that calls for a box mix of yellow cake. It's the only instance in which I use a box and it's only because it mixes it in with other ingredients and the mix is used just to give structure to the cupcakes, which would be really hard to do from scratch as they have a lot of fresh fruit.

Even then, I feel a little guilty when I use the box mix. I'm a baker and a foodie and if I take baked goods to work, people always think I made them from scratch, because that IS the case all the other times except for when I make those pineapple cupcakes.

Idk, anyone can use a box. It takes no skills. But baking is a work of love and dedication so I love to do it for people I love, or to share with my coworkers. I feel like baked goods make you feel special, and make the people you give them to feel special too.
I could not get that feeling out of a box mix.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I bake from scratch. I'm sure it is what you are used to - my mother always baked from scratch as well, and when I eat cakes or cookies made from mixes (or those slice and bake things) they just taste WAY too sweet to me. I don't like them.

TP

 

[cari12]

Pretty much bake everything from scratch except for cakes- much easier and delicious out of a box. I have a scratch brownie recipe that I get rave reviews every time I make them so have never made brownies from a box.

 

[luvgoing2disney]

I do both and the first cake I made when in the 7th grade was made from scratch. Only I did not know that was what I was doing. I thought I was just following the recipe. My mom was the one who was amazed at me doing it from scratch~~and it was delicious if I do as so myself.

I still do most of the cooking at our house. DW will and is a great cook but doesn't like to do it. I enjoy trying new dishes and cooking from scratch does not scare me one bit. Neither does a box!

 

[sesame_123]

Since we are talking about baking. Does anyone here have a recipe for chocolate fudge icing. My mom made this when I was growing up. I think she cooked it and then when you frosted the cake it literally turned to a fudge consistency and it tasted like chocolate fudge but it was an icing. She tried for weeks to find it for me before she passed away and no one in my family has it either, we are all desperate for it. HELP. I know someone out there has something similar. Pretty Please.

Not sure if this is exactly what you are looking for but it's what came to mind when you asked

Recipe:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tbs milk (I usually add another or 2))
16 oz powder sugar (4 cups)
1 tsp vanilla

Bring butter milk and cocoa to a bubble. Beat in sugar. Last add vanilla. Should almost be pouring consistency.

The cake I make it with you are supposed to "pour" it on when the cake is still hot.

Reminds me of fudge when cooled.

HTH

 

[hereyago]

I do both, just depends on the situation. BUT: can anyone tell me what I am doing incorrectly when making a Angel food cake, it keeps "collapsing.

 

[RebeccaUC]

Ghiardelli brownies are a hit every time...provided you add more chocolate chips (milk and dark) and underbake by a minute or two.

Cookies always from scratch as well as breads, coffee cakes, etc.
Cupcakes, from a mix is fine, probably because I'm not a fan of cupcakes!

Now I want a brownie....

 

[kcool]

I do both, just depends on the situation. BUT: can anyone tell me what I am doing incorrectly when making a Angel food cake, it keeps "collapsing.

Do you hang it upside down on a bottle after in comes out of the oven until it is cool?