/facepalm/
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Wonder if the writer found their inspiration reading this thread.
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This article seems to be based on some very interesting assumptions.
Let’s unpack them, shall we?
No? All right, then. 
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Spending $25 for a cake mix is idiotic. Anyone who charges that is a thief. Avoid.
The article had a snooty attitude towards box cakes which is exactly what I decried when starting this thread. My point had zero to do with convenience and everything to do with product. Read my OP!! I’m all in favor of painstaking steps if they result in a better product. But if they do not, then taking them is (IMHO) not worth it.
“A cake mix gives you a perfectly respectable cake—not the greatest, but pretty good—for $5, all in.”
Um, no sweetie. First, it’s $2.50, and second, the cake mix is better than anything I can come up with.
I’m also tired of the “artificial chemical” argument. First of all, don’t live on desserts.* They’re a treat. The poison’s in the dose. Second, everything’s a chemical. Organically-grown vanilla is a chemical. If the product is crappy taste, then that’s the problem, not the chemicals.
*unless you want to. 
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I think your comment is unkind. I didn’t write the article or post it.
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Apologies. I didn’t mean to address it to you. It was a general comment.
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Thank you for clarifying.
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Thank you for pointing it out. I will be more careful next time.
I still think spending 25 bucks for a cake mix is insane. 
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Definitely not insane if it really is that great of a cake… but just how great it would need to be, to be worth that much, seems like “pretty great”.
Gnaw … Eye ham knot hay wicket woof
Webster did wont sumpthing much mor lik this
But either he knew it wouldn’t fly, or saner people told him it wouldn’t fly, so he contented himself with noking letters out occasionally.
Williams & Sonoma mixes are always pricey- probably over 20 bucks for some. I’ve never bought them myself, but I’ve been gifted some, and the cakes are tasty.
Maybe better (and still food-related):
Pas de caïque, pas de caïque,
bécasse, mâne,
Bec ami est coquille
à ce vaste Assise ou Cannes.
Roulette et n’épate
éden marcou y débit.
Aîné petit inédit, oh vaine!
fort bébé ennemi.
http://www.blueridgejournal.com/poems/mots17-pasdecaique.htm
I just want to know who can find a decent scratch-made bakery cake for $25.
Around here (Seattle) the good bakeries start at $40-50+ for a 6" cake
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Wow, that’s a steep price! I am always surprised by pricing, I guess because I make my own. But I do think that people should charge a fair price for what they are making.
The good posh bakeries , esp French ones, in upscale or gentrified neighborhoods Toronto, often charge around $40-$50 for a good cake.
Greek/Italian/Portuguese/Polish/Jewish bakeries in ethnic neighbourhoods (sometimes blue collar and/or gentrified) often charge closer to $20-$30 for good cakes. A simple cake or babka at a Portuguese bakery might cost $8. I’ve been looking at Black Forest Tortes in Toronto lately, and the going price for a good one seems to range from $25 to $50.
Chinese and Mexican bakeries are sometimes even less expensive.
Ethnic bakeries often are baking from scratch or good ingredients, and offering a lot more value.
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Including ice cream cakes. I have seen them sell for even more than baked cake or combo ice cream/cake layered cakes. What used to be special occasion cakes/pastries ( in any size/weight) are now sold as every day, common, baked goods.
So, at home mixes are traveling in that same upscale trend/price/commodity. Watching, changing box mix formulas.
I think a correlation btwn pro bakers and at home bakers have access to ingredients has never been more in sync as today and commercial products following and setting these trends are reflected in the market.
Again, musical analogy, once folks started building home studios and electronics became affordable to many more hobbyists recording and producing music changed forever. Technology changed it permanently.
The future.
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I can understand it as a gift… but otherwise… No.
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This thread inspired me to try out a box cake. I bought a Betty Crocker red velvet cake. I have never baked a box cake before. This was to bring for an outdoor, socially distanced Easter celebration.
I baked it up using two 9 inch cake pans. Boy, they really don’t give you much batter. The layers seemed kind of skimpy to me. And since my sisteris a great cake baker, I felt that I had to have another layer. So I went to the store and bought another box of Duncan Hines cake mix.
This batch I mixed up and put half of it into the cake pan, and turned the rest of it into cupcakes. It seems that three layers was just the right amount of cake.
The taste was not a heavy chocolate taste, just slightly chocolate. Of course, it was unmistakeably red and looked lovely. I topped it with homemade cream cheese icing.
Surprisingly, you couldn’t tell the difference betweent the two cake mixes! It makes me wonder if they aren’t both created at the same location.
My takeaway, in a pinch a box cake will certainly fill in nicely. I didn’t detect any chemical taste or off-putting flavors. I just have to remember to get a more “impressive” looking result to use 8 inch pans, or be ready to add another 9 inch layer.
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Agreed, you definitely need a third layer to get a nicely-proportioned stack!
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