Mark Thorson wrote:

> This web site makes the bold claim that most home bakers
> cannot make a cake from scratch better than from a boxed
> cake mix.
>
> http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/cake.html
>
> His reasons are that the ingredients are better measured,
> and they use ingredients that you can't get.
>
> He also says that making certain changes to the recipe
> on the box results in even better cakes. He cites a
> book, _The_Cake_Mix_Doctor_, which agrees with him and
> describes some of these methods.
>
> Most of his page describes the experiments he did to
> verify the tips in that book, and to compare all of the
> boxed cake mixes he could get his hands on. Most of
> the tips didn't pan out, but the modifications he
> developed worked very well.
>
> I think this will come as a surprise to many bakers,
> that making a cake from a box mix gives a better result
> than most bakers can achieve from scratch with butter, etc.

Pastorio used to say that consumer surveys would consistently
return rather interesting results in the box vs made from
scratch issue

1> When asked whether they would prefer box or scratch cakes, scratch
would consistently win

2> When boxed vs scratch were blind taste tested, boxed would
consistently win

I don't doubt it, but I'd like to see some real data.

--
Mort