All-New Cake Mix Doctor - Anne Byrn [4]
A drawback to pudding in a cake mix is that it may cause the cake to shrink as it cools. This is especially true when the recipe calls for additional moist ingredients, such as applesauce, sour cream, or buttermilk. But, you can always cover a shrunken cake with frosting! Martha Bowden, who tests recipes for me, has come up with a brilliant idea for adding instant pudding mix; she uses just a few tablespoons, about half a package, saving the remaining pudding for the next cake. She finds that this is not only economical, it also makes a moist cake that does not shrink. One benefit of having pudding in the mix that is often overlooked is that it helps suspend chocolate chips in the batter, so that they do not sink to the bottom of the pan. About three tablespoons of instant pudding mix will do the trick if the recipe calls for this.
Brands, Flavors, and All That Jazz
Okay, how can I be honest without stepping on any toes? The flavor and quality of cake mixes do vary from brand to brand. And generally you get what you pay for. So, I am all for trying new mixes and baking them following the instructions on the package; if you like the look and flavor, then decide if this is the cake mix for you. And if you watch the store specials, your favorite cake mix might go on sale, which means that you can stock up with a half-dozen boxes to place in your pantry where they will keep for nearly a year. That was a long-winded answer to another frequently asked question: How long do cake mixes last? No longer than one year.
As for the flavor, yellow (or vanilla), white, and chocolate cake mixes have been the most popular through the years. Most of the recipes in this book are based on these mixes. I may call for a white mix when the white color is essential, but I prefer the flavor of a yellow mix. Lately I am a bit miffed at how much food coloring is going into the yellow mixes. What are labeled butter recipe mixes are not as brightly colored as the yellow cake mixes, and I find these create more natural looking and tasting cakes.
The Cake Baker’s Basic Pantry
Here’s a list of the ingredients I turn to again and again for baking. Keep them on hand and baking will be a lot easier when you are busy.
Cake mixes: My favorite flavors of cake mix to keep in the pantry are a couple packages of yellow, a couple of golden butter recipe, a couple of deep chocolate (devil’s food), a couple of German chocolate, and a couple of spice. And I love to work with a good brownie mix, as well as a gingerbread mix.
Flour: All-purpose flour is always in my pantry. I shake some into a cake pan after misting it with vegetable oil spray or greasing it with solid vegetable shortening. This way of preparing the pan prevents the cake from sticking. Often I add all-purpose flour to a batter to make the batter more sturdy. In the case of the new version of the More Amazing German Chocolate Cake (see page 224), I added a third of a cup of flour to the recipe because I found the cake was sinking as it cooled and needed more structure. Living in the South, I tend to buy White Lily flour, but any all-purpose flour will do the job. Once opened, place the flour bag in a large resealable plastic bag to keep it fresh.
Sugar: Since sugar is an ingredient in cake mixes, I don’t add it to many of my recipes. If I do, it is because it will improve the flavor and texture of the cake. However, brown sugar and confectioners’ sugar are key ingredients in my frostings. To measure brown sugar, lightly press it into a cup measure with a spoon. Only sift confectioners’ sugar if the recipe calls for it. If stored in a tightly closed bag, confectioners’ sugar will not lump up and need sifting. Moisture makes brown sugar hard and confectioners’ sugar lumpy, so close the bags tightly.