In our series of taste tests , BA editors conduct blind comparisons to discover the best supermarket food products (like vanilla ice cream or frozen pizza). What is today's canned yellow cake mix?
Packaged cake mix was patented in 1933 by a Pittsburgh molasses company called P. Duff and Sons as a way to use up the company's excess molasses. Sales increased over the years, but the packaged type of cakes really became popular in the 1950s when companies began including powdered sugar in their marketing.
Many of us have fond memories of making boxed cake mixes at home. We made a real mess in the kitchen, making boxed cake mixes during sleepovers with friends, breaking eggs in a mess and spilling butter everywhere. We waited impatiently for the oven to heat up and frantically baked pies for the school bake. Everyone has their favorite cake flavor (mine is Devil's Pie), but if we had to bet on which one would appeal to audiences, the choice would be simple: classic mystery.
Of course, yellow cake batter can always be decorated, but finding the best batter is still an important first step. We tested eight boxes of yellow cake mix, baking them according to the instructions on the boxes to see which one tasted better. We tried it with a simple chocolate frosting and rated it on color, taste, texture and strength. There were disagreements, there was compromise, there was, in short, drama. We thought so.
A lot of work. King Arthur prepares golden yellow cake batter.
What is inside? King Arthur Yellow Cake Mix contains fewer ingredients than any of our competitors: mainly flour, sugar and baking powder. While simple is usually better, in this case we had to add a lot of ingredients ourselves. After all, it was almost as difficult as making a cake from scratch.
Judgment. Many of our editors swear by King Arthur products, but their yellow cake mix wasn't quite right. The boxed mixture will make the cake easier to prepare. But King Arthur required us to mix the softened butter and vegetable shortening ourselves, and add milk and four eggs—more than any other mixture we've tried. In addition, the resulting cake was not fully baked at the specified time and temperature; We are talking about the density of the candy in the center. The cooked parts were dry and tasteless.
Extreme lemon. Golden yellow cake mix
What is inside? The little blue box of Jiffy cake mix has a relatively long list of ingredients, including flaxseed. This is a rare ingredient in the blends we tested, but it was also present in Jiffy's Brownie blend, which scored poorly in taste tests. It's also worth noting that Jiffy was the only mix that had to be baked in an 8" x 8" pan, not the party-ready cookie mix you look for in boxed cake mixes.
Judgment. We should have known from the frayed edges of every piece of this pie that we were in for trouble. Cooking has changed, says food and SEO editor Zoe Denenberg, and the problems have only gotten worse since then. Instead of the light vanilla flavor we expected, the yellow Jiffy cake mix had a subtle metallic faux lemon flavor. Senior food editor Kelsey Youngman called it "the cake you buy at the train station," and it's a creative and lively way to say what we've all been thinking: leaving the birthday party.
Terrible pro. Duncan Hines Classic Yellow Cake Mix
What is inside? This blend does not use regular palm oil, but instead uses fractionated palm oil. Cutting may sound like rocket science, but it's actually just a fancy word for separating the types of fat in butter. This solidifies palm oil at room temperature, making it a useful shelf-stable ingredient that moistens cakes and adds crunch.
Judgment. The Duncan Hines was the only pie that cracked on top, which Zoe said was a sign of too much yeast in the dough. Appearance was a big problem for him. “It looks like it’s shriveled and thickened,” he said, watching the edges of the cake curl as it pulled away from the pan, a pained expression on his face. Unfortunately, the taste wasn't much better. Vice President of Social Media Urmila Ramakrishnan found her creation to be very delicate in taste, and Duncan Hines called it the driest of all. There was nothing to like.
Boring Boring: 365 Classic Yellow Cake Mixes from Whole Foods Market
What is inside? 365 uses unbleached flour in its cake batter, which can greatly affect the final texture and flavor of the cake. As food editor Sjelpa Uskokovic explains, unbleached flour can make a cake "a little rough and crumbly, like cornbread, and noticeably sweeter due to the lack of acid" compared to cakes made with bleached flour (such as Jiffy, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury Mixes , Big Value and Duncan Hines).
Judgment. Besides the dome in the middle which makes the cake less icy, the main downside of this cake mix was that it wasn't sweet enough. Senior food editor Emma Lapeyrock said the product had "no flavour" and Urmila described it as "bread, not cake". We missed any of the vanilla or caramel that our loved ones had in abundance. The team also noticed that the texture was incorrect. Instead of being springy or airy, they were dense and slightly springy, like a brioche. However, they cooked and browned evenly and the mixture came together instantly. It wasn't what we were looking for, but it wasn't bad either. A little fancy frosting might just save this humble cake when you need dessert.
Beautiful car. Betty Crocker. Super Moist Yellow Buttercream Cake Recipe
What is inside? While every other mix uses sugar for sweetening, Betty Crocker mix uses sugar and corn syrup. Corn syrup is used in baking as invert sugar, which is sugar that remains liquid at room temperature. It is an ingredient used to add sweetness as well as retain moisture.
Judgment. Betty Crocker's yellow cake mix produced a familiar but fairly average cake: slightly sweet but not overpowering. There were hints of sunny vanilla in every bite, and the crumb was especially bouncy. In the end, this table received an average score for its cottony texture that turns into dough and melts in your mouth. We prefer a cake with a stronger flavor and chewiness. However, we understand that a great cake is not the worst thing in the world.
Big Fun: Yellow Pillsbury Moist Supreme Cake Mix
What is inside? All the usual suspects appear on this ingredient list, which looks suspiciously high-value. It should be noted that Pillsbury's has more sugar than Great Value, but more on that later.
Verdict: Our editors thought Pillsbury Yellow Cake Mix would be a great choice in a pinch. Zoya liked that it was less artificially sweet than other cakes made from our dough. The vanilla scent was bright and obvious, but lacked the deeper caramel flavor found in our favorite perfumes. Emma thought it was a little edgier than the other versions;
Surprisingly unusual. Yellow Trader Joe's Cake and Baking Mix
What is inside? Like its competitors, Trader Joe's boxed cake mix requires the baker to add eggs, but the ingredients also include egg yolks. Egg yolks add richness to the cake by allowing the batter to retain more moisture, and as Harold McGee wrote in Food and Cooking , adding extra yolks "improves their ability to aerate" the batter. It's also worth noting that Trader Joe's mix doesn't contain the food coloring that other mixes do, so the extra yolk also helps give the cake its buttery yellow color.
Verdict: Our tasters loved Trader Joe's yellow cake. We liked its taste. Caramel, vanilla, and brown butter were some of the notes we liked, but it didn't quite taste like yellow cake. It was closer to a cake or even a sugar cookie. Zoya called it a cake that requires no decoration, just a cup of tea and a good book. While they were denser than some of the other muffins in our test, they held enough firmness with each bite to feel light. Although this was the most delicious cake we tried, it cannot be called a winner. It looked like yellow cake, smelled like yellow cake, but tasted completely different. While we enjoyed bite after bite, it didn't give us the nostalgic, classic cake mix we wanted. To do this, you need to go to Walmart.
The biggest in history. Premium yellow cake mix at a great price.
What is inside? Great Value's ingredient list is very similar to Pillsbury's, which means there's nothing unusual about it. There are all the familiar players, but maybe that's why Great Value Cake Mix makes a cake that tastes like the yellow cake mix we remember from kindergarten birthdays.
Judgment. Great Value's boxed cake mix was our platonic model for yellow cake. It had a deep vanilla aroma, and Kelsey described its sweet, seductive aroma as "giving off a nostalgic vibe." Food editor Antara Sinha liked that it was "sweet, but not too sweet." By all accounts, the cake struck a good balance between lightness and brightness while still holding up to frosting. It wasn't an angel cake, but it didn't go beyond the cake either. We couldn't stop eating bite after bite.
Originally appeared on Bon Appétit.
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