Cake Mixes, When and Where?

  I grew up in a household where my mother made cakes from boxed mixes.  She did that because she never learned to cook growing up and according to my father, she did a wonderful job of burning water when they got married.  I honestly don't remember her making much from scratch when I was growing up.  I hit a point where I took over cooking so I could make food from scratch.

There is a story floating around that cake mixes made an appearance after World War II, when there was an excess of flour available and had to be used but there is information that indicates cake mixes were available since 1930.  In 1930, a Pittsburgh company applied for a patent for a gingerbread mix made with dried eggs so the housewife could simply add water to, mix, and bake. 

This mix came out of a desire to use up an over supply of molasses because people's eating habits were changing.  By drying molasses, it could then be added to a flour mix for gingerbread.  A mix such as this came with everything but water and could be counted on to provide a reliable end product  or at least that was the argument on the patent application.

Over the next several years, the company expanded its offerings to include nut bread, bran muffins, fruit cake and both devils food and spice cakes.  By the time, the patent was granted in 1933, the company had already developed a newer version that required the home baker to add fresh eggs because people preferred to add fresh eggs rather than using a mix with dried eggs. 

It wasn't until after World War II that cake mixes really took off across the country.  The major flour companies went from selling flour to selling convenience and by the end of the 1940's  over 200 companies  produced cake mixes but the majority were Betty Crocker or Pillsbury.  At this point in time Pillsbury still used powdered eggs in their mix but most of the others required the baker to add fresh eggs.  Research indicated that women felt more involved the cake making process when they had to add eggs.

In the 1950's sales of cake mixes plateaued and many of those 200 companies went out of business.  After careful scrutiny, companies discovered they needed to complete the cake by providing all sorts of instructions for frosting the cake so the homemaker could create their own wedding cakes and other elaborate cakes.  From then on, cake mixes continued to grow.

Over time, the term "baking from scratch" has come to mean baking a cake from a mix.  Another surprising development according to a survey is although most people say they prefer to buy mixes requiring the addition of eggs, they'd actually prefer to buy a mix with eggs already in it.

I still prefer making my cakes beginning with the butter and sugar on to the final cake because the ones from boxes tend to be too soft and fall apart.  I'd rather eat something much denser with fruit and spices.

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.

What Do You Know About Cake Mixes?

  I think all of us have used a cake mix at some point or another.  Your kid comes home and tells you that you have to provide cupcakes for the party tomorrow, so you grab a mix and make the baked goods.  You top them off with one of those frosting's in the can because its so quick and easy but do you know when cake mixes were first marketed?  Probably a lot earlier than you thought.

There is a myth out stating that cake mixes came into being at the end of World War II due to an abundance of flour that needed to be used.  Apparently it is just a myth because there is a record of cake mixes being available in the 1930's.

 In 1930, John Duff of Pittsburg, PA applied for a patent for the first complete gingerbread mix that required adding only water. Mr Duff needed to use up his extra molasses so this gingerbread mix used 100 pounds of molasses for every 100 pounds of flour.  In a very short time, the patent was extended to include cake mixes. 

In 1933, they adjusted the recipe so the person using the mix, added the egg rather than relying on dried eggs in the mix because people physiologically preferred using fresh eggs.  They received their egg-less mix patent in 1935 and they were off but cake mixes really didn't sweep the nation until after World War II when flour companies began selling convenience. By the end of the 1940's, there were 200 companies selling cake mixes but in the 1950's everything came to a major slowdown and many companies quit making mixes.

Flour company executives spent time trying to figure out how to make people want to buy the mixes. It turns out that it was the invention of icing that caused cake mixes to start selling again.   There was an explosion of recipes, instructions, and designs flooded the market so now women could create any fancy cake their hearts desired using a box of mix and a can of frosting.

The frosting actually hid any weird flavors the early cake mixes had and made women feel like they were a part of the creative process again. According a survey done in the 1990's, women loved baking from scratch.  It turns out this meant they started with a mix and a can of frosting to create the cake.  It sounds like the definition of baking from scratch has evolved to mean starting with a mix instead of starting with all the individual ingredients. 

So what do you think?  Is it still scratch if you start with a mix?