Mixed Feelings: Pillsbury Cake Mix

So, I'm all about scratch cooking, right? Except when I'm not.

I mean, I've created my own cake recipes, starting from basic ratios of ingredients. But other times ...

I had a cake concept in my head and the important part wasn't the cake itself. I decided to use a box mix because it was easy. And, seriously, cakes at high altitude can be annoying. I didn't want the concept to fail because a cake recipe didn't adapt well to high altitude.

So I picked up a box of Pillsbury Moist Supreme Devil's Food cake mix.

I hadn't used a cake mix in quite some time, so it was a somewhat random choice. Well, except that the Pillsbury Doughboy was very prominent on the front of the box. He's one of my favorite product spokes-animations. Right up there with the Geiko Gecko.

But I digress. I bought the cake mix and on a cool(ish) evening decided to embark on my cake mix project. The first thing I did was check the box for high altitude instructions. I looked on the front, back, sides, top and bottom. I looked on the inside flap.

And then I looked again.

No high altitude adjustments. Dangit.

Other box mixes I used in the past had some sort of adjustments, like adding a tablespoon of flour and maybe more or less water. Sometimes a different baking temperature or time. Ugh.

But, rather than make a wrong adjustment, I made the recipe as it was printed on the box, and hoped for the best.

Much to my surprise, it was done exactly on time, and it was freaking perfect. A nice bounce, a firm cake, and it didn't over-rise and collapse, which is the second-worst thing a cake could do. Worst is when it overflows the pan.

I was in shock, I tell you. Shock.

I still plan on making from-scratch cakes, particularly when I'm yearning for something new and different. But I might have to re-think my insistence on from-scratch every time.

How about you? Are there cake mixes you like? Or do bake from scratch every single time?

This is not a sponsored post, and I didn't get anything to sample. I bought the cake mix.