Customer Reviews

101 Things to Do with a Cake Mix

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

'101 Things to do with a Cake Mix' is as unique and fun as it's packaging. The book comes in a 7 1\2' by 5 1\2' size, with spiral binding and a plastic cover. The packaging makes the book extremely useful ' no propping the pages open or worrying about wrecking the cover by dropping cake batter all over it. All cookbooks should be this easy to bake with!

The book is great for a wide range of bakers, but parents will value this book as a treasure chest of family fun. The final chapter of the book is 'Children's Delights.' The recipes include 'Delicious Dirt', which is a recipe for a chocolate pudding cake, covered with 'dirt' (crushed Oreo cookies). There are seasonal recipes for holiday activities, such as 'Valentine Cookies,' 'American Flag Cake,' 'Halloween Spider Cake,' and even a 'Peppermint Cake.' The children's chapter will guarantee fun for cooking with your children during the holidays.

While baking from this book, two recipes in particular stood out: 'Heavenly Brownies' and 'Sweet Delights.' 'Heavenly Brownies' (page 25) is a classic cream-cheese brownie recipe, without the brownie mix. Ashcraft substitutes a chocolate cake mix in place of the traditional brownie mix. These brownies bake wonderfully, they are moist and decadent. The 'heavenly' twist in the name makes them ideal for church bake sales and Sunday school classes. I pack them in tins and give them away as 'care packages.'

The 'Sweet Delights' recipe (page 37) is a sure kid-pleaser. My test audience was my one-year-old nephew. He gobbled these cookies down, leaving behind nothing but a chocolate-covered giggle and fudgy handprints on his highchair. The cookies are moist, chewy, and don't involve measuring a large amount of ingredients. The recipe relies solely on a cake mix (of any flavor, I chose Devil's food), brown sugar, oil, eggs, and chocolate chips. They were almost too easy for how good they tasted. A winning recipe!

For fans of bundt cakes, Ashcraft includes recipes for eight different varieties of bundt cakes. 'Give me a bundt cake and no one gets hurt!' The recipes include classic favorites such as Death-By-Chocolate and Luscious Lemon. For newer favorites, there are Pistachio Pound Cakes and Cream-Cheese Lemon Pound Cakes. There is a variety of bundt cake in this chapter to please every palate.

On the whole, this cookbook relies on readily-accessible ingredients: cake mixes, brown sugar, eggs, oil, chocolate chips, powdered sugar, nuts, and flour. Some recipes, however, require planning as they use ingredients that you may not keep handy. Cherry pie filling, lemon instant pudding, wheat germ, cream cheese, and sour cream are examples of ingredients I did not have stocked as I perused the recipes.

My one difficulty with using this book is that there are no pictures. Not one. There's not even a smiling picture of the author. Not having a reference for colors and textures is aggravating, you have to guess your way along unfamiliar recipes. There is also no guide for decorating ideas. This requires a fair bit of experience and creativity on the part of the reader. However, the cover price makes it a bargain purchase, pictures of no pictures. The Helpful Hints section on page 9 also adds a lot of value to this innovative book.

Stephanie Ashcraft's mother taught her "that anything could be made with a cake mix." It does seem to be true. This tiny, easy-to-read cookbook has recipes for everything from Chocolate Chip Cookies to Peppermint Cake. Stephanie teaches a cooking class entitled "101 Things to Do with a cake Mix" for Macey's Little Cooking Theatre in Provo and Orem, Utah.

There are a few helpful hints on page 9 that teach you a few tricks about baking cakes, making chewier cookies and keeping fruit fresh. I've never used glass or stoneware baking dishes for cakes, so that is a new idea for me. I've been buying my cake pans from "Jane's Cakes & Chocolates." The results were rather stunning when I used the pans she sells.

What amazes me about this cookbook is the sheer simplicity of the recipes and the absolute beauty of the results. Some of the recipes you might enjoy:

White-Chocolate Fudge Bars
Easy Snicker Doodles
Lemon-Lime Refrigerator Cake
Apple-Spice Cake
Valentine Love Cake (strawberry juice soaks into the cake)
Orange-Pumpkin Cake
Oatmeal-Raisin Muffins
Easy Ice Cream Sandwiches

It was quite by accident that I tried the recipe on "page 101" and took the cake to our Thanksgiving party. The recipe was for Pistachio Pound Cake and it turned out to be "Moist, chocolaty, pistachio, dream cake." My relatives were impressed. It is not every day that I try a new recipe and then bravely take the cake to a party, but this book looked like a winner. The ingredients are little more than a white cake mix and pistachio instant pudding. In fact, I made this so fast, I thought for sure I'd missed a few steps.

Well, there are really only three steps and 8 ingredients. It is the easiest cake I've ever made and the instant pudding and chocolate syrup take vanilla cake to new heights. Already my husband has asked me to make this cake again and I'm planning on making it and shipping it to friends and relatives.

While the cake is a pound cake, there is no reason why you can't make a orange cream icing by mixing two cups of confectioners' sugar with a little orange juice and cream until it is a smooth consistency. Then, pour over the top of the cake. A few sprinkles of orange zest and off to the party you go. I think this cake will ship very well and plan to try to ship it out to my homemade-cake-deprived friends. No, I'm not telling them this is made from a box mix!

All I have left to say is, you will get requests for the cakes in this book. I look forward to trying more of the recipes as soon as I can get to the store to buy more cake mixes and instant puddings.

~The Rebecca Review

I just loved this book. So often we get cook books that say easy as 1 2 3 and they end up being as hard as 98 99 100!! One of the best things about the book is most of the ingredients you will have in you cabinets, no running around to speciality shops to find items you never heard of. I get more compliments when I make one of the cakes, I have more people ask me for the recipe, and when I bring a cake to a party there is never any left over. I would rather cook than bake but with this book I am baking more. I cant't say enough about it, just buy it and you will be the hit of the party.
Linda

What a great book! The recipe's are so simple and make you (the cook) look like a gourmet cook! Many of the recipe's use items you already have on hand so you can take a regular cake mix and turn into a FABULOUS homemade desert. I found this book to be a great wedding gift, a "have-to have" book to send off to college with your college student, and easy enough for young children to make and share with pride.

This book is a MUST for busy people on the go who want to make a wonderful desert without all the fuss.

I tell you what, this cookbook RULES. I got married with ZERO skills in the kitchen, and I married a man who loves good baked goods. I was like "Sheesh! HOw do I learn how to make yummy stuff, when I haven't clue one how to begin, & we're broke.... it's not like I can experiment with expensive ingredients & make a bunch of mistakes & turn out gross cakes."

THIS BOOK was my total salvation & I am not kidding! I literally use it EVERY WEEK. I have had this book for probably 4 years and I have developed A GREAT reputation as an EXCEPTIONAL breads & cake baker!! NO KIDDING.

I bring refreshments at church every other week for after service, & people RAVE about my stuff & can't wait until I am Treats Lady the next time.

YOU HAVE GOT TO TRY the corn bread. It is THE EASIEST thing in the WORLD to make; my children can make it. And it tastes soooooooo good! The loaves bake up so pretty; I even give it as gifts. One lady was like "What makes this SO GOOD? DO you put cream in it? butter?" NOPE! NEITHER!

And I don't give ANYONE my recipes from this book OR give this book as a gift. because the recipes are SO EASY that it would blow my cover as a great baker! I just tell everyone the recipe is a SECRET whenever I bring a super-good treat somewhere!!

My mother in law is a total from-scratch cook & does all recipes the LONG way. EVEN SHE cannot duplicate the results I have gotten from THIS BOOK!

EASY! FUN! And I have NEVER had a recipe flop from this book.
YOU HAVE GOT TO TRY IT! YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID!!!!!

Of course, you can make cakes with cake mixes - and there's a host of cakes which embellish store mixes with added ingredients for superior results - but also the cake mix can be used to produce cookies, breads, and brownies. 101 Things To Do With A Cake Mix offers a host of recipes which use the mix as a foundation for greater things. The lay-flat comb binding will prove handy to cooks and the clear plastic protective cover will keep 101 Things To Do With A Cake Mix looking fresh and new in the kitchen.

I bought this book as a stocking stuffer for a young friend who is a novice cook. I have the "Cake Mix Doctor" and use it frequently for a quick, easy, and very good looking product. Wish I could say that "101" was the same. Directions are unclear or missing. It is easy to prop on the counter, most ingredients are easily obtainable, but spend the extra few bucks and get the "Cake Mix Doctor" for its completeness and a lot more recipes. My friend calls me frequently for help and rescue. If you can have one fix it easy and fast book, do not make it this one.

I love to bake but found this book to be missing some very important features. The number of servings per recipe is not included along with other important measurements. The cooking times are also way off for some of the recipes. It's a good book for creative ideas.

Kindle users - be warned that some recipes are not displayed correctly. I think it's because the recipes are in a table format. But in any case in many recipes the quantities are not lined up correctly with the ingredients. Also a table number is listed,mysteriously, as part of each recipe.

Want some ideas on something different to do with a cake mix instead of just following the recipe on the box? You will find lots of ideas in this book. Starting with a cake mix you end up with brownies, cookies, muffins, and other items. Or if you just want to take the basic cake recipe and make it into something unusual how about using fruit fillings in a cake, or applesauce, or Butterfinger candy bars. The author also includes some children's recipes and other unique ideas like a Jack-O-Lantern cake that uses two bundt cakes with the flat side put together.

The book is spiral bound to lay flat and has a protective plastic covering, as should all cookbooks. 101 Things to Do With a Cake Mix is recommended for anyone looking for creative ways to create the extraordinary from an ordinary cake mix.