Thula’s easy homemade Cake Mix {The story}
This is an attempt at making baking more enjoyable! After weeks of testing and re-testing I have created two cake mixes- white and brown on which my future recipes will be based upon and here in I am giving it out – yes giving it out. .
Ok. What is the goal/aim/design requirements behind the “cake mix”……
AIM:
- Yield cakes that are tender and flavorful.
- Yield cakes that are structurally strong enough to decorate upon – “decorator friendly”.
- Cut-short cake preparation time by the having the mix pre-made and ready to use as needed.
I must admit- I am Bakeaholic !
In my early days of baking , many years ago, I first started with family recipes (my mother’s date and nut, pineapple upside down and jaggery cakes are a hit!)…. Once I got comfortable with basic baking, I moved onto trying popular internet found recipes .
As much as I have loved following others’ recipes, the researcher in me wanted to experiment and create my own scratch recipe line that gave a good balance between taste and structure.
I did the needed study- Learnt the science behind every step and technique, and understood the role each ingredient plays in baking (Read part 1, part 2, and part 3 of basics)…. With a teeny bit of confidence and my fingers crossed I started experimenting ! After 12 painstaking days of trials and fails came VICTORY !!!
I found a perfect balance of dry : wet ingredients and created from scratch basic- vanilla and chocolate cakes. I re-tested these recipes several times with my family, colleagues, and friends who gave me the needed validation………………..HOOORAAAAH !!
Next, my goal was to find a solution to cut short preparation time and make baking more enjoyable…
Ever since my career break in science, I have been trying to find a balance between full-time parenting and pursuing my passion in cake decorating. As much as I love designing cakes and experimenting with new flavors, I find baking from scratch -the steps involved in accurate measurements, flour preparation, pan preparation etc to achieve that perfect cake, a little overwhelming at times.
My family has had days of sudden cake cravings…there have been numerous occasions when friends contact me for last minute cakes .. And those “on short notice” visitors ….”Thula, hope we get to try one of your cakes !!”;)
How to have a win-win ?
The most tedious task in baking seemed like the dry mix preparation…. So it occurred to me, why not create my own cake mix that can be made and stored in advance! I combined the dry ingredients to create two standard base mixes- white and brown. These mixes were then used as a base to create new recipes from basic vanilla, chocolate, red velvet, yellow sponge etc. to many other creative and delicious flavors which I am hoping to share with you over the coming days!
I like to allocate a day each month to prepare these jar mixes- usually 6-8 at a time as per my baking needs…..and enjoy the rest of the month baking and diving into treats ! You can store your cake mixes in 32 Oz jars, and every time my recipe calls for a “white” or “brown” cake mix just bring it out, sift and use!
Time cut short, and baking got more enjoyable!!!!…………I must admit, I am BAKEAHOLIC !!!!
INGREDIENTS
Thula’s White Cake Mix
- 300 g cake flour
- 100 g all-purpose flour (bleached/unbleached)
- 2.5 tsp Baking Powder
- 1.5 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 TB carnation milk powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 100 g granulated sugar
Thula’s Brown cake mix
- 300 g Cake flour
- 100 g all-purpose flour (bleached/unbleached)
- 2.5 tsp Baking powder
- 1.5 tsp baking soda
- 60 g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 TB Milk powder of your choice (super fine)
- 100 g Granulated sugar
*If you don’t have “cake flour” then use 360 grams all-purpose flour (bleached or unbleached)+ 40 grams corn starch in place of “flour”.
Method
- I use a bench electronic weighing scale to measure out my dry ingredients. Place a mason jar (32 Oz), hit tare to bring the reading to zero.
- Add each ingredient into the mason jar. Hit tare and start from zero grams every time you add an ingredient.
- Hand-whisk this to give it a quick rough mix. Store in a dark, dry cabinet or if you live in a very humid environment store in the refrigerator in which case you will need to bring the mix to room temperature before use.
- The expiry date of this mix will be the date on the carton of the ingredient which expires first. (for example if my flour has a shelf life of one year but milk powder for 5 months then the mix expires at this 5 month mark (hope this makes sense). Write down this date on your lid.
- Proceed to Flour mix preparation
Tip: These cake mix Jars with an attached recipe card and simple ribbon decoration can be great house warming/shower/birthday gift !
Hope you enjoyed reading. Please leave a feedback and share if you found this article useful.
Happy Baking!
Post Edit: Many of you requested, so I have created two recipe cards under the “recipe” tab for easy reference. Enjoy !
Twinkle Sason
July 24, 2016
OMG it’s such a blessing that I came across person like u who r ready to share their own hardwork with other people.. It’s such a useful n needful time saving treasure u have share with us …. Thnx a lot…
Thulashitha RD
July 24, 2016
You are very kind ! thanks for the feedback , I am glad you are enjoying the post. Stay tuned to recipe and tutorial updates 🙂
reshma
September 18, 2016
love you for your work.m learning to bake from you.thanks a ton
Thulashitha RD
September 18, 2016
I am so glad to read this! Anytime Reshma 🙂 ping me anytime with questions under relevant posts. thanks
Shipra Godha
July 24, 2016
Wat wet ingredients to be used?can it be made eggless?
Thulashitha RD
July 24, 2016
Hello Shipra, the cake mix is a ready-made dry mix. The wet ingredients will vary depending on the cake recipe- stay tuned for recipe updates in the following weeks!
For eggless options please read – “Cake Baking 101: (Part 1) Know your Ingredients”
Thanks !
Vaishali
July 24, 2016
After making the mix how to proceed to make cake???
Thulashitha RD
July 24, 2016
Vaishali, the cake recipes are coming up. I will update recipes under the “recipe” tab. Working on it, thanks for your patience 🙂
Khyati
July 24, 2016
Hi any milk powder can be used right??? And if no cake flour is there then all purpose flour and corn flour correct???
Thulashitha RD
July 24, 2016
Khyati you are correct. Any milk powder in place of carnation powder should work.
Yes , if no cake flour then use all purpose+ corn starch.
Priyanka
July 24, 2016
Hi thula
Thanks for this amazing recipe….can we use something else instead of carnation milk powder , as it’s not easily available in India ..please guide .
Thulashitha RD
July 24, 2016
Anytime Priyanka ! yes, you can replace it with any milk powder that’s available. The purpose of adding milk powder is to add creaminess.
Priyanka
July 24, 2016
Any replacement for carnation milk powder ? Can we normal milk powder..actually carnation milk powder is not available in India .please suggest
mrs .Polly Thomas
July 24, 2016
Thanks for the recipe.It is nice of you to come with new idea.save time.Very Good
Thulashitha RD
July 24, 2016
Thanks for your feedback Mrs.Polly Thomas! I am glad I am able to share my creative ideas via this platform 🙂
Tehseena Nazneen
July 24, 2016
Hi. Thanks for the wonderful recipe. But isnt the sugar very less? I was looking for a good vanilla cake recipe which I could decorate for cool cakes. Can I add sugar syrup for cool cakes to this?
Thulashitha RD
July 24, 2016
Tahseen. When you read my upcoming cake recipes you will understand why I use 50grams sugar in the cake mix ! Thanks for your patience while I update the “recipe” tab 🙂
Manjit Kaur
July 24, 2016
Thanks for such a nice write up and time saving ready cake mix. Would like to know how to replace cake for. You have already mentioned 100 gms all purpose flour. Please clarify. Regards
Thulashitha RD
July 24, 2016
Hello Manjit, thank you for the feedback.
In place of “flour” use all purpose flour 360 grams + corn starch 40 grams. The total weight of flour is 400 grams. Thanks !
Thulashitha RD
July 24, 2016
Anytime Bharati 🙂
Aparna
July 25, 2016
Thanks for the recipe. I have two questions why add 100g of all purpose flour, when we are using cake flour? Isn’t this going to be a huge cake with 400 GM’s of flour?
Thulashitha RD
July 25, 2016
Aparna, feel free to replace flour completely with all purpose flour. My goal was to find that “perfect cake” with the least amount of cake flour possible given that it comes in small package size and it’s cost.
The cake size, yes… it is going to be bigger than regular non iced cakes. My recipes are tailored to suite “cake designers”. Thank you!
aparna
July 25, 2016
Wow…awesome n thanx for sharing such valuable information with us…..
Thulashitha RD
July 25, 2016
Anytime ! thank you for your feedback 🙂
kshama
July 25, 2016
Can we share this recipe to anyone?
Thulashitha RD
July 25, 2016
Kshama, yes you can as long as you share my “link” or “page” giving credits to my work (please read copyrights agreement 2016 on the bottom of my page). Thank you!
Lela Luster
July 25, 2016
I am sooo enjoying the fabulous information that you are sharing with all of us..! I try to learn something new about baking and cakes every day of my life. It’s a hobby with me but also a huge source of added income for my husband and me. You are awesome sweet lady….Tell us more. !!
Thulashitha RD
July 26, 2016
Thank you for your feedback Lela… glad you are enjoying it here 🙂 I sure will “tell you more” , please stay tuned 🙂
Tehseena Nazneen
July 25, 2016
Ok Thanks
Ann nduku
July 27, 2016
I cant imagine what i am learning from your blog thulas. You have come yo me the right time and am hapy to understand my ingredients. May God bless you for this good knowledge you are passing to other aspiring bakers like me.
Ranjitha
July 27, 2016
Hi Thula,
Thanks for sharing the cake mix recipe. I am not a frequent baker and don’t own a digital scale. So can you please provide the flour measurements in cups. Thanks!
Thulashitha RD
July 27, 2016
Ranjitha, I highly recommend investing in a small digital kitchen scale- i got mine at a very cheap cost.most of my baking is based on weight rather than cups to improve accuracy.
Here is the conversion
125 grams -1 cup
Thanks.
Rekha
July 27, 2016
Thanks a ton for the time saver….n fir ur valuable time to make this lot more easier….waiting for the nxt move?
Thulashitha RD
July 27, 2016
My pleasure Rekha. working on the “new move” 😉 stay tuned !
Anju Aravind
July 30, 2016
Hi Thuls….. Had been reading it over and over again… It’s a blessing for people like me who want to make good cakes and can’t go for any classes for whatever reasons.. I can’t express my joy in words here.. May God bless you with everything in abundance.. Eagerly waiting for your updates…. Also please include recipes for cupcakes.
Thulashitha RD
July 30, 2016
Anju… your feedback means a lot to me ! It is 2 am here in California and I am updating my recipe tab. Stay tuned and thanks again.
Helam Kipgen
October 9, 2016
I always wanted my cakes to turn out beautifully. But given that I wanted them to be perfect each time, I was left disappointed many a time. So you can imagine my thrill when I came across your pin perfect ideas. Now I am raring to go. You are godsent. Thanks a ton for your generosity ???
Thulashitha RD
October 9, 2016
Aww I am so glad Helam ! thanks for your feedback 🙂