Rating: 
Summary: Great book, very useful
Review: Although I have several "serious" cookbooks about cakes and baking, this one will see a lot of action in my kitchen. There's something for everyone and every occasion here, most of them are quick and easy. I made the "Holy Cow" cake for a birthday two weeks ago and my family is still talking about it.
Rating:
Summary: The most important cake book to have in the kitchen
Review: I detested cake mixes from the time I was a kid. At birthday parties, I would refuse to eat the cake if it tasted like it came from a mix. The idea of this book was intriguing. Could the ease and consistently light-texture of a box ever taste like scratch? Based on these recipes, the answer is a resounding yes. I am amazed at the results I have achieved and I consider myself an accomplished cake baker. After devouring the Banana Cake with Caramel Icing, I would never even consider baking a banana cake from scratch. This book is a gem. Anyone interested in cake baking MUST have this important work in their collection. Baking cakes will never be the same for me.
Rating: 
Summary: No one will believe these desserts came out of a box!
Review: Hi readers!In June of 1998 I was like many newspaper food writers in that I wanted to make readers hungry but I knew that everyone's desire to cook slows down in languid summer months, even in the Southern Cake Belt where I live! So I decided to share some of my favorite recipes for doctoring up a cake mix. Frankly, these were recipes I had squirreled away thinking I'd use one day, but in 20 years of writing I had never shared them. The from-scratch food snob in me? Perhaps. But share I did with my apricot nectar cake and chocolate Bundt cake, and I asked readers to do the same - send me their favorite recipe beginning with a cake mix. Well, in just one week more than 500 recipes poured in, and I, the food snob, was flabbergasted. I set out to write a sequel, and more recipes poured in, and in the midst of all the batters and frostings and good fun I came to the realization that doctoring up cake mixes can be quite delicious, plus it's one-bowl easy. You rely on the convenience, reliability and ease of the cake mix, and you add your own touches to give the cake a signature taste. No back-of-the-box following in this book! I add whole eggs to a white mix for color, flavor and texture. I up the chocolate taste in a devil's food mix with cocoa powder. And whereas purists may flinch, I know that when you fire up the oven, rev up the mixer and count fresh eggs, you are baking. And your family will thank you for it. Many of those initial reader recipes grace the pages, as well as recipes I developed just for the book, like cheesecakes, gooey butter cakes, bars, crisps, even a gingerbread house. My favorites? Banana Cake with Quick Caramel Frosting, Pina Colada Cake, Apple Walnut Crisp, Lemon Buttermilk Poppyseed Cake, Stacy's Chocolate Chip Cake. But that's a difficult question. I hope as you sample your way through my book that you realize that baking isn't an ordeal. You can bake on the spur of the moment with just some ingredients from your pantry. You can bake even if you've never taken a cooking course. And no one will ever believe your wonderful desserts came out of a box. All the best, Anne
Rating:
Summary: Impressive cakes in no time flat!
Review: I had no idea that cake mixes could be doctored until I picked up Anne Byrn's amazing cookbook. The recipes are very easy to follow and I am able to whip up an impressive doctored up cake mix in 5 to 10 minutes! Anne Byrn has included wonderful baking tips and tricks, as well as the history of cake mixes. She incorporated a terrific index in the back. For instance, if you have a box of white pudding cake in the pantry, you can look under white pudding cake and find a list of recipes to make with that mix. Or, you can look up a specific recipe name. She's got color photos of the luscious cakes in the front of the book! I plan to buy several copies to give away as gifts. The price is right, too! Thank you Anne!
Rating:
Summary: EASY DOES IT!
Review: THE CAKE MIX DOCTOR is the greatest "easy-bake" book that I've ever read and used. The author, Anne Byrn, must have really put a lot of thought and practice into this one and it shows. The first plus is that she shows a picture of each finished delicacy in the front of the book. The cook can select the perfect dessert for any occasion, then go straight to the referenced page. The second plus is that each recipe is made by using a box cake mix as the basic ingredient. The final plus is that if the directions are followed to the letter, the dessert comes out perfectly. These sweets range from assorted cakes and breads to biscotti and cookies. There are even fruit pizza, cheesecake and a gingerbread house. This book is excellent for its intended audience, yet it is NOT for the die-hard scratch cake enthusiast.
Rating:
Summary: Do yourself a favor and buy this book
Review: This book has made me a cake lover. Every cake comes out perfect and yet the best part is that every recipe starts with a boxed mix. However, you would never guess as each cake is decadent. The pictures of each cake listed in the front of the book is a bit cheasy but can be really fun if you let friends pick which cake they want for thier birthday based on the pictures. This book rocks.
Rating:
Summary: Easy, delicious recipes (with photos!)
Review: I love baking cakes so this book was perfect for me. I used to bake everything from scratch, but realized many people really didn't care if I spent four hours or one hour making a chocolate cake. They just like cake!
Now I can bake more often for others without feeling like I am a complete cheat. The addition of butter, oil, eggs, etc. to mixes really does make a difference.
The book has a lot of neat recipes, color photos and helpful hints.
Rating:
Summary: Best Cookbook EVER!!!
Review: This is a must have item for baking. I have baked almost every single cake from this book and all with great reviews from co-workers. I honestly don't think a baker should be without it. Most of these cakes are very simple and quick.
Rating: 
Summary: Watch Out - Some Recipes Are A Disaster
Review: I bought this book when it came out in 1999, and maybe there were some mistakes I am not aware of. I have made at least a dozen of the recipes and they were fine, but a couple more were unmitigated disasters. I could tell from the ingredient list and amounts that something didn't feel quite right, but I proceeded to do exactly as the recipe said. Stacy's Chocolate Chip Cake called for one cup of milk and one cup of oil. ONE CUP of oil. The cake never baked entirely and fell into a gooey mass once removed from the oven. Go with your gut instincts on some of these if you are a seasoned cook, if it looks like too much liquid or not enough, there is probably a mistake in the recipe.
Rating:
Summary: From a Die-Hard Baker
Review: I used to pride myself on my baked goods and for years made all my cakes and cookies from scratch - in fact, I turned up my nose at cake mixes. But now, with an 11-month old baby, cake mix cakes are all that I make! You'll find many delicious recipes in this book, and most can be whipped up and in the oven in under 30 minutes. I find it easiest and quickest to bake the cakes in a tube pan, and make a simple glaze to drizzle on top. Most also freeze well, so sometimes I'll bake a cake in two loaf pans and store one in the freezer to have available later. I probably bake several cakes a month - to give as thank-you's, to welcome new neighbors, to bring to dinners at friends', for my husband to take to work.
You'll also find that once you get the hang of making these cakes, you'll come up with your own combinations. Don't be afraid to deviate from the cake mix and pudding flavors suggested in the recipes. My favorite combination, one that I use in many of the recipes, involves Duncan Hines Golden Butter Recipe and Butterscotch pudding mix.
One recipe that took me by surprise was the biscotti - so easy, and so delicious!
My only complaint about the book is that Anne offers helpful hints (e.g., substituting pan sizes, add-ins for cakes, loaf pan ideas) that are sprinkled rather haphazardly throughout the book. I find myself marking these pages with little stickies so that I can find them easily.
These are the top ten recipes that I've had the greatest success with, received many compliments on, and that I make over and over again:
1 Kathy's Cinnamon Breakfast Cake (try the DH Golden Butter / Butterscotch pudding combo here - it's fantastic!)
2 Orange Dreamsicle Cake
3 Chocolate Praline Cake
4 Biscotti (try DH Golden Butter with mini chocolate chips)
5 Orange-Cinnamon Poppyseed Cake
6 Lemon Buttermilk Poppyseed Cake
7 Banana Cake
8 Favorite Apricot Nectar Cake (try coming up with your own flavor combinations, such as Pineapple cake mix, Orange Jello, and Guava nectar)
9 Pineapple Inside-Out Cake
10 Amaretto Cake
And some recipes I didn't like so much:
Triple-Decker Strawberry Cake (tasted like Crunchberry cereal)
Toasted Coconut Sour Cream Cake (just okay, not impressed)
Incredible Melted Ice-Cream Cake (haven't had great success finding an ice-cream flavor that works well in this recipe)
Chocolate Better Than ? Cake (dry, not that good)
Chocolate Pistachio Cake (flavor was strange)
Double-Chocolate Chewies (didn't taste that great)
Penuche Frosting (too difficult to work with, sets up too quickly)
Have fun!
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