Aside for last year's attendees: You may remember that they were a little dry, but that's because I stored them improperly. They were quite yummy when I made them. Because I take myself too seriously, I made them again on my birthday in January and got rave reviews.To make them spectacular, I used special cake flour and baking sugar. However, our dear friend Betty (Crocker, that is) puts magic in her cake mixes and I could do roughly* the same 96 cupcakes with only 12 eggs. And Safeway has Betty's cake mix on sale for $0.99/box.
The question is: does the savings in time really pay off in dollars?
*I say that Betty's cupcakes are roughly the same because most people aren't foodie-wanna-be's like me so they may not even notice the difference.
Doing the Math...
- I bought eggs on sale for $1 per dozen at QFC. I will need $2 in eggs for the recipe or $1 in eggs for the mixes.
- The other big expense is the fat. The cake mixes call for vegetable oil and the scratch recipe calls for butter. I would probably substitute butter in the mixes anyway because it tastes better. I need 1/3 cup (~5.5 tablespoons) for each mix and 6 tablespoons for each recipe. At $1.99/lb for butter at Costco, I'll need $1.50 in butter for the mixes and $3 in butter for the recipe.
Cake Mixes: $3.96 for mixes, $1 for eggs, and $1.50 for butter = $6.46
Recipe from Scratch: $1 for flour and sugar, $0.50 for other stuff (that's probably over-estimating), $2 for eggs, $3 for butter = ~$6.50
Since it costs the same, what should I do? Are the better tasting cupcakes worth the extra work? I have until Saturday night to decide.
Either way, this is the frosting I'm making.
How very Tightwad Gazette of you! I love it...and it will surprise you, well, not at all to know that i vote for scratch. :) Spending the extra four cents is well worth, too, when you're using real ingredients, not terribly healthy they may be. I'll take butter, flour and sugar any day over a processed mix!
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't think I had one of the cupcakes last year. :( And I really can't say what YOU should do, but what I would do is to make the box mix. I am just no good at cakes--although cupcakes may not be as bad. Less chance to get them lopsided! But you Miss Clara, I am sure can make a quite lovely cake and do not have my problem. I can make many wonderful things...except cake. I just don't go there. I think that the box mix tastes so good anyway! I hope you enjoy your party, wish we could be there!
ReplyDeleteAnd just for the record...I do find it funny that it looks like you left a comment here and then deleted it yourself?