Every box of cake mix has a story
Pat Ernst Dugan
July 14, 2005

Think about having a neighborhood bring-a-dish-to-pass picnic, and see what culinary history you collect!

My experience started with a neighborhood brunch and the desire to cook on a cold winter day and to know my neighbors. The richness of the conversations we had endures.

I love hearing family stories of traditional and nontraditional celebration meals and passed-down recipes. Some might call it folklore, some might call it trivia, but an amazing number of amateur historians, everyday cooks, chefs, caterers, food stylists, cooking teachers, nutritionists and curious neighbors are actually participating in culinary history.

Groups of culinary historians have begun organizing around the United States only as recently as 1985, with large groups focused in the Chicago, New York and Boston areas. They have banded together to study food and drink in human cultures all over the world.
Naturally enough, when these groups gather, they share recipes, stories and food. Web sites such as www.
culinaryhistorians.org and www.culinaryhistoriansny.org provide details of programs, newsletters and recipes. A new admiration for old cookbooks and cookbook collections has developed out of this new field of intellectual curiosity.

The other day, as I was baking a cake for a summer picnic, I recalled a delightful bit of culinary history that came to the table the day of the brunch.

A near neighbor, Joan Leffel, told of her first work experience for a Chicago ad agency. A client (unnamed) had developed a brand new convenience product — cake mix.

The company felt that cake mix had potential, but boxes of the new product were not flying off grocery store shelves. Joan participated in a consumer survey and found that bakers felt more comfortable using a cake mix if they did more that just add water to the mix. So the company went back to the test kitchens and developed a cake mix that required the home cook to crack eggs into the dry mix, thereby creating a much more satisfying “almost made from scratch”
experience. In all my research, I had not found that bit of culinary history anywhere!

What I did find is that General Mills, in response to many questions about Gold Medal Flour, developed the character Betty Crocker in 1921. She was the friendly face and comfortable signature that accompanied answers to consumer questions. Through the years, Betty has had many updated faces, but has always remained that reassuring presence on company cake-mix boxes.
You might also wonder about Duncan Hines. He was a real person, a traveling salesman who enjoyed eating in restaurants across America. He developed a list of favorite restaurants “recommended by Duncan Hines” that he and his wife sent to friends one Christmas. Duncan’s reputation for recognizing quality spread and in 1948 Roy Park, a businessman from North Carolina, approached Duncan and asked him to lend his name to packaged goods that at first included a wide variety of dishes, but today concentrates on cake mixes.

Anne Bryn continues the national interest in cake mixes with her cookbook series that began with “The Cake Mix Doctor,” (Workman, 1999). Anne presents 175 cake-mix variations, including Snickerdoodle Cake using plain white cake mix, Mississippi Mud Cake with devil’s food cake mix as a base and Earthquake Cake made from German chocolate cake mix.

Check out her Web site, www.cakemixdoctor.com, where you can sign up for her “Piece of Cake” newsletter and enjoy tips from other cake-mix fans.

Anne explains her mother’s theory on cakes: “You can get away with baking a cake from a mix, but you absolutely must make homemade icing.”

I agree in part with mom’s statement — homemade icings are always a must, especially when they are as easy and tasty as the following!

Pat’s Favorite Miracle Icing
Note: This is a white fluffy icing with ample quantity for a layer cake. Just fill the cake with purchased lemon curd and top with shredded coconut. It is best made the day consumed. I adapted the recipe from “The Best In Cooking: Favorite Recipes Compiled by Ladies Auxiliary of the Marconi Lodge, Leechburg, Pa.”

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup water
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 unbeaten egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix sugar, water and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Let cool about 4 minutes.
Place egg whites and cream of tartar in small mixer bowl. Turn mixer to high speed and when eggs are frothy, pour sugar syrup slowly into eggs. Beat at high speed until thick enough to spread, about 5 minutes, adding vanilla toward the end.

Pat Ernst Dugan is a private chef, educator and food/recipe writer. E-mail her at foodlyyours@aol.com or send comments and questions to be forwarded to: Foodly Yours, Star-Gazette, Attn: Features Department, 201 Baldwin St., P.O. Box 285, Elmira, NY 14902