Cake mixes and convenience store-bought cakes aren't in the same league as those prepared at home with real and fresh ingredients. The look, appeal and taste of a cake whipped up at home more often than not comes much closer to the pictures of gooey, delicious cake depicted on countless cake-mix boxes across the country. After all, how can a box of powder that has sat in boxes and on supermarket shelves for weeks – chock full of chemical additives and concocted by laboratory scientists – realistically turn into a cake that rivals one baked at home with devotion?
Store-bought cakes are not that much better. Designed to look good, most shop-bought baked cakes are in fact made with cheap commodity oils or chemically hardened oils such as palm and soya. Obscure emulsifiers, soya flour and enzyme-based crumb softeners developed from fungi, animals, cereals and bacteria are also often used. These are typically listed as 'processing aids' in the list of ingredients.
Few shop-bought cakes – that is, those not prepared by reliable, quality stores (whether they are part of luxury hampers or not) – are what they seem. Dried egg powders and long-life mixes, rather than shelled eggs, are typically used. Fresh zest and juices typically used in fruit or drizzle cakes are usually substituted with pre-prepared pasteurised zest and concentrates. Synthetic butter rather than real butter are also favoured in these cakes.
Finally, shop-bought cakes are packaged in plastic cases that are ultimately wasteful and bad for the environment. Who needs it? Home-baked cakes are best in every regard: health, look, appeal, and most importantly, taste. Go for home-baked cake whenever you can.
In a bid to compel you to start home-baking, here's a favourite cheesecake recipe (prepared with cream cheese):
Ingredients
• 15 graham crackers, crushed
• 30g butter, melted
• 896g cream cheese
• 300g white sugar
• 180ml milk
• 4 eggs
• 230g sour cream
• 15ml vanilla extract
• 30g all-purpose flour
Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 175C. Grease a 9-inch springform pan. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press on to bottom of springform pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.
3. Bake in pre-heated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.
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