Batter and cake mix

[s1mple_iZi]

What is the difference between "batter" and "cake mix"?

 

[5jj]

Batter (BrE) can be used for making pancakes. It has fewer ingredients than cake mix.

 

[emsr2d2]

Basic batter: flour, eggs, milk
Basic spongecake: butter, sugar, eggs, flour, milk

 

[SoothingDave]

Batter is wet. It's the final form of the product before it is baked. A cake mix is the dry ingredients, pre-measured for you. You need to add eggs, oil, water typically to make the batter from the mix.

 

[Tdol]

You can cover fish in batter and deep fry it for fish and chips. I wouldn't recommend covering fish in cake mix and frying it. Batter can be savoury.

 

[emsr2d2]

You can cover fish in batter and deep fry it for fish and chips. I wouldn't recommend covering fish in cake mix and frying it. Batter can be savoury.

Mind you, most of us wouldn't recommend covering a Mars Bar in savoury batter and deep-frying it but most of Scotland would disagree!

 

[Amigos4]

I wouldn't recommend covering fish in cake mix and frying it.

Isn't that how fishcakes are made?

 

[Tdol]

Isn't that how fishcakes are made?

Fish in cherry batter- sounds wonderful.

 

[Skrej]

Batter is wet. It's the final form of the product before it is baked. A cake mix is the dry ingredients, pre-measured for you. You need to add eggs, oil, water typically to make the batter from the mix.

I agree with Dave. At least in AmE, the distinction between a mix and a batter is the addition of liquid ingredients. Battters are just the wet form of a mix, be they sweet or savory.

 

[emsr2d2]

Batter is wet. It's the final form of the product before it is baked. A cake mix is the dry ingredients, pre-measured for you. You need to add eggs, oil, water typically to make the batter from the mix.

That's definitely different in the UK. Whilst it is possible to buy ready-made cake mix in packets/boxes, most people make cakes from scratch. After you've mixed all the ingredients together and are ready to pour it into the tin for baking, it's cake mix. I'm sure one thing is the same all over the world - the best bit for kids is being allowed to scrape the remaining mix off the sides of the bowl and lick the spoon clean.

 

[Skrej]

Mind you, most of us wouldn't recommend covering a Mars Bar in savoury batter and deep-frying it but most of Scotland would disagree!

Sounds like the American South, where they batter and fry damn near anything - moon pies, candy bars, ice cream and even Oreos. And that's just on the sweet side of things. On the savory(?) side, there are things like deep fried butter (popular both as nuggets and entire stick form), fried beer (think ravioli filled with beer, and yes you have to be 21 to buy it), and fried pickles (actually these are fairly common across much of the US).

Pro-tip on the fried pickles - I recommend slices, not spears. Also, IMO only dill pickles should be fried. While I enjoy bread-and-butter pickles as well, they just don't fry well.

 

[probus]

An interesting little sidebar from Malcolm Gladwell. When boxed cake mixes were first introduced, they contained dry powdered egg and all that had to be added was water, but they were a flop in the market. Only when they were changed so that eggs had to be added did they begin to sell well.

 

[Amigos4]

An interesting little sidebar from Malcolm Gladwell. When boxed cake mixes were first introduced, they contained dry powdered egg and all that had to be added was water, but they were a flop in the market. Only when they were changed so that eggs had to be added did they begin to sell well.

For those who might be interested, a brief history of the origin of packaged cake mixes can be found here.

 

[5jj]

That's definitely different in the UK. Whilst it is possible to buy ready-made cake mix in packets/boxes, most people make cakes from scratch.

That may be true of the people you know, but there seem to be a lot of cake mixes on the shelves if it's universally true.

 

[Tdol]

On the savory(?) side, there are things like deep fried butter (popular both as nuggets and entire stick form)

I had to Google that one to make sure.

 

[Amigos4]

That's definitely different in the UK. Whilst it is possible to buy ready-made cake mix in packets/boxes, most people make cakes from scratch.

That may be true of the people you know, but there seem to be a lot of cake mixes on the shelves if it's universally true.

While 'most people make cakes from scratch' in the UK, statistics based on the U.S. Census data and Simmons National Consumer Survey (NHCS) indicate 186.18 million Americans used dry cake mixes (not cake flour) in 2020. Source
It may be a good time to buy stock in cake mix companies!

 

[Tdol]

And that was during lockdown when we were going sourdough crazy as home bakers. I should get into investing.

 

[Skrej]

I had to Google that one to make sure.

I've never tried it, but then again I don't eat butter straight, although Simon Leach (of the British potting family dynasty) does.

I was shocked when I first watched that video years ago.