So does King Arthur. And so do upstarts Sprinkles and Stonewall Kitchen. At the 33rd Winter Fancy Food Show, held in February in San Diego, it was clear that premium baking mixes — for everything from scones and bundts to cupcakes and crepes — are hitting their stride.
Like the well-known brands in supermarkets, the luxe mixes of Garten and other newcomers (sold online and in specialty cooking stores) offer consistent results with no-muss, no-fuss preparation. In some cases, you don't even need measuring utensils.
There the similarities between the familiar brands and the upscale mixes end. The price points and palatability part company dramatically.
On sale, Betty Crocker mixes and others of their ilk can go for 10 boxes for $10. The least expensive premium mix displayed at the Fancy Food Show was $6.50 for a carton yielding 3 dozen cookies.
That's before you add your own cup of butter.
The pricey mixes we sampled, which ranged from $10 to $15, had the home baker adding all manner of staples, including lots of butter, eggs, and whole milk. With some, if you wanted frosting, you were on your own to create it from scratch.
But these expenses don't seem to daunt consumers who want the truer taste of homemade. And many cooks who know their way around an entree still appreciate an assist when it comes to baking desserts.
''I cook, but I don't bake,'' said Erika D'Eugenio, retail manager of Great News! Discount Cookware and Cooking School in San Diego, which carries the Barefoot Contessa and Stonewall Kitchen lines. ''But I want my food to taste as if I baked it, so I go for a higher-quality mix. You can definitely taste the difference between Barefoot Contessa and Duncan Hines.''
D'Eugenio says her customers do not balk at the higher-priced mixes.
''I think people are at a point they don't mind paying for quality,'' she said. ''People have seen the Barefoot Contessa make the brownies on her TV show, and they come in here to get the product without all the work.''
In addition to mixes for quick breads, muffins and cakes, Williams-Sonoma stores carry cupcake mixes from the trendy Sprinkles cupcakes chain. Keeping the mixes on the shelves — especially the Red Velvet formula — is challenging, according to Tina Black, assistant manager of a Williams-Sonoma store in Southern California.
''These mixes produce a richer, deeper, more intense flavor than Betty Crocker, which is a nice product, but I really believe it's lighter and not as dense or as flavorful as some of these new mixes,'' Black said.
''People understand that if they want Sprinkles cupcakes, they are going to have to travel to get them and pay $40 a dozen. When you buy one of the mixes, you are actually paying $14 for that same dozen, and you can honestly say they are homemade.''
A Taste from the Shelves
Here are a few premium mixes from the shelves of gourmet shops and the recent Fancy Food Show that struck our fancy.
- Sprinkles Vanilla Cupcake Mix: Cupcakes are the darlings of the dessert world, and none are more precious than the sleek offerings from Sprinkles, a chichi California bakery in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach that has the temerity to charge $40 for a dozen cupcakes. The vanilla mix produced 12 dense, moist cupcakes that looked downright professional once swathed in buttercream and dimpled with the bakery's signature sugar dots. A 16-ounce cylinder of mix with 12 dots is $14 at Williams-Sonoma.
- Stonewall Kitchen Toffee Pecan Cookie Mix: This rich shortbread mix is the easiest of all to assemble and definitely one of the tastiest. All you need are two sticks of room-temperature butter to cream into the mix, which includes bits of butter toffee and finely chopped pecans. The 16-ounce package yields 3 dozen crunchy cookies that would make a nice tea-time treat. $6.50 online at stonewallkitchen.com.
- Barefoot Contessa Outrageous Brownie Mix: Ina Garten's double-chocolate mix delivers outrageously fudgy texture, and the chocolately flavor — with the barest whiff of coffee — shines through. The directions on the pretty cornflower-blue box are crystal-clear, right down to the homey advice: ''Don't leave the store without ...'' Follow the recipe precisely — with your own butter, eggs and optional walnuts — and you will end up with nine whopping brownies, but if this seems an obscene yield for an 8-by-8-inch pan, feel free to cut them smaller. The 20.8-ounce mix is $10 at Crate & Barrel and several sources online, including stonewallkitchen.com.
- Williams-Sonoma Authentic Bundt Double Chocolate Cake Mix: Yes, you have to add your own eggs (4), your own milk (1 1/2 cups), your own butter (2 sticks, unsalted please), and make your own Kahlua Glaze from scratch (if you are so inclined), but the results are worth it. This is one hefty, velvety offering made with Guittard cocoa and Belgian dark chocolate chips that don't get lost. If you are to believe the box's nutritional facts, this 2-pound mix yields a 19-serving cake (but not in my family). It retails for $14 at Williams-Sonoma stores and at W-S online.
- Lollipop Tree Raspberry White Chocolate Scone Mix: Warm from the oven, these mix scones, studded with sun-ripened fruit and white chocolate chips, accomplish what good scones are meant to do — providing a crusty, golden brown exterior and a buttery, tender interior. Slather on some butter or jam if you like, but there is no need to gild the lily. The 13.5-ounce mix touts itself as 70 percent organic and all natural. It makes eight scones and is $7.50 at lollipoptree.com.
- King Arthur All Natural Chocolate Lava Cake Mix in Canister: This easy mix, with the venerable King Arthur name, produces a stunning restaurant-style dessert. Molten lava cakes have been the rage for a while, but replicating them at home with the chocolate puddle that flows out of the center requires a bit of finesse. With this mix, you can make cakelets for two or for a crowd in less than 20 minutes following the easy instructions. The canister makes 12 (3 1/2-inch) individual lava cakes. $12.95 at kingarthurflour.com.
Caroline Dipping writes about food for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
