How do you start with an empty bowl and wind up with a triple-layer cake in less than half the time it takes to bake that cake from scratch? Use a mix.

These are instructions from a book called “The Cake Doctor – From Cake Mix to Cake Magnificent” by Anne Byrn.

Cake mixes are a fixture in the American kitchen pantry – used by more than 60 percent of households. And they can be the prescription for dazzling family, friends and business colleagues with your baking prowess.

The cake mix doctor, Byrn, will show the baker her secrets for baking box cakes that taste as if they’re not.

You might think that selecting a cake mix is a minor decision, that a cake mix is just that, a cake mix, right? Wrong. Not only are there slightly different sizes of mixes, there are various manufacturers. And flavors vary with the manufacturer. Some yellow cakes have an overtone of coconut. One white mix has a decidedly cherry taste. Some mixes even contain animal fats, such as lard or beef fat, so you must read the label.

According to a recent Nielson survey, the most popular flavor of cake mix is yellow, followed by white and then devil’s food. Other favorites in descending order include golden, German chocolate, lemon, carrot, French vanilla and chocolate.

The cake mix without the pudding included is the most popular, followed by pudding cakes, angel food, pound, chiffon, bundt and snack cakes.

For making cakes, the pans most needed are two or three 9-inch pans, a 13-by-9-inch metal pan, a 12-cup bundt pan, 10-inch tube pan, possibly a 9-to-10-inch springform pan, baking sheets and cupcake pans. Make sure the baking pans are of good quality.

Although the first mixes were not on the grocery store shelves until after World War II, the cake mix has been evolving since the 1920s.

The cookbook gives a cake mix timeline that follows:

1842: Jay Fowler of Baltimore patents self-rising flour, the beginning of the mix.

1920: Corn muffin mix is developed by Mr. McCollum of New Brunswick, N.J., who tests his products at church suppers.

1921: General Mills creates the Betty Crocker person.

1943: General Mills begins Betty Crocker cake mix research.

1943: Baking mixes, plagued by poor packaging, is tested for use in the U.S. Armed Forces by industry and government teams.

1946: Duncan Hines experimental cake mix testing begins.

1947: General Mills introduces single-layer gingerbread cake mix.

1948: General Mills introduces a white layer cake mix and a chocolate fudge cake mix.

1949: Grand National Recipe and Baking contest from Pillsbury. This is the first bake-off.

1951: Duncan Hines first cake mix, the Three Star Special, stuns competitiors as it captures 48 percent of the market in three weeks.

1951: Pillsbury introduces a yellow cake mix.

1952: Betty Crocker yellow and white cake mixes come onto the market.

1952: Pillsbury angel food cake mix arrives.

1954: Betty Crocker’s Answer Cake offers foil pan, mix and frosting for busy consumer. It was discontinued by 1968.

1956: Chelsea Milling introduces Jiffy cake mixes in yellow, white and devil’s food.

1958: Betty Crocker unveils the chiffon cake mix.

1964: Betty Crocker reformulates mix, adding new emulsified shortenings.

1966: Tunnel of Fudge Cake puts the Bundt pan on the map.

1967: New Pillsbury mix cuts mixing time in half.

1971: Pillsbury Bake-Off winner Pecan Pie Surprise Bars uses mix and begins bar mania.

1974: Pillsbury Bake-Off winner Chocolate Cherry Bars brings cake mix doctoring to the forefront.

1983: Friendship Cake, calling for mix and a fruit starter, is the most requested recipe from Betty Crocker test kitchens.

1988: Pillsbury Bake-Off winner Chocolate Praline Layer Cake epitomizes the indulgent 1980s.

1996: Pillsbury offers $1 million for grand prize at bake-off.

1998: Aurora Foods of Columbus buys Duncan Hines cake mixes from Procter and Gamble.

Despite the Nielson rating that ranks Devil’s Food cake third on the buyer’s list and chocolate last, there will be chocolate cakes featured here. The first one has unsweetened cocoa powder added as it makes the cake more intense, and the brownish-black color of the cake resembles a from-scratch cake more closely.

If you want it even more intensified, substitute 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder for one of the tablespoons of cocoa. The instructions to all cake mixes note to use pure vanilla if it is called for in a recipe.

Buttermilk Devil’s Food Cake

Vegetable shortening for greasing pans

Flour for dusting pans

18.25-ounce plain devil’s food cake mix

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/3 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable oil, such as canola or corn

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Generously grease two 9-inch round cake pans with solid vegetable shortening, then dust with flour, shaking out excess. Set pans aside.

Place cake mix, cocoa powder, buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping sides down again if needed.

Divide batter between the prepared pans, smoothing it out with a spatula. Place the pans in the oven side by side.

Bake until they spring back when lightly pressed with a finger and start to pull away from the sides of the pan, 28-30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and place on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edge of each layer and invert onto a rack, then invert again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up. Cool completely for 30 minutes. Meanwhile prepare frosting.

White Chocolate Frosting

6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped

8-ounce package room temperature cream cheese

4 tablespoons room temperature butter

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Place white chocolate in small saucepan and melt over low heat, 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove pan from heat and let the chocolate cool. Place cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until well combined, 30 seconds.

Stop the mixer and add melted white chocolate, blending on low for 30 seconds. Add vanilla and confectioners’ sugar, blending on low speed for 30 seconds more. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until frosting is fluffy, 1 minute more. Frost top and sides of cake. Refrigerate the frosted cake until serving time.

This cake is adapted from a 1988 Pillsbury Bake-Off contest winner. The cake works well with a pudding-enhanced mix. If you want to use plain devil’s food cake mix, that works, too.

Chocolate Praline Cake

1 stick butter, cut up

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup chopped pecans

18.25-ounce package devil’s food cake mix with pudding

1 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil, such as canola or corn

3 large eggs

Sweetened whipped cream

1 square semi-sweet chocolate for garnish

Place rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees. Set aside two 9-inch round cake pans. Place butter, cream and brown sugar in a small heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring until the butter is melted, 3 minutes. Pour mixture evenly into the cake pans and sprinkle evenly with chopped pecans. Set pans aside.

Place cake mix, water, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping sides down again if needed. Divide between the prepared pans, pouring it over the pecan mixture and smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place pans in the oven side by side.

Bake until they spring back when lightly pressed with a finger, 35 to 37 minutes. Remove pans from the oven and place on wire racks to cool 10 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edge of each layer and invert onto a rack to cool, praline side up.

Meanwhile, prepare the sweetened whipped cream and grate the semisweet chocolate for the garnish. Place one layer praline side up on a serving platter and spread half of the sweetened cream on top. Place the second layer, praline side up, on top of the first and frost the top of it with the remaining sweetened cream. Scatter grated chocolate on top of the cake.

Icing

Sweetened Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

Place a clean, large mixing bowl and electric mixer beaters in the freezer for a few minutes while assembling the two ingredients. Pour whipping cream into chilled bowl and beat with electric mixer on high speed until the cream has thickened, 1 1/2 minutes. Stop the mixer and add the sugar. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes more.

Use to spread between the layers and top of the cake.

(McCoy can be contacted at emccoy@heraldstaronline.com.)