Be Free For Me Blog

Gluten-FREE Cake Mixes vs. Gluten-FULL Super Moist Cake Mixes

The second round of the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Challenge, where gluten-eating friends and family compared the new Betty Crocker gluten-free baking mixes against the traditional gluten-filled Betty Crocker comparable mixes, is the taste-test for the CAKE MIXES!

There are two types of Betty Crocker Gluten Free Cake Mixes: Devil’s Food and Yellow. Since cupcakes are more fun – I decided to go that route, rather than a sheet or layered cake. After all, this was a fun day!

Thanks to Betty and her gang over at General Mills, walking down the baking aisle at your local grocer will soon become a cakewalk. Easy, effortless, readily available… and according to their website, affordable. If you see someone skipping down the baking aisle at your local grocer this summer, you can place a bet they’re on a gluten-free diet.

But – How do the gluten-free cake mixes compare in taste?

Let’s first start with the Devil’s Food:

The taste-testers could find “little to no” difference in the taste, texture (and look once they became un-blindfolded) between the gluten-FREE vs. gluten-FULL Devil’s Food Cake Mixes. Both were describe as being “chocolaty” and “moist”. No difference at all between the two. Good news for the gluten-free version!

I liked the gluten-free Devil’s Food Cake Mix.  I think it tastes just like a chocolate cupcake should… sweet, chocolaty, moist, and soft. Perfect! Easy to make too.

The ingredients needed to make the gluten-free Devil’s Food Cake were: ½ teaspoon gluten-free vanilla, 2 eggs and 5 tablespoons butter (Note: there are instructions on the General Mills website explaining how to make the brownies if you want to substitute the butter) and 1 cup of low-fat buttermilk or low-fat yogurt (I used Stonyfield Farm). The package ingredients do include soy.

I think next time I may try to use vanilla low-fat yogurt – since the plain low-fat yogurt can be hard to track down in the dairy case – and I was forced to buy a huge container of it.

Next, let’s move onto the Yellow Cake Mix:

The taste-testers could find little to no difference in the look of the gluten-FREE vs. gluten-FULL Yellow Cake Mixes. However, they thought that the Gluten-FREE mix was not as “sweet” as the Gluten-FULL mix. They also thought that the gluten-FREE cupcake was crispier around the edges, which some thought was a good thing.

I personally loved the gluten-free Yellow Cake Mix! I think it tasted perfect… fluffy, a touch of vanilla, and just the perfect sweetness. I liked the crispy outside and spongy inside.

The ingredients needed to make the gluten-free Yellow Cake were: 1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla, 2 eggs,  ½ cup butter and ½ cup of milk.  The package ingredients do include soy.

The gluten-free kids that tried these cupcakes LOVED them! Birthday parties will be a lot sweeter this summer when these mixes are available… =)

Basically, I think that General Mills takes the cake on these two Gluten-free Baking Mixes. Good Job!

Additional Notes:
All of the General Mills Gluten Free Dessert Mixes are made in a gluten free processing facility.