Stir 'n Frost Cake Mix, Betty Crocker, March 1980

Cakes have been a popular dessert for many years, whether for birthdays, other special occasions, or everyday. Years ago, preparing a cake from scratch, despite being a quite labor-intensive process, was the norm. Then came packaged cake mixes and canned frosting, which considerably trimmed the preparation time but still resulted in a batter-covered mixing bowl and beaters and a dirty cake pan to wash once the cake was finished. As schedules became increasingly hectic, however, even this seemed a bit much for busy cooks at times. Stir 'n Frost, first introduced in 1975, seemed to be a good answer to these dilemmas.

Stir 'n Frost involved very little preparation - just empty the pouch of dry cake mix into the foil-coated cardboard cake pan provided, mix with water, stir, bake and top with the pouch of ready-made frosting. When all the cake was eaten, just throw the pan away. No mess, no fuss, and very convenient. An added plus was that the pans were relatively small, just enough for dessert for a typical family, so there was little waste as compared to the remainder of a full-sized cake drying out when it couldn't be eaten all at once.

One might be tempted to assume that because of its simple preparation, a Stir 'n Frost cake would be inferior to a traditional cake, but that was not the case. Stir 'n Frost cakes were very tasty and moist, and came in a variety of cake and frosting flavors, including chocolate, lemon and spice. Although they were quite popular, Betty Crocker discontinued production of the mixes some years ago and to date has not reintroduced them.

While there are similar quick-preparation cake mixes available today, for many of us who grew up in the '70s and '80s, nothing is quite the same as Stir 'n Frost.