Elicit? Why people who have answers to this: If you had to choose a widely-available yellow cake mix as a base for something, which brand would you choose? Avoid? Why?

If I wanted to find out about making the cake from scratch, I would have asked such a question.

And sometimes, you just want a box of chemicals that is pre-measured, easy to make, without having to buy my own other ingredients, many of which will eventually go stale on the shelf.

I live in the land of local, organic, sustainable, blah blah blah and eat a lot of it, but sometimes you just need a box of easy to prepare chemicals. Accordingly, that is why I asked for recommendations for "favo(u)rite box of easy to prepare chemicals."

Ironically, the party I brought it to had several bakers/pastry chefs and they liked what I did with it (filled with homemade mango and lemon preserves and fresh whipped cream). Yes, I whipped the cream myself. I even added the sugar and vanilla.

Lest we forget, I grew up in the era of Ritz Mock Apple Pie. Yellow Cake Mix is a veritable bounty of wholesomeness in comparison.