The First Betty Crocker Cake Mix Is An Old-School Classic That's Still Popular Today

You don't have to go back very far in time to find old-school desserts nobody seems to eat any more, but there are some classics that have never really fallen out of favor. Among them is ginger cake, which just happened to be the flavor of General Mills' first boxed mix under the Betty Crocker brand, launched in 1947 and today sold as a gingerbread cake and cookie mix. It was an inspired decision, because this sweet treat had been a favorite among American housewives for many years.

Boxed mixes were pioneered by Pittsburgh company P. Duff and Sons in 1930, which also opted for gingerbread for its patent application. At the time, cake baking was seen as a time-consuming but genuine skill. The Betty Crocker ginger cake was not only marketed as so simple even a man could do it (yikes at the 1940s advertising of it all), but would also deliver the "richness of old-fashioned gingerbread" with the "luscious lightness of a cake," per The Vintage Company.

Although the ginger cake's sales got off to a solid start, they plateaued not long after launch, though not because of the flavor. Turned out some home cooks found Betty Crocker's boxed mix was too easy and made them feel a little, well, lazy. The recipe was quickly tweaked to require fresh eggs and the messaging switched to focus on home bakers' decorating skills. Not long after, the two-layer Devil's Food and Party Cake mixes were also launched, and home cooks could liven up boxed cake mix with additions (like these 12 underrated ingredients). The changes did the trick and Betty Crocker's boxed mixes were a hit.

Although the brand's cake mix range has grown over the years, Betty Crocker's gingerbread cake is still a popular flavor. General Mills sought to capitalize on our appetite for warm-flavored sweet treats back in the early 1950s with its honey spice cake mix, although it faded from grocery store shelves around the end of the decade (sources differ on the exact date). The Super Moist spice cake version, however, is still going strong.