In Cheap Tricks we’ll help you make the most out of everyday supermarket staples. Next up: How to make boxed cake better (like so good people will think it’s homemade).
Cake mixes are wildly popular and, in certain circles, somewhat controversial. While their convenience can’t be denied, the reality that they’re not homemade hangs over them. That’s where doctoring up boxed mix comes in—not only can it make the cake taste better, but it also makes people feel like they’re baking.
When I first started relying on store-bought cake mix, I didn’t know it would turn into a newspaper story and then into the bestselling book, The Cake Mix Doctor. With three children under the age of 10 and so many occasions to bake a cake at the last minute, I used the simplest hacks—like swapping the water for orange juice—to enhance my boxed cake mix recipes. (Hoping to hide the fact I wasn’t baking a cake from scratch.)
The truth is, Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines are popular for a reason. Once I baked more with cake mixes and figured out how far I could push the envelope—or in this case, the packet of instant pudding mix—I got better at it. A few simple swaps reliably transformed the pre-scaled packet of dry ingredients into a flavorful, moist cake. An extra egg yolk here, a handful of chocolate chips there, upgraded my box cakes to the next level, while still keeping the prep time mercifully short. Whether you’re baking red velvet, spice cake, or a plain yellow cake mix, these tips help any cake mix taste homemade.
1. Switch up the liquid.
At the very least, replace the water called for on the package with another liquid: apple cider, coffee, buttermilk, even pink Champagne. Use that same liquid to make a glaze or frosting, as in apple cider cake with apple cider glaze. Or turn to citrus, from lemon to orange to lime to grapefruit, or even clementine. Add the zest and juice to vanilla cake batter and frosting for a supercharged citrus cake.
You can also swap in canned coconut milk anytime your recipe calls for whole milk. It makes for velvety cakes with good structure, not to mention the boost of flavor it brings—add coconut frosting and shredded coconut to transform a box of white cake mix into a coconut layer cake. Pair it with an egg substitute and you’re on the road to a vegan cake.
Soft fruit can also be used in place of some of the liquid in the batter. Ripe bananas, applesauce, mashed roasted butternut squash, and puréed berries all add moisture and personality to cake mix.
Is it plain vanilla cake or raspberry-citrus cake? You decide!
Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by D’mytrek Brown
2. Enrich with fat.
The directions on the back of the box will tell you to add vegetable oil; for a denser crumb and bigger flavor, swap in unsalted butter. Melted butter can be used in the same quantity and manner as the fat called for in any boxed cake recipe. Or you can change out the neutral oil for fragrant olive oil, especially when pairing with citrus (as in olive oil-lemon cake). Mix in room-temperature cream cheese, ricotta, sour cream, whole-fat yogurt, or peanut butter in addition to the fat called for on the box to yield even richer cakes.
3. Amp up the flavor.
Simply put, most boxed chocolate cake mixes need more chocolate. I’ve successfully added up to 6 ounces of melted bittersweet chocolate (or Nutella) to box-cake batter. To enhance the richness of chocolate batters even more, add a spoonful of Kahlua, dark rum, or espresso. Pair with chocolate buttercream frosting.
For yellow cake, I like to add in a drop or two of maple flavoring, which packs more flavor than most vanilla extracts. And infusing the liquid in the batter or glaze with rosemary, lavender, or Earl Grey tea adds another level of sophistication. You can also add almond extract (sparingly; it’s potto give the cake a boost of warmth.
