I love the thought of making a box cake mix better…much better!
I like baking, but often don’t have the time to bake scratch cake. So I *love* using boxed cakes because all I need to do is dump and add a couple of other ingredients…and viola! Cake! Now let’s look at how to make box cake better!
How to Make Box Cake Mix Taste Like a Bakery Baked Cake
Here are some cake tips of simple things that you can do to make your boxed cake mix taste like it came from the fancy-schmansy corner bakery. I love bakery cakes, but don’t have the time to scratch bake most of the time. I also love the ease of using a boxed cake mix.
But the box cake taste isn’t always everyone’s cup of tea because you can often tell it isn’t a scratch cake. So try out some of these tips to get an even better flavor, and watch everyone’s face when you tell them that it isn’t a bakery cake, but a cake YOU baked.
Yep! You can make your box cake better with these cake baking tips…
How to Make a Moist Box Cake
Making a moist box cake starts with the ingredients in the cake batter. Here are our top 3 cake batter ingredient tips for the best moist cake. Try one or try them all!
1. Add an Extra Egg
To make a box cake mix a more moist baked cake, add an extra egg. Adding an extra egg then the recipe calls for to your cake mix will make your cake slightly more dense, more moist and less likely to crumble. The extra egg yolks and egg whites make a big difference!
Tasty…and moist!
2. Use Melted Butter
Another way to make sure your box cake is moist is to substitute any oil the recipe calls for with melted butter. Real butter makes your cake SO moist! Melted butter makes it easy to manage like oil.
Check out the recipe – 1 Batter, 10 Cupcakes.
Use butter, real melted butter is the secret!
3. Substitute Whole Milk
Use whole milk instead of water called for in cake mix recipe. It is crazy how much richer the cake batter will be. If the consistency doesn’t seem right, dilute with a little water or use 2% milk instead.
When you don’t use whole milk daily, it is easy to forget how rich and creamy baking with whole milk can be!
How to Get the Cake out of the Baking Pan
Create a Non-stick surface so cleaning pans is easier. After greasing your cake pan, dust it lightly with flour before pouring in your cake batter.
Cleaning your cake pan will be a lot easier! This has been a lifesaver, I had a problem with my cakes sticking to my cake pans. These easy steps will save your cake and your patience, they did mine!
How to Make a Box Cake Mix Healthier
If you are looking for healthy fats, or for less fat, consider replacing the oil in your recipe with either applesauce or a mashed avocado.
You now have a healthier cake. Also, if you’re recipe calls for oil, you can easily replace it with on of those options, which is great if you find you’re out of oil and in a bind while baking.
I also think this makes it surprisingly moist! Healthy changes are a good thing , even in dessert!
How to Make Your Box Cake Springy – What to Add to a Box Cake Mix
Add 1/2 cup of Angel Food Cake Mix, and 1 tablespoon of water, to any other cake mix. Your cake will become a lot more fluffy and spongy. And I just love the hint of a flavor the angel food cake gives!
It really shines if you’re using a white cake mix or a yellow cake mix. The flavor is a bit more subtle in say Duncan Hines chocolate cake mix or something similar.
How to Save an Over-baked Cake
Pudding. It will cure any dried out cake. Did you bake your cake too long? Or a day earlier than you needed it?
Poke a BUNCH of holes into the top of your cake. Whip up a batch of store bought pudding mix and as the pudding is still warm, pour it over your cake.
Refrigerate for a couple of hours and you will have a super rich cake.
How to Make a Box Cake for One Person
2 Minute Single Servings of Cake – All you need is two boxed cakes (this Hot Chocolate Cake uses Chocolate and Angel Food), water and a microwave.
It is perfect when you only are making for one person.
This is one of my most favorite box cake mix hacks because quite frankly sometimes I want cake without having a whole cake sitting around.
Don’t forget to add some powdered sugar on top or some homemade frosting!
How to Make Sure Your Cake Bakes Evenly in the Oven
Drop your pan before you bake it. Not a big drop, just a half inch or so. The act of dropping the cake batter will force all the air bubbles out of your cake batter and your cake will bake more evenly now.
How to Prevent Splatters When Mixing a Cake Mix
When whisking your cake mix, don’t wear it. Poke your electric whisks through a paper plate before turning it on.
The plate will block the cake batter splatters. What a handy little trick.
How to Make the Box Cake Mix More Flavorful
Combine flavors to enhance the flavor of your cake. You can mix two box mixes together by layering the batter, or by simply mixing the two flavors of batter together.
We did that recently with two boxes of Betty Crocker Cakes. Strawberry chocolate is tasty!
Try French Vanilla Butter Pecan cake mixes together too!
Yum.
How to Decrease the Time Needed to Bake a Box Cake Mix
Make a boxed cake into cookies. Super easy to do! Somewhat Simple lets you know how she made hers.
We usually add a tablespoon of flour when we mix up a batch of cake cookies. And use the melted butter tip from above.
This is a great way to make a box cake better, my all time favorite cake cookies is strawberry with chocolate chips!
Don’t Have a Cake Box Mix, But Need Easy Cake?
Don’t have a cake mix, but you still want an amazing cake? Or did you accidentally leave the ice cream out on the counter till it became soup?
Here is a great recipe for Ice cream Cake. You dump the melted ice cream along with 3 Cups of self-rising flour and bake. Perfect.
How to Carry a Cake
And if you are taking your cake to school or a party, you will need something to carry it in. We love these (affiliate) Pie and Cake Carriers….and they come in fun and colorful designs. Just like our favorite kitchen gadgets, they do all the work.
These hand kitchen gadgets your the cake you spent so much time making will stay looking like the best cake ever.
More Cake Tip Fun from Kids Activities Blog
- Make homemade pancake mix – it is way easier than you might think!
- Let’s say you decide you don’t have time to make a box cake mix, check out our information on Costco cakes…shhhh, we will never tell!
- Use all these box cake mix tips to transform your cake into one of these many Star Wars cake ideas!
- Box cake mix can be used for these fun rainbow cupcakes too! Or what about mermaid cupcakes?
- You can also make your own homemade cake mix…we promise we found an easy way!
- Looking for some more cake mix recipes? <–We got over 25 of them right here!
Mmmm…have fun baking cake! And eating cake! <–that is my favorite part! I am just about to go make some melted butter…
If you have a cake mix tip or trick, please leave it in the comments below!
Dump a half a bag of instant vanilla pudding into your cake mix, makes it super moist
Love all your ideas. !!!
I replace the water with whole milk. Always come.out more rich in flavor. And taste sooo good more like bakery made !
I love your recipes. But I have1 question on one! And that is the Ice Cream Cake. And I was wanting to know is what size of Ice Cream it is that it is u use? Does anyone know?
I just need to find out what size of Ice Cream container for the Ice Cream Cake!
You can also use sour cream in the cake batter to make them come out super moist
I use sour cream in the cake batter to make it super moist
What can you do to make a larger cake since the contents of the box cake mix have been reduced?
Unsalted or salted butter?
If the box says 1/2 cup oil,then use 1 cup butter, right?
How much Apple sauce do you use instead of oil????
How much applesauce do you add instead of oil???
Great tips. Very helpful.
I use light coloured metal cake pans and bake at 325 deg. instead of 350. Cake is more moist. Higher temperature causes my cake to dry out,
Cake mix boxes used to have a “light” recipe. I still use it, and the cake comes out moist and delicious:
1 1/2 c. milk and 2 eggs. That’s it.
Love the idea of covering beaters with a paper plate before mixing. My batters usually ends up on my counter and whatever is near me. Thanks
Use a 1 teaspoon of instant coffee in the choc cake mix & also the choc frosting. Brings out the chocolate flavor.
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How much sour cream do you put I Your cake
I add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 extra egg and 8 oz. sour cream. Rest of instructions on box the same – this makes 7 cups of cake batter – it tastes like homemade and increases the yield for larger pans or extra cupcakes.
If you dust your greased cake pan with cake mix powder before you mix the cake, it will not leave a floury taste to the bottom of your cake and will still make for easier cleanup.
I have tried a few of these, (cake mix recipes) but you have given me some great tricks to make a boxed cake taste fabulous! It’s the Holidays & I’ll be using the cup of “angle food mix”, “butter” & “milk” tonight ! Thank you for your wonderful tricks & recipes, I truly can’t wait to start BAKING ! !
Line the cake pans with parchment paper. Zero clean up and cakes come out beautifully, also you can re-use the paper.