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How To Make Box Cake Better & Taste Homemade

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This guide explores various techniques, tips, and tricks on how to make box cake better. Small changes can ensure moist, flavorful, and fluffy cake each time.

Box cake mix offers a relatively quick and easy way to bake a cake with minimal effort. It eliminates the need for measuring dry ingredients or creaming butter and sugar. Typically, all you need to do is add eggs, water, and some oil or butter, mix, and voila, you have a cake after 30 minutes in the oven.

While box cake can satisfy any sweet tooth, it often falls short in terms of flavor and texture compared to a homemade cake. Fortunately, there are several ways to overcome these shortcomings and make box cake better, to the point where it tastes homemade. In this guide, we’ll explore various techniques, tips, and tricks to help you enhance your boxed cake, resulting in a moist, flavorful, and light, fluffy texture.

How To Make Box Cake Better

How to Make Box Cake Better

Moisture

Say goodbye to dry cake and hello to cake that stays moist and delicious with the help of one of these moisture-boosting tips.

Use Milk or Buttermilk Instead of Water

This small change has quite an impact on any box cake mix. If you opt for milk, you have the choice of dairy or dairy-free milk. Both offer the fat needed to create a moister cake. Whole, 2%, soy, almond, cashew, and coconut are all fine. The only thing to remember is the impact non-dairy milk will have on the flavor of the cake. They have a flavor all their own, so some of that will be apparent in the cake. For example, nut milk is nutty, so the cake will have a nuttier flavor, while coconut milk will impart the flavor of the tropical fruit. As for buttermilk, replace half the amount of water the box cake mix calls for with buttermilk instead of a 1:1 ratio since it has a much thicker consistency and tangy flavor.

Add Extra Egg Yolks

The fat in egg yolks creates a moister, slightly denser cake that is more tender. An extra yolk or two will do the trick. Mix them in as you would the other wet ingredients.

Butter is Best

Often, box cake recipes instruct you to add a neutral oil to the batter, which is fine. It is an affordable way to add fat to cake batter. However, butter is better because, in addition to fat, the cake benefits from its rich flavor. Unsalted is best. Softened or melted are both fine. The choice is yours.

Add Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt

You can use a spoonful or two as a partial substitute for the butter or oil the cake mix calls for. Alternatively, you can add full-fat sour cream or Greek yogurt to help keep the cake moist. If you prefer this method, prepare the batter as usual and then stir in a few spoonfuls and up to a 1/2 cup of sour cream or Greek yogurt.

Flavor & Taste

Box cakes are convenient, but they can taste somewhat artificial due to the use of artificial flavors in these mixes. To enhance their flavor, consider one of the following:

Fruits & Fruit Juice

When you’re preparing the batter and wondering how to improve box cake mix with minimal ingredients, turn to fruit juice. Orange juice, pineapple juice, pomegranate juice, lemon juice, etc., can be used in place of water to impart a pleasant fruity flavor and aroma throughout the cake. Depending on the juice selected, it may also change the color of the cake. Fresh strawberries, blueberries, peaches, pineapples, mashed bananas and other fruits work well too.

Spices

The addition of warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, or a combination has a truly transformative effect. It adds depth and complexity to turn an otherwise basic dessert into something more exciting. Spices can override any artificial flavors and elevate the cake into something worthy of a bakery.

Citrus Zest

Citrus zest works particularly well in yellow, white, and strawberry cake mixes. The brightness it adds reduces (and in some cases eliminates) any artificial flavor. Add anywhere from ½ teaspoon of the zest to an entire citrus fruit and bake as instructed. Before you zest, note that commercially sold citrus often has a wax coating, so it’s a good idea to remove it. To do so, add the fruit to a colander and pour boiling water over it, scrub all over with a stiff vegetable brush while running cool tap water over it, then dry with a towel.

Coffee, Liqueurs or Alcohol

Add a teaspoon of espresso powder or substitute brewed coffee for some water to enhance the flavor of boxed chocolate cake. Whiskey, rum, and brandy enhance flavors like chocolate, caramel, banana, pineapple, citrus, and coconut. Alcohol or liqueurs can be added directly into the batter, sauce, syrup or whipped cream, frosting, or used as substitute for extracts like vanilla. Kahlúa (mocha or espresso-flavored cakes), Grand Marnier (orange-flavored cakes), Baileys Irish Cream (chocolate, coffee, or vanilla-flavored cakes), Amaretto (almond-flavored cakes) and other liqueurs all have unique flavors to enhance different flavored cakes.

Instant Pudding

Adding dry instant pudding mix not only adds flavor to a boxed cake but it also adds moisture and texture. This can be done by matching any cake flavor to a pudding flavor of your choice, such as vanilla cake mix with vanilla pudding.. Here is a simple recipe for adding pudding to a boxed cake. You can also create different flavored cakes with different pairings. Here are a few ideas:

  1. Vanilla Pudding: Works with any cake flavor.
  2. Fruit Puddings: Add a fruity twist such as strawberry or cherry to a white or chocolate cake.
  3. Lemon Pudding: Add a citrus flavor to any lemon or yellow cake mix.
  4. Banana Pudding: Pairs well with yellow or white cake mix.
  5. Pumpkin Spice Pudding: Works well with a spiced cake mix.
  6. Oreo Pudding: Transforms a white cake into a cookies and cream cake.
  7. White Chocolate Pudding: Make a white chocolate cake with white chocolate pudding and vanilla cake mix.
  8. York Peppermint Chocolate Instant Pudding: Use box fudge cake or chocolate cake mix to create a Peppermint Patty cake.

Browned Butter

We’ve already discussed how butter adds moisture to boxed cake mix, but it also adds a lot of flavor. If you wish for that flavor to extend beyond richness, brown the butter. To do so:

  • Melt the butter in a small skillet or saucepan (preferably one with a light interior) over medium heat.
  • Occasionally scrape the bottom of the skillet with a large spoon or spatula as the butter browns. This will take 2-4 minutes once the butter melts.
  • Remove the browned butter from the heat and transfer it to a heat-safe bowl to prevent further browning.
  • Cool, measure, and add it to the box cake batter.
Ingredients To Make Box Cake Better

Chocolate Cake Flavor Enhancers

  • Coffee or espresso powder: Adding espresso powder or coffee to chocolate cake adds depth and intensifies its chocolate flavor, and you won’t even taste it. Add a 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of espresso powder or instant coffee, to preference. For boxed cake recipes that call for water substitute up to one cup of water with brewed coffee.
  • Cocoa powder: Substituting a 1/4 cup of flour with cocoa powder will produce similar results to the addition of coffee.

Texture

Texture is another crucial aspect of cake baking. These tips on how to improve box cake mixes will help you achieve a light and tender texture every time:

Sift the Dry

Before adding the wet ingredients as instructed on the box, pass the mix through a fine-mesh strainer. This simple extra step prevents lumps that could weigh down the batter, resulting in a light, fluffy cake.

Use Room Temperature Ingredients

Room-temperature eggs, butter, and other dairy products create silky-smooth batters. As they mix with the dry ingredients, an emulsion forms, and air is trapped in that emulsion. As the cake bakes, this air expands, resulting in a tender, delicious cake.

Texture Ingredient Enhancers

For added texture mix in ingredients like chopped nuts, shredded coconut, crushed cookies, or candy bits.

Finishing Touches

Well-chosen finishing touches can take a box cake to the next level. Here are a few to consider:

Homemade Frosting

Homemade frosting is a surefire way to make any cake mix taste taste better. It is far superior in flavor and texture than store-bought and presents the opportunity to customize the cake. Try classic buttercream, cream cheese frosting, or flavored variations like lavender or chai spiced frosting.

Whipped Cream

For your average box cake mix, you’ll need about 3 cups of heavy cream, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and ¼ cup of sugar (granulated or powdered).

Macerated Fruit

If you decide against adding anything to the box cake mix, instantly enhance the cake with a layer of fruity freshness on top. Slice up your favorite fruit and either soak it in juice, wine, or liquor or sprinkle it with sugar to draw out its juices and soften. Once done, you can apply any syrup to the cake and top it with the softened fruit.

Decorate

Personalize the cake with different colors, designs and themes with fruit decor, cake toppers, edible flowers or lace, food coloring, or decorative sprinkles, icing and gels. See our full list of cake topping ideas.

What To Add To Box Cake Mix To Make It Better

For the cake pictured, we used boxed angel food cake mix. We sifted the cake mix into the bowl, then we used fat free milk instead of water and added lemon zest. For the toppings, we sliced fresh strawberries and let them sit with sugar, and made homemade whipped cream. It was definitely a step above your normal boxed cake mix.

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Monique McArthur
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