The convenience of using boxed cake mixes is wonderful, providing you know a few ways to make them even better; either by additions or the way in which you make your cakes.
You will find that if you sift your boxed cake mix first thing, you will get a much fluffier and finer crumb to the cake.
To make a boxed cake taste more "homemade", add 2 Tbsp. of plain all-purpose flour along with an extra egg and 1 Tbsp. of sugar. The cake is a little heavier and more dense than it would have been. You can barely tell it was a boxed cake mix to begin with.
It never hurts to add a Tbsp. of sour cream to any chocolate cake mix. It ends up being so different, although I can't tell you why. Utterly delicious.
When you use a store-bought container of frosting, you can scoop it all into a bowl, add a Tbsp. of butter, and 6 Tbsp. of powdered sugar, then beat it all really well, to get a much better flavored and more stable frosting. Feel free to add 1/2 tsp. of flavoring such as orange, lemon or almond.
If you're using a chocolate frosting, you might want to add a Tbsp. of Hershey's Cocoa along with a tsp of butter to deepen the flavor of chocolate.
Add a Tbsp. of instant coffee to a Tbsp. of hot water, mix coffee and water, then pour it into chocolate frosting in a bowl, and add 6 Tbsp. of powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp. of Hershey's Cocoa to the chocolate frosting to get a rich mocha flavor. You might need an extra Tbsp. of butter to keep it soft enough to spread. Stir it all in first. All canned frosting are not created equal.
I taught Creative Cooking for a Cultural Art Center at one time, and these are the types of things busy women wanted to learn, so we tried some of everything.
Have fun in your kitchen. Teach your children how to cook with pleasure and creativity. It's becoming a dying art.
By Julia from Boca Raton, FL
If a box of cake mix has been forgotten in the back of your pantry, it may still be usable if it's not too old. Sometimes, it's necessary to add new baking soda or powder to help it rise.
Sometimes I bump into a boxed cake mix on sale for SO cheap, I can't say no. Having it handy helps save precious time, but it just doesn't taste nearly as good as a cake made from scratch.
Instead of all purpose, can you add cake flour to boxed cake mix?
Add a small box of instant pudding mix. You can also add 2 teaspoons of baking powder.
I'm not sure why you would want to add flour to a cake mix. You can add a little extra butter and an extra egg, maybe a teaspoon of vanilla extract.
To add flavor to a chocolate cake mix add a tablespoon of powdered cocoa to your cake mix before blending. Personally I use anywhere from one to two tablespoons of cocoa depending on the flavor of the cake mix.
What can I put in my box cake mix to make it more moist?
By Marie
I've got scratch recipes that use cooking oil and mine are always moist. Don't know how much oil is needed for a box cake though.
1/2 cup mayo or 1cup apple sauce!
I use unsweetened applesauce + one heaping tablespoon in direct proportion to the oil required. Do not overbake! My cake mixes come out fine. Check the date, adding 1/4 tsp of baking powder might be necessary if the date is more than a month of expiring.
My grandson only likes yellow cake, so I buy a 9 oz. box of yellow Jiffy cake mix. I follow the instructions, plus I add 1 Tbsp. of butter and 1 tsp. of pure vanilla extract.
I am using a white cake mix, can I substitute lemon juice for the water to make it a lemon cake?
By Kathy
I think it would be ok to use lemon juice instead of the water, but I would use a packet of Kool Aid lemon powder, unsweetened.
I want to have a moist Pillsbury supreme strawberry cake. What should I do to make the cake moist?
By Renarda
Substitute the water/milk (whichever your recipe calls for with a strawberry puree comes out amazing everytime. Another one i absolutely enjoyed was made with a strawberry instant jello. half a pack of the instant jello was mixed with the amount of liquid required (water) and mixed into the cake and after coming out the oven the other half of the jello mix was added with some more water. Holes were poked all over the cake and the jello mixture was poured over the top slowly making sure it was getting completely absorbed. This was followed by adding a layer of sliced strawberries and a cream cheese whippred cream heaven of a frosting. Its an 8oz thing of cream cheese brought to room temperature and whipped the bejeezus out of (make sure you clean down your sides to get it all whipped).
Slowly and I really do mean slowly, otherwise you'll end up with clumps. Add 1/4 cup at a time of a normal size (ya know the regular size not the huge one but the normal size thats like $1.50) coolwhip (or preprepared whip cream (this I think adds too much richness to a light cake) after all of thats incorporated add 2-4 cups of confectioners sugar. (I prefer 2 cups, my mother however has the sweetest tooth and prefers 4 cups which tends to yeild less of a cream cheese flavor.)
After all this is incorporated add the frosting to the cake and let your mouth do the talking! The cake turns out so very moist its almost rediculous and the frosting adds such a fluffyness to the cake that words cannot describe. Hope this helps you!
If you bake an old cake mix (April '08) will it taste okay and not make anyone sick? Please advise.
By Beth from Dayton, OH
I have never had any problems with outdated cake mixes. You could call your county home extension agent or whatever they are called where you live. This person will have a home economics degree and should know more about that than I do. I have never had a cake mix that old, but I have had outdated ones.
Is there a leeway on expired cake mixes?
By AnnP from HI
I have used expired cake mixes (no more than 1 year past expiration) and they do not rise well. It appears the baking powder becomes inactive, so if you want to use an old mix, add a teaspoon or so of baking powder. If the mix is more than a year old I would throw it away.
Please do not throw the cake mixes away if they are expired. They are still edible and many times i mash up bananas or other fruit and put in them before baking. In working with numerous food banks & pantries, I've found that food is good for five years past the expiration date. That is what they teach you. Too many people are willing to eat a possibly "fallen" cake. If you can't do the thought of expired items, please, drop them off at your local food pantry.
