Make That Cake Mix a Masterpiece: 23 Upgraded Dessert Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How do you make a box cake taste like a bakery cake? ›

Step 1: Look at the directions on the cake mix. Step 2: Add one more egg (or add 2 if you want it to be very rich). Step 3: Use melted butter instead of oil and double the amount. Step 4: Instead of water, use whole milk.

Substitute the water.

My go to is Buttermilk when I swap water in cake mixes. But I have used evaporated milk, which is canned milk if I can't get fresh buttermilk.

Baking tip #2: adding milk to your box cake mix in place of water adds a dense texture to your dessert leaving it moist and flavorful like a homemade cake. Or, if you prefer, you can add buttermilk, giving your cake a tangy flavor to balance out the sweetness.

Yes, you can substitute milk for water when preparing SuperMoist cake mixes, however, the cake may be slightly drier than if prepared with water. Also keep in mind that milk will add calories and change the nutrition slightly.

Use an extra egg

Using an extra egg or two adds richness and moisture to your box cake. If you usually find your cake is dry, this could do the trick. You can also use only the yolks and save the whites for another dessert.

Because eggs help build the cake's structure (don't use them and you're looking at a gooey mess), adding an extra egg yolk makes the cake batter denser. Translation: you'll have a moister confection. Conversely, she suggests an extra egg white for a fluffier cake.

Sour cream is one of the fattiest dairy products; the extra fat content (for example, adding sour cream to a cake instead of milk) will make the cake moister and richer, says Wilk. "Fat, in any form (butter, lard, cream, etc.) shortens gluten strands, which essentially leads to the most tender baked goods," she adds.

Condensed milk is just the right ingredient to add moisture and a hint of developed sweetness to your next boxed cake. This non-refrigerated dairy product is made from concentrated milk that has been sweetened.

Martina says, “Late in the mixing stage, eggs will incorporate better if you lightly beat them before adding to the batter. The finished cake may be slightly shorter than expected, but its flavor and tenderness shouldn't be affected.” For egg-leavened cakes, the eggs are crucial.

What's the secret to a moist cake? ›

Cake mixes almost always call for vegetable oil as their fat; needless to say, butter has a lot more flavor than vegetable oil, and it makes for a much better texture. Just replace the oil with an equal amount of melted butter, and you'll get a drastically better cake with a more complex flavor.

Add one to two teaspoons of a pure extract to make it taste like a from-scratch cake. Pure vanilla extract and pure almond extract are great options, but you could also try lemon extract or orange extract paired with fresh citrus zest.

Texture:Cakes made with oil tend to be moister and have a more tender crumb. Oil coats the flour proteins better than butter, resulting in a softer texture. Cakes made with butter can have a richer flavor and a slightly firmer texture. Butter contributes to a more traditional and dense cake structure.

The average cake mix calls for the most boring of liquids: water. Instead of using water, substitute whole milk or your favorite non-dairy milk (almond, oat, and coconut milk work especially well). The milk adds fat, which results in a better flavor and density in your cake.

As a professional baker, I don't often use boxed mixes, but I appreciate how easily they bring a cake together. I think premade mixes are great for beginners gaining confidence around the kitchen and also for last-minute cake "emergencies."

Eggs also contain a variety of proteins that create the structure of a cake, and when beaten, they can act as a leavening agent by adding air to the cake batter. However, if you add too many eggs to your cake batter, then your end result could be spongy, rubbery, or dense.

How to use sour cream with boxed cake mix. The best way to use sour cream with a boxed cake mix is to use it to replace the other liquids in the recipe, like milk or water. You can add up to a cup, or essentially the same amount of liquid you were originally meant to add, per the manufacturer's instructions.