Boxed Cakes w/ a Little Extra!

[Mom3girls]

Another way to make your boxed cake come out really moist is to add a boxed pudding mix to it. If it's choc cake just add one box of instant jello pudding mix. (Just the mix, do not make pudding and add it.) It will come out REALLY moist!!!

 

[OceanAnnie]

I've done some of the tips on this thread with good results. I also add some sour cream (lite or regular -- whatever is on hand) and vanilla to the mix.

 

[jenrose66]

Thanks for starting this thread. Lots of good ideas on here.

 

[kellyg403]

I still have about 6 boxes of cake mix from some coupon deal a few months ago. I have been wondering what to do with them.

Thanks for the post and all the great ideas!

Kelly

 

[maslex]

I have the Cake Doctor Cookbook (can't find it right now, so someone might have "borrowed" it. LOL) A lot of great recipes in there though.

I've also never heard of the milk/extra egg thing. But my grandmother's cakes/cupcakes were always SOOOO moist and delish. Her secret????

Instead of using water, she used 7-UP instead!!! Always made it so light and moist. MMMMM

Went to a get together at my friends about a month or so ago. I knew she had cake and I was all excited (I LOOOOOVE frosting) and I just couldn't wait to have a piece. So anyhow, after we had a cookout, she brings the cake out and immediately I got all sad. It was one of those bundt type cakes that you just dust with powdered sugar. I think I cried a little. LOL I was in the mood for a nice slice of chocolate cake with FROSTING!!!! But let me tell you.....it was sooooooo moist & sooooooo delicious that it didn't need a speck of frosting on it.

I believe it came from the Cake Doctor because when she told me the recipe I kind of remembered reading it in there. Hold on.....let me see if I can find it. Yep, here we go. Now, I'm not saying this is the most healthy of options but boooooyyyyyy, is it good.


Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
4 eggs
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips




Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, milk, oil, water and eggs. Beat for 4 minutes, then mix in 2 cups chocolate chips.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
4. To make the glaze: Melt the butter and 1 cup chocolate chips in a double boiler or microwave oven. Stir until smooth and drizzle over cake.

 

[Mom23Disneybelievers]

Yesterday, I used a Betty Crocker carrot cake box mix but I added 1 c. canned pumpkin and 1/2 c. sour cream instead of the water. (I used the three eggs and 1/2 c. oil listed on the box) It was sooooo good! Cream cheese frosting, from scratch, made it absolutely perfect!

 

[bas71873]

I love cake

 

[JerseyJanice]

I always add a teaspoon of vanilla and use buttermilk instead of water. Got the idea from the Cake Mix Doctor book.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I read an article recently that Hellman's mayonnaise is great for a moist cake. Haven't tried it though.

 

[TwingleMum]

Whenever I make chocolate cake or cupcakes from a mix I add an extra egg and substitute fresh coffee for the water. Coffee just brightens the chocolate flavor. My secret weapon.

 

[englishteacha]

Thanks. You all have made me hungry!

 

[maslex]

I read an article recently that Hellman's mayonnaise is great for a moist cake. Haven't tried it though.

MMMM, chocolate mayonnaise cake. So yummy. I remember my great-grandmother making those. They were so good. Can't recall if she made it by scratch or by box but it did have mayo in it. It doesn't really have a mayonnaise-y taste to it, but does give it a little tang. And it's soooo moist.

 

[wdwmom2]

Whenever I make chocolate cake or cupcakes from a mix I add an extra egg and substitute fresh coffee for the water. Coffee just brightens the chocolate flavor. My secret weapon.

I had a cake recipe that I got from Taste of Home that had coffee in it. It was delicious!!!!

Here is the recipe if anyone is interested in it. I top it with my homemade peanut butter icing.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Moist-Chocolate-Cake

ETA: I made the "doctored" up Devils Food box cake, added 2 very ripe bananas, and little extra vanilla, and they are wonderful.

 

[cluvsdisney]

Funny I should notice this thread while eating a piece of Betty Crocker cake. I have always used milk instead of water but never thought to do more to it than that.

 

[PaulaSue]

Yummy!

 

[kmccain]

I get emails from Betty Crocker. They have all kinds of easy recipes. I made a ton of Christmas cookies last year from different cake mixes.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/

 

[Poohforyou]

You can also try using a pint of ice cream (melted) in place of the eggs and liquid in a boxed cake mix. It makes it rich and also adds to the flavor.

 

[cornflake]

At the point you're adding stuff and changing and etc., to boxed stuff... isn't it just as easy to make a real cake?

 

[Imzadi]

However, when making cake from scratch, follow the recipe, as measurements are crucial if you want it to turn out right.

At the point you're adding stuff and changing and etc., to boxed stuff... isn't it just as easy to make a real cake?

What ChristmasElf said above is correct. Recipes from scratch require precise measurements as it throws off the chemistry to change or haphazardly add ingredients.

On the other hand, box cake mixes are designed and rigorously tested to come out right, regardless of the millions of different conditions it's customers put it through. They realize that they will be baked by professional to amateur to child bakers, in new or barely working ovens in which the temperatures are completely off, by people who over-beat the heck out of the batter to people who barely mix it at all.

Don't ask what's in those boxed cake mixes for them to consistently work out.

That's why all the cookies on my cake mix cookie thread work out, without precise measurements of the add-ins.

Unless one has tested a whole bunch of scratch recipes to find one they really like and bakes up beautifully, it's easier to to doctor a cake mix.

 

[maslex]

I had a cake recipe that I got from Taste of Home that had coffee in it. It was delicious!!!!

Here is the recipe if anyone is interested in it. I top it with my homemade peanut butter icing.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Moist-Chocolate-Cake

ETA: I made the "doctored" up Devils Food box cake, added 2 very ripe bananas, and little extra vanilla, and they are wonderful.

Ooooohhhh, peanut butter frosting sounds MMMMMM. Mind sharing the recipe?