Boxed Cake Mixes are the perfect dessert when you are short on time (or groceries).
With a few quick tips, you can make your boxed cakes taste better than ever before – like they came from a fancy bakery!
A Cake to Celebrate
We love a good celebration and it’s the perfect opportunity to bake a delicious cake recipe. A yellow cake for a birthday surprise, a moist carrot cake for Easter, the perfect flag cake to celebrate 4th of July and a pretty sheet cake to celebrate a new baby!
Honestly, I love celebrations and my friend Julianne from Beyond Frosting is expecting a baby boy so what better time for me to bake a cake and celebrate. Julianne makes the yummiest desserts (including this Nutella Snickers pie recipe from her cookbook).
With a new baby around, time (and energy) will be thing of the past, (at least for a little while) so I decided to share some of my favorite tips for whipping up a treat that tastes like you’ve spent hours (instead of minutes) preparing it!
Why I Love Boxed Cake Mixes
They’re great for when you’re short on time and uses ingredients you probably have on hand already.
Just like when you make cake mix cookies, you can use ANY kind of cake mix for this recipe. Change up the flavors however you like.
You can really make a cake mix into a masterpiece with little effort.
Cake mixes can be made into cookies, to parfaits to even cake bars like the recipe below.
How to Make a Cake Mix Better
There are lots of methods to make a cake mix better! These are just extra additions to make it rich and delicious without a lot of effort!
Choose one or two of the methods below to make your cake mix bakery quality!
ADD EXTRA FAT
Butter makes everything taste awesome, so try going a little overboard with the butter (or oil) and add extra. It will make your cake rich and give it that made-from-scratch flavor. While you’re at it, make sure you swap out the oil for butter.
ADD MAYONNAISE OR SOUR CREAM
Wait, what?! You read that right. I add mayonnaise to my easy banana bread and homemade chocolate cake to make them crazy moist.
Adding a few tablespoons of mayonnaise to any standard boxed mix will ensure your cake will stay moist and delicious longer.
REPLACE THE WATER
Use milk, buttermilk or even coconut milk instead of water to make your cake mix a little richer. It makes for a denser, more homemade taste and texture!
ADD PUDDING
Up the liquids, you add to the cake and throw in a box of Jello pudding in any flavor. The pudding helps to thicken the mixture and make it rich, dense, and delicious!
ADD AN EXTRA EGG
If you’re in a rush and don’t have time for all the extra details, try just adding another egg to your mix. You won’t believe the difference it makes!
GET CREATIVE
Have you ever thrown some yummy add-ins to your recipe? It can take your boxed cake from drab to fab in no time! Try throwing in some crushed Oreos, chocolate candies, sprinkles, or even preserves. The only limit is your imagination!
Make Your Icing From Scratch
Even if you don’t have the time to make the cake from scratch, the icing should be. It is the main difference between the plain flavors of boxed cake and the luscious style of handmade treat. A few favorites:
Did you love this Buttery Vanilla Cake? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
How to Make Box Cake Mix Taste Homemade
Ingredients
- 14.25 ounces white cake mix or any flavor, 1 box, regular 9x13 size
- 3.4 ounces instant vanilla pudding mix any flavor, 1 box
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup milk or coconut milk
- ⅓ cup melted butter
- ½ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13 baking pan.
- Place all cake mix ingredients in a bowl. Mix with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined and fluffy.
- Pour into a greased baking pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes.
- Cool completely before frosting.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
This is seriously my go to vanilla cake recipe now! I replaced the sour cream with yogurt though and used oil instead of butter!!! Absolutely perfect! Thank you for the recipe:)
Do I have to use the pudding mix? Will leaving it out mess up the final outcome??
The pudding mix adds extra moisture and flavor to your cake mix but you can leave it out with good results still. I have found the batter with pudding to be slightly thicker but still close to a usual batter. Enjoy!
Just found your site! So excited to look further into it later today, when I have more time! So excited! I think we all need to save more money and time these days!
Roxanna Renfro
We hope you love this recipe, Roxanna!
I just made this-using milk, box of pudding(small) and an extra egg-the batter was SO thick and my mixer had a HARD time . My question is: is the batter usually this thick when using boxed pudding?
It’s in the oven now-we’ll see how it comes out.
Thanks for any answers for me.
I have found the batter with pudding to be very slightly thicker but still close to a usual batter. I hope it was delicious for you!
Hi Holly! Love your website but was wondering under the sheet pan bar recipe you mention a 1/2 cup but no ingredient listed after that. What ingredient are we supposed to be using a 1/2 a cup of? Thanks!
Sorry for the confusion, it should’ve read 1/2 cup milk. I have updated the recipe.
Will the additions as you have suggesting in the recipe work for baking cupcakes? … or does this need to be a regular sized cake? Thanks!
Yes, it will work just fine. Enjoy Chey!
The hacks worked beautifully! Made cupcakes last night for last minute baked good emergency. Tasted a little bit this morning. Delicious. I’m a made-from-scratch kind of baker, but rely on a mix when time is crunched. The little, but big, changes really do take the “box taste” out and add richness. THANK YOU! You saved my day….again. :)
You inspired me to throw caution to the wind (this post along with your post on the chocolate banana cake)! I wanted to find some inspiration before I baked a cake for my daughter’s birthday party tomorrow. I ended up making chocolate cake mix exactly like the box suggests, with the addition of 1/4 of a slightly overripe banana, mashed. I know it sounds pointless, but it adds aromatic complexity, subtle flavor, fluffiness and keeps the cake super moist. It’s SO GOOD!!
So glad to have inspired you Amanda! Have a great party!
Hello! My main concern is the baking time and temperature. Do I still follow the box? Or do I increase/decrease them?
Dee, you’ll find the full baking instructions in the recipe card on the post.
Do you all use an electric mixer for your cakes or can you just stir by hand.
You can stir by hand.
I want to make a Duncan Hines Butter Golden cake. If I add the extra 6T. of flour, should I omit adding the box of instant vanilla pudding? I wasn’t sure if adding both would be too many dry ingredients or not??
I haven’t tried it, but I would think that as long as you keep the total dry ingredients under ¾ cup, it should work. Let us know if you try it!
I’m surprised no one said to sift the mix a few times. It goes a long way to making it soooo much better.
Are u saying to sift the cake mix and u will get a much better cake tasting like it was homemade.
Thanks For The Tips. I love Your Website. Keep up the Good Work.
Can you add the egg, milk, and butter to a brownie mix?
What can I add to White cake mix so it will taste home made.
In the article, it gives many ideas, including replacing water with milk and replacing oil with butter. Those two things together will make a white cake mix taste amazing!