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This is the best way to make a boxed cake mix taste homemade! Use a convenient & inexpensive boxed cake mix along with a few staple pantry ingredients to “doctor up” the cake mix. The result will be a perfectly moist, fluffy, rich cake that tastes like it came from a bakery.
** Thank YOU so much for visiting this post! It seems that this doctored up cake mix recipe seems to be hit or miss for most of you. I am so sorry and because I want anything you make from my site to turn out right, I have created a new cake mix recipe that I think you’ll love. So for all you who have had trouble with this version, hop on over to my newest cake mix recipe HERE. I don’t want to change or delete this one because it works so well for so many of you**
CAKE MIX TASTE HOMEMADE (DOCTORED UP CAKE MIX RECIPE)
I know some people don’t like the idea of a boxed cake mix, but when you need something quick and don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen measuring, scooping, mixing and then crossing your fingers that it bakes and rises as it should, then you should definitely try out this “doctored up” cake mix method.
The cake rises perfectly, it’s so soft, and tastes rich & buttery. The added eggs, dry pudding mix, and sour cream help take a boxed cake mix to a taste-like-it-came-from-a-bakery cake.
I love that the extra ingredients are staple pantry foods. I don’t know about you but I always seem to have those pudding and jello mixes all over my pantry. Plus, you just combine all ingredients and beat together until smooth! How easy is that!
Get creative with it! I used a pink cake mix + a cheesecake pudding mix. You don’t taste the cheesecake flavor. The most important thing is to make sure you get the same “color” of pudding mix and cake mix. Here are some ideas:
chocolate cake mix + chocolate pudding mix + 1 cup chocolate chips (triple chocolate!)
white cake mix + white chocolate pudding mix
red velvet cake mix + chocolate pudding mix
orange cake mix + french vanilla pudding mix
spice cake mix + cheesecake pudding mix
strawberry cake mix + cheesecake pudding mix
The options are endless. Just make sure the colors coordinate. So, I would not do a strawberry cake mix + chocolate pudding. You would then end up with a dirty color of “pink”?
Follow the cake mix directions for baking. You can do cupcakes, 2 round cake pans, a 9×13 pan, etc. As with any cake batter, make sure to not over-fill your baking dish. Because of the added ingredients you will end up with more cake batter. So instead of a 2 layer cake, maybe do a 3 layer cake so that you don’t overfill the pans. You want to only fill the pans about 2/3 full.
How to make a boxed cake mix taste homemade {“doctored up” cake mix}
This is the best way to make a boxed cake mix taste homemade! Use a convenient & inexpensive boxed cake mix along with a few staple pantry ingredients to "doctor up" the cake mix. The result will be a perfectly moist, fluffy, rich cake that tastes like it came from a bakery.
Ingredients
- 1 box cake mix (15-18 oz cake mix, any flavor)
- 1 box (3.4 oz) instant pudding mix (one that matches cake flavor)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
Beat together all the ingredients until a smooth and combined batter forms.
Bake according to package instructions.
Notes
Because of the additions to the cake mix, you will have much more batter than normal. Take care not to overfill your baking dish. You only want to fill it 1/2 - 2/3 full. It will rise while baking.
DO NOT get the cook n' serve pudding mix. This will not work and it's completely different from the instant pudding mix.
DO NOT prepare the pudding, just use the dry powder.
I've noticed that the cake box sizes are all different depending on what brand you get. Most of them are from 16 oz- 18 oz. So, basically, any cake mix will work as long as it's within that range.
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recipe adapted from here
