As promised, I thought we could have a little chat about cake. I have made many a cake using a boxed mix. But I gotta tell ya, once I started making cakes from scratch, I can sure tell when a cake is a boxed mix. Now, don’t get me wrong….I love cake and I will eat a boxed mix cake. But…..but…..I would rather not…..unless it has a really good homemade frosting.  Oh, and hell no to those tubs of frosting. I can not stand them! I can tolerate a cake mix, but no way to tubbed frosting. It has to be homemade frosting!

I do make cake pops from a boxed mix cake. But really, that’s about it, unless I’m just going to use dry cake mix as a base and doctor it up. Now, that is fun to do. There are so many ways to make a boxed mix taste better. But before I get to that, let me share with you the good things about a boxed mix:

Over all, a boxed cake mix does produce a fluffier cake.

Most cake mixes call for oil. The oil produces a moister cake and the cakes stays
moist longer.

Boxed cake mixes are quick, yes. But once you have a favorite go-to cake recipe, It really doesn’t take
that much time to make your own.

Ok, so if you really don’t want to mess with making a homemade cake, that’s ok. But let me suggest some ways to make your cakes taste better! Better is good. Better is better!

For chocolate cake, replace the water with: 
Room temperature coffee, ginger ale, cream soda, light or dark beer, half milk/half water.

For white or yellow cake, replace the water with:
Orange juice, ginger ale, cream soda, a light color beer, half milk/half water, champagne,
juices drained from canned peaches or fruit cocktail, lemon or lime or orange zest.

Other additions:
Add 2 Tblsp of mayonnaise or sour cream to the batter. It gives your cake richness and makes it moist.

Replace the oil with an equal amount of melted butter . The butter gives much more flavor than
the oil, but the cake will stay more moist longer, with oil. This isn’t a problem if you’re going to eat
your cake soon.

Add 1 tsp. good vanilla extract to your batter.

If boxed mixes are a bit too fluffy for you, adding an extra egg will give the cake richness and thickness.

Tubs of Frosting:
If you reallllllly have to use the tubbed frostings, here are some tips that you may want to try:

If you don’t have or want to add anything to it, just dump the frosting into a bowl. Whip it at
medium speed for about a minute. Just by whipping it, you will notice that it has “fluffed” up and
you have a bit more frosting now.

Dump the frosting into a mixing bowl and add 1/2 tsp vanilla, 3 Tblsp softened butter and 2 oz. of soft
cream cheese. Add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and whip it up until fluffy.

Dump the frosting into  a bowl, add 1/4 – 1/2 cup powdered sugar and whip. Pour in 1 Tblsp. heavy
cream and whip until nice and thick and creamy

So, there you go. I hope you will try some of these tips. Later on, I will be posting a recipe for white cake that uses a cake mix as a base, but extra flour, sour cream, and other good things are added. It’s a good and sturdy cake that is often used as wedding cake or large birthday cakes.

Happy cake baking to you.