I don’t know your stance on boxed cake mixes but there are definitely mixed feelings on them. Some people really hate them while some of us love the convenience of them and think they turn out well enough :) Either way, I think it’s definitely safe to say that your average box cake mix leaves something to be desired. You can easily add an ingredient or two to make your boxed cake mix taste like homemade without all the work. Wahoo!

1. Add HOT Water To Chocolate Cake Mix:

*Hot Water- Add the amount of water the recipe calls for but use HOT water. It makes it taste CHOCOLATE-IER. Hot water allows the cocoa in the mix to “bloom” or, develop its flavor. Think about chocolate as if it were coffee; they’re both beans and very related. You make coffee with hot water to allow to beans to brew and develop flavor. Why not do the same with cocoa? That cocoa powder has been sitting in the box for a while—you need to wake the flavor up!

2. Add Coffee:

You can replace the liquid in the recipe with coffee. Coffee really intensifies all the flavors in the chocolate cake. They are a match made in heaven.

3. Let’s Talk Eggs:

*Eggs + yolks- Extra YOLKS means more fat which gives the cake ultra moistness! Add the amount of eggs called for in the recipe but add two extra egg yolks. The extra yolks add the density and moisture you’d find in a bakery cake! This is perfect for chocolate cake.

*Only Egg Whites-- Not adding the yolks to the cake makes a white cake fluffy and whiter! But taking out the egg yolks removes fat so add an extra two tablespoons of butter above (or, one tablespoon of melted butter per each removed egg yolk.)

4. Replace Water With Milk

Milk- Add MILK, not water, when your box mix calls for liquid. Replacing the water with milk will make your cake instantly taste homemade, while using buttermilk will make it taste rich and creamy. Just replace the water with the same amount of milk, or a little bit more buttermilk (because buttermilk is so viscous, you need to add more liquid than the recipe calls for).

5. Add Lemon

Avoid adding lemon to chocolate cakes, but add lots to a yellow cake. You can add lemon juice or lemon zest (or both!); the tartness will help cut the inherent sweetness of the mix, while the lemon flavor will shine through and add new flavor to your cake.

6. Swap Vegetable Oil for Butter

Melted Butter- Use BUTTER instead of oil. They’re both fat but butter has better flavor! Box recipes call for vegetable oil because it’s easier. But, how difficult is melting a stick of butter in the microwave? The butter adds a richness and depth of flavor that most boxed cake mixes are missing.

7. Add Vanilla (or Other Pantry Staples)

Vanilla- Freshen up the cake mix with a dash of VANILLA EXTRACT! Add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract for better flavor. The flavor agents in the box mix are old and tend to lose flavor as they sit on the store shelves.

Or you can just get creative on your own and look in your pantry and see what spices or extracts you could add to the mix to make your own delicious combination. (Cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, almond extract, lemon extract, etc.)

8. Sprinkle with Sugar

Sprinkling the top with SUGAR not only gives it a sweet crunchy texture but the weight of the sugar prevents the cake from rising too much while it bakes. Pour the cake batter into two cake pans and sprinkle the top with sugar. It’s important for your cake to rise but you don’t want it to rise too much or you will have to cut off a lot of it when you begin to layer it.

9. Make Extra LAYERS

Cut each round of cake in half to create more layers creating an equal cake-to-frosting ratio! More frosting will create extra moistness throughout the cake.

Do you add anything to box cake mixes to make them more yummy? Please share any tips or tricks you have in the comments below :)