Easy Cake Mix Upgrade
I used a French vanilla cake mix to make cupcakes, but you can use any flavor and size you want. I assume gluten-free mixes would work well here, too if you have allergy restrictions. Basically you’ll follow the directions on the box replacing the 1 cup of water with milk, adding two extra eggs, and swapping the ⅓ cup oil for double the amount of melted butter. Here’s how I doctored up that boxed mix based on Stoddard’s recommendation.
1 box cake mix, any flavor1 cup milk⅔ cup butter, melted5 eggsFrosting of choice
Test Kitchen Tip: Since I’m in self-isolation, I didn’t want to make the full two dozen cupcakes this box yields. After consulting the Better Homes & Gardens Test Kitchen, they suggest freezing already-baked cakes rather than chilling and freezing the batter, which can affect the leavening ingredients. After baking, I went for a long walk around my neighborhood while I anxiously awaited for these gals to cool completely because my apartment smelled too amazing to stick around. Upon my return, I whipped up the almond variation of this buttercream frosting recipe and got to piping with a star tip. If you don’t have pastry decorating tools, fill a resealable bag and snip off the tip for a makeshift piping bag (or just slather on frosting with your spatula!). I only got a few frosted before I had to give myself a sample. Wow! They were perfectly moist with a tender, airy crumb. I knew adding a bunch of butter could make anything taste better, but these were delightful. So yes, I believe this hack is definitely worth it. Use whatever your favorite frosting is (purchased or homemade), but my decision to make almond buttercream was a good one because it reminded me of wedding cake. Want a vegan version of doctoring up your cake mix? Stoddard also recently shared a video on how to easily hack your cake mix with soda. The two-ingredient soda cake is also a classic recipe here on Better Homes & Gardens and includes a ton of variations such as “chocolate supreme,” which simply uses a chocolate cake mix and cola carbonated beverage. If you’re like me and don’t keep soda around, you can use your favorite sparkling water for the same effect! I recently made a vanilla cake mix with a can of peach sparkling water and it turned out fluffy and delicious.
