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How to Make Box Cake Better (Almost Scratch Cake)
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By Olivia on March 26, 2020 | 834 Comments | This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Policy.
Take your box cake mix to the next level with this easy recipe! A few simple additions make it extra moist and delicious.
Overhead shot of the ingredients for a box cake mix -- cake mix, flour, sugar, oil, sour cream, eggs, salt, and vanilla.
Alright, *almost* scratch cake is a bit of a stretch. It’s mostly a box cake with stuff added in to make it even better.
Some bakers scoff at box mixes, think it’s sacrilege and only bake from scratch. I’m a whatever-works-for-you kinda baker and sometimes it’s just easier to whip out a box.
How to Make Box Cake Better
Adding a few simple ingredients makes a world of difference. Trust me you will never go back to a plain old box cake mix ever again!
Here’s what you’ll need:
box cake mix
all-purpose flour
sugar
salt
large eggs
water (or milk)
vegetable oil
vanilla
sour cream
The sour cream is the secret ingredient I think that makes this doctored box mix extra moist and flavourful.
How to Make Box Cake Better
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I recommend using full-fat sour cream because really, we’re not about saving calories at this point, right?
Baked doctored box cake layer on a cooling rack.
Boxed Cake Mix Recipe
Making this cake is just as simple as any box mix, just with a couple of other ingredients. To make it all you need to do is:
whisk the dry ingredients together
add the wet ingredients
mix on low until combined
This recipe works great for two 8? cake pans or three 6? pans. It can be scaled up for larger pans though too. I use this site as a guideline when I’m scaling recipes up or down.
I like to use Homemade Cake Release on my pans and line them with parchment to make sure the cakes come out perfect every time.
Overhead photo of a cake pan being prepped with homemade cake release.
I also use Baking Strips around the sides of my cake pans to make sure the cakes bake perfectly flat and don’t require any trimming (no wasted cake scraps!).
Tow cake pans side by side, one with an evenbake strip on it.
If you’d like to make your cake extra moist (or if you’re worried you’ve over baked it) you can add some Simple Syrup to the cooled cake layers. I recommend trimming a bit of the top crust first so the syrup really soaks into the cakes.
small pitcher of simple syrup
These days I mostly bake from scratch, but I used to use this recipe all the time when I was focussing on cake decorating. It bakes up a very sturdy and delicious cake!
I’ve yet to recreate the delicious flavour and texture of a classic vanilla box mix cake though. My Vanilla Cake recipe comes close, but it’s not quite the same. It is delicious though too, so you should try it if you haven’t!
I really like this recipe because it makes the box mixes a little more dense and super moist. This recipe is GREAT for a cake that will be decorated, stacked, etc. as the cakes have really good structural integrity.
I hope you love it as much as I do. Happy Baking!
Easy Buttercream Frosting Recipes:
Simple Vanilla Buttercream
Whipped Chocolate Buttercream
Baileys Chocolate Buttercream
Cream Cheese Frosting
Whipped Chocolate Ganache
Frequently Asked Questions
How Can I Convert This Recipe?
This recipe makes two 8? or three 6? cake pans. You can use two 9? as well but the layers will be thinner (reduce baking time accordingly).
To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time. Start checking at 15mins or so. The recipe should make about 24 cupcakes depending on size.
You can bake it in a 9×13 pan. Baking time will be slightly shorter.
You can bake it in a Bundt pan as well but you’ll need to increase the baking time.
For all other conversions, I use this site as a guideline.
Baking time will vary if you change the pan size. Every oven varies so I can’t say for certain what you’ll need to adjust it to. Be sure to check on the cake as it’s baking.
Will This Work With Any Box Cake Mix?
I’ve only used this method with yellow/white cake mixes, but it should work just fine with any kind of box mix.
For chocolate cake mixes, instead of adding 1 cup flour, you can add 3/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup cocoa powder if you like.
For a pure white cake, use a white cake mix and 5 egg whites in place of 3 whole eggs.
For box mixes, my go-to’s are Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines. The French Vanilla flavour is my favourite.
You can easily add some sprinkles to make this a funfetti cake instead, but be sure to use either jimmies or confetti as the small round nonpareils will bleed into the batter.
Other Tips for making this Doctored Cake Mix:
Do not also use the ingredients listed on the back of the box mix. Only the components in the recipe.
Be sure to use room temperature ingredients as this will yield the best results.
Use full-fat sour cream for best results. Yogurt is a good substitute as well.
Learn how to keep your cakes moist using Simple Syrup.
To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, check out my Flat Top Cakes post!
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ingredients on a table.
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How to Make Box Cake Better
4.95 from 117 votes
Take your box cake mix to the next level with this easy recipe! A few simple additions make it extra moist and delicious.
Course DessertCuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutesCook Time 50 minutesTotal Time 1 hour
Servings
12
Calories 338kcal Author Olivia
INGREDIENTS
US CUSTOMARY
METRIC
1x
2x
3x
1 box yellow/white cake mix* 432g, 15.25oz
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs room temperature
1 1/3 cup water or milk room temperature
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream one 250g carton, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Grease and flour two 8" cake rounds (I use Homemade Cake Release), line with parchment.
Wrap cake rounds with damp Evenbake strips (optional).
Combine all dry ingredients and whisk together.
Add wet ingredients and mix until combined. I use my KitchenAid on low for 2 minutes but you can also do this by hand.
Divide the batter between the pans and bake for approximately 50 minutes.
Cool in pans on wire rack for 10mins, then turn cakes out onto wire racks to cool completely
View line-by-line Nutrition Insights™: Discover which ingredients contribute the calories/sodium/etc.
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Serving Size: 1 (626g) | ||
Recipe Makes: 1 | ||
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Calories: 1409 | ||
Calories from Fat: 770 (55%) | ||
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Amt Per Serving | % DV | |
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Total Fat 85.5g | 114 % | |
Saturated Fat 30.8g | 154 % | |
Monounsaturated Fat 33.2g | ||
Polyunsanturated Fat 11.8g | ||
Cholesterol 1358.7mg | 418 % | |
Sodium 2146.3mg | 74 % | |
Potassium 813.1mg | 21 % | |
Total Carbohydrate 101.1g | 30 % | |
Dietary Fiber 3.4g | 14 % | |
Sugars, other 97.8g | ||
Protein 53.7g | 77 % | |
Powered by: USDA Nutrition Database Disclaimer: Nutrition facts are derived from linked ingredients (shown at left in colored bullets) and may or may not be complete. Always consult a licensed nutritionist or doctor if you have a nutrition-related medical condition. |
Calories per serving: 1409
Get detailed nutrition information, including item-by-item nutrition insights, so you can see where the calories, carbs, fat, sodium and more come from.
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