Ok - I hardly have time to shower some days, much less bake a cake from scratch.
So with company coming over last weekend, I wanted to have a treat to share, but not spend hours in the kitchen - because quite frankly, I probably need to spend hours cleaning my house, not licking the cake mix spoon ten million times. The struggle though.
I thought a cake would be an easy dessert and serve quite a bit of people, so that was my game plan. I'm not a huge fan of cake box mix since normally they can be pretty dry and crumbly. So the need to spruce it up a little was a must. I was a little hesitant at first, but let me tell y'all - this little slice of heaven was delicious. And was a hit among guests.
Here's how to make a boxed cake mix with a little extra jazz:
I decided to go with a Betty Crocker "Super Moist" white cake mix. I followed the directions for preparation, but substituted ingredients to make the cake seem more authentic, rather than box-like. I also added some ingredients to add extra flavor and give it a more homemade feel.
Substitute
Water for Milk: The box called for water, I replaced it with an equal amount of milk.
Butter for Vegetable Oil: Pretty much everything is better with butter, so I switched out the oil for the same amount of softened butter for more richness.
Add
Eggs: The recipe calls for eggs, but add extra. I used 4.
Sugar: I added about 1/2 of sugar to the dry cake mix.
Flour: Added another 1/2 of flour to the cake mix.
Pudding Packet: I feel like this is really the secret. It added so much flavor and made it even more moist and yummy. Just use the Jello dry pudding mix in the little boxes. You could choose any flavor to make it extra special.
Vanilla: Mixed in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract for an added dose of vanilla flavor.
Salt: 1/2 teaspon of salt to bring out the flavors and balance the sweetness.
A Little Somethin' Extra
Toppings + Mix-Ins: To really make it seem like the cake was homemade, I added some fun extras to make it a little more authentic. This is really where you can truly make it your own and create whatever masterpiece you'd like. Sprinkles, nuts, peanut butter chips, dark chocolate - oh, the delicious possibilities!
Frosting: To really make the cake seem like you slaved away in your kitchen for hours, make your own frosting. It's SO simple and SO easy. For a buttercream, all you need is butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. So simple!
I'm telling y'all. These ingredients made all the difference in the world. And nobody had a clue that this cake originated from a box in the grocery store. It's worth the extra effort, but saves us mama's so much time! You won't be finding me making any homemade cakes anytime soon...
Ingredients for Chocolate Chip Vanilla Cake
Cake Mix:
1 box of Betty Crocker "Super Moist" white cake mix
1 stick of unsalted butter
4 eggs
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup of flour
1 box of dry pudding mix of your choice
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of milk
1 cup of mini chocolate chips
Buttercream Frosting:
1 stick of unsalted butter at room temperature
5 cups of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/4 cup of milk
Optional for Topping:
3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup of crushed walnuts
*I'm probably a little heavy handed when it comes to icing a cake. I actually had to make two batches of frosting to ice the entire cake. #sorrynotsorry
Directions for Cake:
1. Using directions on the cake mix box, heat oven accordingly.
2. Grease bottoms of pans with cooking spray or butter.
3. In a large bowl, empty dry cake mix.
2. To the mix, add granulated sugar, flour, dry pudding mix, and salt. Whisk together.
3. Once whisked, beat in eggs, vanilla, butter, and milk. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Pour batter into two 9-inch round cake pans.
5. Bake using the directions on the cake mix box. Add time as needed.
6. Once baked, cool cake layers completely before icing.
Directions for Buttercream Frosting:
1. Beat room temperature butter until fluffy.
2. Gradually, add powered sugar.
3. Mix in vanilla and milk.
Topping:
Sprinkle mini chocolate chips and walnuts to top.
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