Making boxed cake taste homemade isn’t as impossible as you might think! Whether you love yellow cake with chocolate frosting, red velvet, or something else, there are ways to make your boxed cake taste more homemade and less…boxed. This doesn’t mean you can’t ever enjoy a boxed cake again.
We all have those days when we don’t have time to make a homemade dessert from scratch. Luckily, there are a few tricks that can help take that store-bought treat a notch up in hominess.
Make sure to check out these 7 tips for making the boxed cake taste homemade!
Add more Vanilla.
When it comes to baking, vanilla is a flavor that can enhance almost any dessert. Vanilla is often paired with butter, so it makes total sense that those two flavors would work well together. If you want to make your boxed cake taste more homemade, use more vanilla.
How much more? It depends on the brand you buy. Some vanilla extracts are stronger than others, so you may want to increase the amount in your recipe a little bit at a time until you get the flavor you want. If you want to make your boxed cake taste even more homemade, substitute real vanilla extract for vanilla flavoring.
Vanilla extract is made by steeping real vanilla beans in alcohol, while vanilla flavoring is synthetic. The flavor of real vanilla is much more robust and creamy, while the synthetic stuff is weaker and tastes more like chemicals.
Use a Mixer with Soft Butter.
If you’re using butter in your cake or frosting recipe, you might want to consider using a mixture of butter and shortening. Butter is a softer fat, so it’s easier to mix in. If you’re using a mixer to make your boxed cake taste more homemade, you might have noticed that you have to stop the mixer several times to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
That’s because butter is a more soft and sticky fat than shortening is. Using shortening will help you mix your batter more thoroughly, so you don’t have to keep interrupting the mixer. If you’re making your frosting, consider switching from real butter to shortening. The frosting is very soft, so you don’t want fat that’s going to make your frosting too firm.
Adding shortening will make your frosting more easily spreadable and give it a nicer, fluffier texture.
Add in some Real Butter.
You probably noticed that the first two tips we gave you involve using more of the ingredients that are already in your boxed cake. This next tip is a little different. This tip talks about adding something new to your boxed cake that isn’t in the recipe. Adding real butter to your boxed cake will take it to the next level. Butter adds extra flavor and texture to your boxed cake and frosting. Butter can also help your cake stay moist and fresh longer.
Many boxed cake mixes have a very long shelf life, but you can help them stay fresh a little bit longer by adding butter to your cake. Butter is slightly acidic and has low water content, so it doesn’t spoil as quickly as other fats and oils. Real butter has a shelf life of about two months. Butter also has more flavor than shortening.
So, if you’re trying to make the boxed cake taste homemade, consider adding a little bit of real butter to your recipe.
Mix in some Cocoa Powder.
Cocoa powder is the main ingredient in some boxed cake recipes, like red velvet. But, if you’re trying to make the boxed cake taste homemade, you can use cocoa powder to enhance any boxed cake recipe. Cocoa powder is a rich and flavorful ingredient, but it doesn’t make your boxed cake taste like chocolate. It has a more subtle flavor that pairs well with butter and sugar.
Adding cocoa powder to your boxed cake will make it taste a little richer, a little more like chocolate, and a little more homemade. You can also add cocoa powder to your frosting. Or, you can use a combination of cocoa powder and vanilla extract.
If you want to make your boxed cake taste homemade, you can use cocoa powder as an addition to your recipe in a few ways.
Use real Eggs, not Egg Substitutes.
When you mix up your boxed cake, you’ll notice that there are directions for making a cake with eggs and a cake without eggs. Which egg substitute do you use? If you want to make your boxed cake taste more homemade, you should use real eggs. Egg substitutes don’t taste like eggs and they don’t add as much texture or flavor to your boxed cake.
If you’re using a boxed cake mix without eggs, the directions will say so. If you’re using a boxed cake mix with eggs, make sure you use real eggs and not a substitute. You can also add more eggs to your boxed cake recipe if you want to make it taste more homemade. You may want to use a different amount of eggs depending on the brand of boxed cake mix you buy.
Some boxed cake mixes call for lots of eggs, while others use a smaller amount. If you want to make your boxed cake taste homemade, you can use real eggs instead of egg substitutes.
Add in Some Sour Cream or Yogurt.
Sour cream and yogurt are two commonly used ingredients in baking. If you’re trying to make your boxed cake taste homemade, consider adding either sour cream or yogurt. Sour cream and yogurt are both acidic, so they help your boxed cake rise and also prevent it from being too dense. They’re also great ingredients to replace vanilla extract because they give your boxed cake a nice, creamy texture. If you want to make your boxed cake taste more homemade, you can add a little bit of sour cream or yogurt.
Sour cream is a bit more creamy, while yogurt has a slightly more tangy flavor. If you want your boxed cake to taste more homemade, you can use a small amount of either sour cream or yogurt. You can also replace the vanilla extract in your recipe with sour cream or yogurt instead.
Make your Frosting.
If you want to make your boxed cake taste homemade, you can always make your frosting instead of using the one that comes with the boxed cake mix. If you’re using a boxed cake mix with real eggs in it, you can still make your frosting. You just need to be careful when making real eggs frosting, particularly if you’re using raw or uncooked eggs. Raw eggs can contain salmonella, so you should make sure to stay safe and use fully cooked eggs if you’re making your frosting. There are a few ways to make your frosting.
You can use a frosting recipe from a cookbook or online. You can also use a thick, creamy, vanilla-flavored frosting recipe from a box of cake mixes. If you want to make your boxed cake taste homemade, you can make your frosting instead of using the frosting that comes with the boxed cake mix.
Conclusion
You can make boxed cake taste more homemade by adding more vanilla, switching from real butter to shortening, adding real cocoa powder, using real eggs, and adding sour cream or yogurt. You can also make your frosting instead of using the frosting that comes with the boxed cake mix. You can do this by using a thick, creamy frosting recipe or using a box cake mix.
When it comes to baking, there’s no shame in using a boxed cake mix now and then. The important thing is that you know how to make your boxed cake taste homemade!
