These 3 Tips Will Help You Upgrade Your Boxed Cake Mix Recipes With Ease (2024)

FAQs

What happens if you use milk instead of water in a cake mix? ›

Most box cake recipes will tell you to add water to the mix. Instead, try adding milk using the same proportions. This will make the cake richer and creamier because it ups the fat content. You can even use buttermilk here for a pleasant tang.

The more eggs that are added, the stronger the physical protein bonds will be. While the yolk also contains some protein, it's more famous for its fattiness. Egg yolks give a smooth, velvety texture to whatever they're added to, whether it's a cake batter or my favorite luscious lemon curd from Bakes by Brown Sugar.

To make a box cake mix rise higher, try using a smaller pan, adding an extra egg, using milk instead of water, adding baking powder, mixing for longer, using room temperature ingredients, baking at a higher temperature, or using cake strips.

One common ingredient swap that is known to help make cakes remarkably moist is using milk instead of water. Try switching out any water in your recipe for full-fat milk or buttermilk for a moist, decadent texture. Another ingredient that can enhance the moisture of your cake is mayonnaise.

Most cake mixes call for oil, but butter will bring in amazing flavor. To substitute butter for oil in baking just melt the butter, measure it, let it cool, and add it as you would the oil. Compared to oil, butter will create a cake with a firmer, cakeier texture.

Vegetable oil contributes moistness far more reliably, a result of the fact that oil remains liquid at room temperature while butter solidifies. Liquid contributes to the sensation of moistness, and therefore cakes made with oil often present as moister than their butter-based counterparts.

To create an emulsion, we slowly add eggs to the butter mixture, one at a time, beating rapidly to suspend the water from the butter and egg whites in the fats from the butter and egg yolks. Lecithin, an emulsifier found in eggs, helps to stabilize the emulsion, as does aeration from steady, rapid beating.

If you are planning to combine the two boxes into one cake you are going to need six eggs. If you use only three the cake will not rise and will be dense and sort of chewy.

Swap out each cup of water called for with milk. Buttermilk: Instead of water, use the same amount of buttermilk. The acid in the buttermilk interacts with the leavening agents in the mix for a better rise. "Swapping out the water for buttermilk creates a fluffier cake and a moister one, too," says Waterson.

1. Add More Eggs. To get an extra rich and moist cake, stir in two extra egg yolks along with the eggs the recipe calls for (save the egg whites to make these delicious meringues). For a lighter and more airy cake, use only egg whites (and save the egg yolks for crème brûlée).