Doctored Cake Mix Ideas

While I bake cookies, pastry, and candies from scratch, I have yet to bake a cake from scratch. I'm sure I will someday. But for now, I doctor pre-packaged cake mixes to make them more moist and increase their flavor, so they almost taste homemade.

Caramel cupcake with chocolate butter cream and sprinkles

Doctored cake mix recipe for a more moist cake:

1 box cake mix
1  3-ounce package instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup water, milk, or buttermilk
1/2 cup oil or melted butter
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

Simple mix all the ingredients together and bake according to the package directions. Some cake mix batters come out thick like brownie batter, other brands come out normal. I don't know why this is, but if your batter is thick don't worry, your cake won't come out super dense.

How to add more flavor to your cake mix:
If you want to play with the flavor of the cake, exchange the vanilla pudding for a different flavor such as chocolate or banana. You could also use a flavored yogurt such as cherry or lemon. Or add a splash or two of an extract. Personally, I usually substitute the 1/2 cup water/milk/buttermilk with a flavored beverage. You can use soda pop--think Cherry Coke--or fruit juices. I love using liqueurs. When I was in the Caribbean almost four years ago I picked up a bottle of raspberry-chocolate rum. God, how I loved using it in my baking (and adding a little to my hot chocolate) and am so sorry that it's all gone.

This week, along with Valentine's Day, is Eric's birthday. I will be making a Valentine dessert and a special doctored birthday cake for him and testing out some new decorating ideas. I'll share the outcome with you sometime this week.

Enjoy!

~Krissy