As a family of foodies, cake is pretty important. It needs to be moist (I’m sorry, but there is no other word for this!!), flavorful, fluffy and fill a pan all the way. So for us, that means doctoring the cake mix that comes in the box.
My mom is quite the baker. When I was little she made wedding cakes as a side hustle (before side hustles were a thing!). She still makes cakes for all of our birthdays and taught cake baking and decorating classes for years. So she’s always noticing what is changing in the baking aisle. Did you know that over the last few years the weight of a box of cake mix has gone from 18-20oz to 16oz?? That means that when you fill your pans, your cakes are going to come out smaller, OR they’re going to be weirdly fluffy because they’ve added so much leavener. So of course, she had to figure out a way to make excellent cake, easily! And you’re in luck because she is letting me share her recipe! This recipe was used at the Peacock party, and the Flamingo party and can be found in our family recipe book.
One last super weird tip… If you are refrigerating your cakes before baking and need to level out the tops, don’t throw those scraps away!! This cake recipe makes the BEST cake top for snacking. Once it has been leveled, those scraps, which we call cake top, are a scrumptious little snack. Break off a smidgen while you’re decorating and treat yo self!
Be sure to check out the notes for chocolate cake and buttercream frosting!
Doctored Cake Mix
Equipment
- Kitchenaid Mixer A hand mixer will also work
- Small bowl to melt butter
Ingredients
- 1 box Cake Mix (Any brand will do!)
- 1 cup Flour
- 1 cup Sugar
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 3 whole Eggs
- 1 cup Milk (Full fat is best, but any milk will work)
- 1 cup Sour Cream (Again, full fat is best, but any will work)
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- ½ cup Melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to the temperature suggested on your cake mix package.
- Grease and flour two 9 inch round pans. Using either crisco, or cooking spray, coat your pans well and then add a little flour to them and rotate them until all the sides and bottom are covered with flour. Discard any additional flour. If making cupcakes, prepare the cups with paper liners, no grease or flour are necessary.
- Mix all dry ingredients together.
- Add liquids and mix well.
- Evenly divide your batter between the two cake pans. If making cupcakes, use a #20 scoop to fill each cup perfectly.
- Bake for the amount of time necessary for your pan which will be listed on the cake mix package. You can also check doneness by poking a tooth pick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, your cake is done. If not, give it a few more minutes.
Notes
Buttercream Frosting! The most important part! 2 cups room temp butter (do not use margarine!) 2 pounds powdered sugar 4 tbl milk, full fat is best, but any will do! 2 tsp vanilla Beat the butter in a stand mixer for 1-2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and mix until smooth and creamy. If it seems too thick, you can add a small amount of milk and mix again. For chocolate buttercream, add 1/2 cup cocoa powder and 1 cup melted semi sweet chocolate chips and mix well. Add more cocoa powder or chocolate chips as desired.
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