Dessert - How to make cherry cake with white cake mix (2023)

FAQs

How can I add flavor to my white cake mix? ›

Boxed cake mixes can take on a lot of extra flavor and a little more liquid, so don't be afraid to add a splash of vanilla extract to a white cake or a little coffee extract to a chocolate cake. Fresh lemon or orange zest is wonderful in a lemon cake and also divine in a yellow or white cake.

More Fat, More Flavor

Most box cake recipes call for vegetable or canola oil. The only trouble is, these oils have almost no flavor. Replace the oil with an equal amount of melted butter (and a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter), to boost richness. For an extra decadent cake, add two tablespoons of mayonnaise.

Sour cream adds moisture without thinning your batter the same way that a liquid would. That fact that sour cream delivers moisture without further thinning out a batter results in a cake with a very tender, very fine crumb.

Add an Extra Egg

The additional fat in the egg yolk helps create a more tender and moist cake that is full of flavor. The extra egg also helps the cake have a more stable texture, which is great if you want to bake it up as a layer cake instead of a sheet cake or cupcakes.

The creaming method is the most common for mixing cake batter. It incorporates plenty of air into the dough and helps it rise, creating a stable, yet tender, finished product. All ingredients should be at room temperature for best results. Start by beating the butter and sugar together, then add eggs one at a time.

Most cakes begin with creaming butter and sugar together. Butter is capable of holding air and the creaming process is when butter traps that air. While baking, that trapped air expands and produces a fluffy cake.

Should I use milk instead of water in box cake mix? ›

Milk: Add MILK, not water, when your box mix calls for liquid. The milk adds density, fat and, most importantly, extra flavor to your mix.

Tips for Making Boxed Cake Mix Hack

Substitute the water in box directions for milk. Replace the oil in the box directions with butter and DOUBLE the amount. Add one additional egg than what the box instructions call for. Mix ingredients together and follow baking directions from the box.

Here's an ingredient you probably have on hand: mayonnaise! You can use it as a cup-for-cup replacement for sour cream in most recipes—including baked goods! (Mayo adds a ton of moisture to things like cakes and muffins because it's made from eggs and oil.)

Made with real ingredients like eggs and oil, mayonnaise adds moistness and richness to your baking.

Put some pudding in the mix: Add a small box of pudding mix in with the cake mix. (Don't make the pudding.) The mix adds additional flavor, moistness, and a denser texture.

Add a Few Fun Mix-Ins

For vanilla or yellow cake mixes, try adding diced crystallized ginger, dried fruit, or fresh berries. For chocolate or vanilla cake mixes, try adding unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted chopped nuts, or chocolate chips.

Replacing the water with milk will make your cake instantly taste homemade, while using buttermilk will make it taste rich and creamy. Just replace the water with the same amount of milk, or a little bit more buttermilk (because buttermilk is so viscous, you need to add more liquid than the recipe calls for).

Verdict: With a moist, flavorful, and consistent result, the Duncan Hines mix takes the cake.

Whisk first: To absolutely ensure my eggs incorporate slowly, I whisk all my eggs together and then slowly drizzle it into the running mixer. I've found this very gradual approach really helps to create a nice emulsion. You'll find the mixture will be thick, creamy and not curdled.

For Moister Cake: Add One Extra Egg

Instead of adding 3 eggs to your cake batter, add 4. The extra egg will add more fat, making for moister cake and a little extra structure — an important quality of a cake that you want to decorate.

What happens if you use 2 eggs instead of 4 in a cake? ›

Using too few eggs will make your desserts dense, but using too many will make them rubbery. The explanation for this lies in the fact that eggs are made up of protein. As Fine Cooking explains, when the protein in eggs combines with the protein in flour, they produce the overall structure of the baked good.

Beat vs. Stir. Folding, beating, and stirring are three different methods for mixing ingredients when baking. Each one uses a different motion and a different tool, producing a different result.

Cake flour, which is more finely ground and contains less protein than its all-purpose counterpart, is a major contributor to how soft and the overall weight of a cake. Since cake flour has less protein, less gluten is formed. Without all of that gluten, the cake becomes less dense, airy, and smooth.

Extra egg: To make your cake lighter, mixing in another egg will do the trick. "Adding an additional egg creates a richer, fluffier cake," says Waterson. Tack on an additional egg than what's called for on the box while mixing, and mix as normal. Egg whites: Egg yolks contain more fat than egg whites.

Choosing a vegetable oil is the best option for baking moist, delicious baked goods. Canola oil, the most common vegetable oil used in baking, doesn't add a strong flavor. It allows your cake's flavor will shine through while still achieving a moist texture.

Why does oil give cake superior texture? Butter is 18% water, so when the batter is baked, some of its liquid evaporates. Replacing the water from the butter with oil means there's more fat left in the cakes to ensure tenderness.

What makes a cake taste sweet? ›

Sugar can give foods the sweet taste we know and love – but there is much more to it. It also performs many other essential functions in cookies, cakes, and other baked goods. We all know that sugar is essential for baking—after all, it's what makes sweets taste sweet.

Don't get caught in the trap of thinking that you must bake from scratch if you sell cakes. Most bakeries do NOT bake from scratch. In fact, I once worked at a bakery that actually claimed to be a “scratch bakery”, but all their cakes started with a Duncan Hines cake mix, the same kind you buy in the grocery store.

To make your cake richer, add whole milk instead of water to the mix. The fat in the milk will add moisture and a lovely flavor to the cake. If you don't have milk handy, use evaporated milk or even a little heavy whipping cream. You'll end up with a cake that's rich and beautifully dense.

Adding mayonnaise, sour cream, yogurt, or melted ice cream to boxed cake mix can make the finished product moist and rich. Swapping out ingredients, like oil for butter or milk for water, will take a boxed cake to the next level. Things like coffee, soda, and spices will help to amplify the flavors in a boxed cake.

Overall, changing the number of eggs in your cake recipe can alter the properties of your cake. Too few eggs will yield a cake that is overly compact and doesn't hold together will. Too many eggs can leave you with a spongy or rubbery mess.

Call it a hack, a shortcut, or a super simple "recipe," but combining a 12-ounce can of soda and a standard box of cake mix is like a magic trick. The end result is an extra moist and soft cake, with more flavor than usual thanks to your soda of choice. And yes, it's every bit as bouncy and fluffy as any other cake.

You can substitute juice or milk instead of water in cakes. However, follow these precautionary measures: For juice, you may only use fresh. Canned juices contain methyl silicone that can prevent cakes from rising to their full potential. Fresh juice should be used in ratio with water to avoid a dry, coarse texture.

When baking with cake mix, you don't need to use eggs, oil or even water! You just need a can of soda pop. The carbon dioxide bubbles in soda pop act as a leavening agent — the element that makes baked goods rise and makes them light and fluffy.

When we were finally done baking frosting and conducted a blind taste test, there was a clear winner. Honestly, it wasn't even a contest. Despite my batter doubts, the mayonnaise cake was light and fluffy, with perfectly moist texture.

Sour cream is one of the fattiest dairy products; the extra fat content (for example, adding sour cream to a cake instead of milk) will make the cake moister and richer, says Wilk. “Fat, in any form (butter, lard, cream, etc.) shortens gluten strands, which essentially leads to the most tender baked goods,” she adds.

Can I use sour cream instead of eggs in cake mix? ›

Since sour cream has a higher fat content it can actually mimic the fats in an egg and make our recipe extra rich and moist. One egg can be replaced by ¼ cup of sour cream. It acts as just the perfect egg substitute!

If you're missing oil, try melted butter. Some experts say using melted butter as a replacement for oil improves the taste and texture of box cakes. Use the same measurement of butter as the recipe calls for in oil.

If you wish to use mayo in place of eggs, just substitute two or three tablespoons of mayo for every egg in the recipe. For oil, you will just replace the oil with mayo in the same quantity. If the recipe calls for one-third cup of oil, you will use one-third cup of mayo.

Instant Pudding Mix

Adding pudding to cake mix doesn't change the flavor enormously, but it does help in making the cake moist and more homemade tasting. Also, the instant pudding can help cakes remain fresh longer. Due to these elements, a pudding mix is perfect for quick bread, sheet cakes, and bundt cakes.

Use Evaporated Milk

Replace the regular milk for a can of evaporated milk to make a creamier, more decadent pudding. Not only does it yield a luxurious texture, it dramatically improves the flavor of a pudding mix. For a tropical twist, reach for some canned coconut milk.

It typically contains milk or cream, although there are non-dairy puddings made with plant-based "milk." Pudding is similar to custard in that they both can contain eggs and milk, but pudding is usually thickened with a starch, whereas custard is thickened by the eggs.

Take whatever flavoring is in your boxed mix, and add more of it: If you're making a vanilla cake mix, add another teaspoon or two of vanilla extract, or a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste. For a chocolate cake mix, add a pinch of espresso powder (this will boost the chocolate flavor without adding any coffee taste).

Vanilla: Freshen up the cake mix with a dash of VANILLA EXTRACT! Add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract for better flavor. The flavor agents in the box mix are old and tend to lose flavor as they sit on the store shelves. (Scroll down and check out the video below for all our favorite tips for white cake mix.)

While best for elevating the flavor of white or yellow cakes, a touch of vanilla can also help other flavored cakes. Add a ½ teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to your boxed cake mix just before putting it into the pan to bake.

How do you elevate a boxed white cake mix? ›

It's one of those ingredients where a little goes a long way. Taste-wise, the result of adding too much vanilla extract to a recipe is an overwhelming vanilla/alcohol flavor and a bad aftertaste. If you've just added a little too much, you can counteract it by sweetening the recipe.

Put some pudding in the mix: Add a small box of pudding mix in with the cake mix. (Don't make the pudding.) The mix adds additional flavor, moistness, and a denser texture.

For a plain basic cake, yes a whole egg can be used. For a white cake you can use a whole egg for every 2 whites. The cake wont be a pure white color, but will taste fine. For a cake that calls for beaten whites, you must use only the whites of the eggs.

Making a moist cake starts with the cake mix. If a recipe calls for all-purpose flour, opt for cake flour instead to create a more moist, tender crumb. Additions like sour cream, buttermilk, or applesauce can also infuse moisture and prevent a dry cake.

Add a dollop of sour cream for a bakery-style cake.

And, since sour cream contains fat, your cake will also be richer. Per baking blog Liv for Cake, you may want to start by adding about 1 cup of sour cream.

4Add a Little Mayo

But add a dollop of mayo (two tablespoons is perfect) to any cake mix, and you'll instantly see an improvement in the texture. Mayo makes cake mix incredibly luscious and homemade tasting.

1. American Buttercream. This is the most used cake filling across the world.