4 Easy Methods To Make Box Cake Taste Homemade

You may love desserts, so you want to try to bake them at home daily. However, baking cakes is not as easy as it seems, so often you take the easier way out by buying a box of cake, hoping it will be as good as the homemade one. So, how can you make a box cake taste homemade without actually going through all the trouble of making a cake from scratch?

The easiest way to make your box cake taste homemade is to replace the recommended ingredients with juicer ones. For example, instead of water, you can add more fat and milk and double the number of eggs in the mixture.

If you do not have the time to bake a cake from scratch or are simply a beginner, you can go for box cake mixtures that will enable you to bake a cake in no time. However, if you still want to make your cake look like it has come from a bakery and has an amazing homemade taste, you must take additional steps. Here, I have provided everything you need to do to improve your box cakes and achieve the look and taste you actually desire for your dessert.

How do you make a box cake taste homemade?

Not everyone has the time or baking skills to make the perfect homemade cake from scratch, so they resort to other options, such as box cake mixtures. Box cakes are convenient alternatives to homemade cakes when you still want to make some effort or simply want to try your baking skills. They come with a pre-ready mixture that requires a few more steps, and you will get an amazing dessert for your family members or friends.

However, even though box cakes are convenient options, they still do not taste the same as homemade ones. People usually try to achieve the taste that Paula Deen provides in her cakes since this American chef is considered the greatest example of a baker in the world of cakes. Therefore, you might really have the desire to achieve something from Paula’s recipes, but you simply do not have the appropriate conditions to do so.

Luckily for you, there are ways to make your box cake taste homemade, like from the recipes from Paula Deen, and no one might even realize that there is a box cake in question. The steps to achieve this are quite simple, meaning you do not have to do anything special and difficult, or need any special ingredients to make this happen. In fact, you probably have these additional ingredients already in your fridge, so you do not have to buy anything else besides your box cake mixture.

Below, I have provided some steps that will help you achieve the famous homemade taste of Paula Deen’s cakes and make you look like a real pro at baking cakes.

how to make box cake taste homemade easy

Choose a good box cake mixture

The box cake mixture you choose plays a significant role in this. If you choose something cheap, you cannot expect to improve the taste of a mediocre mixture. Therefore, choose a good, recognized brand known for its quality.

You should be prepared that you will have to pick from a variety of options that might make you feel overwhelmed. To make your choice easier, I have listed some of the best box cake mixtures proven to be of high quality and are mostly affordable options. I always go back to them:

If you opt for one of these box cake mixtures, you can expect to improve the quality and taste of the cake so that it looks like a homemade cake recipe by Paula Deen. Usually, it is not easy to work with any type of mixture. However, the ones that I listed are tested, so you can certainly work with them.

Use milk instead of water

Every box cake mixture requires the addition of water according to the recipe, so you are obliged to add some liquid to the mixture. The liquid helps in making the mixture batter, so you will have something out of which you will bake the cake. Usually, all recipes recommend water since this is the cheapest way to make the batter, but it does not mean that if you add another type of liquid, it will not work.

The cakes to which the water is added have a good texture, but they are often dry. To make your cake softer and juicer, you can replace water with milk. You can try with 2% or skim milk. However, if you want to achieve Paula Deen’s effect, it would be good to opt for full milk. This will obtain maximum moisture and flavor, so your cake will definitely taste as if it is homemade.

You can also use buttermilk as it is a great option for obtaining moisture from the cake. If you do not have buttermilk close by, you can make your own by mixing a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice for each cup of milk.

Add more eggs

In the same way as water, each box cake mixture requires the addition of eggs. However, the recipes included on the back of the box always give you the cheapest and most convenient options, so most times, you will be required to add one egg to combine the mixture well and create a great batter to work with. But eggs are not only responsible for making the batter and including moisture in the cake.

They can give special homemade richness to the cake and lift the batter, so you will obtain a really fluffy and light-baked result. For instance, if you want to achieve an airy cake, you should add one or two egg whites more than given in the instructions. In addition, if you want to obtain some homemade richness of the cake as in the recipes of Paula Deen, then you should opt for egg yolks and go all the way with them.

Include fat along with milk

As I mentioned before, relying only on water to make the batter would not be enough to make the cake fluffy and moist. To be on the safe side, along with the milk, you should add a little bit of oil, so you will ensure richness in your cake. Nothing shows homemade taste more than a cake full of richness and flavors.

In this case, you can also try sour cream. Sour cream is actually the secret ingredient for giving your cake a homemade look and taste since it adds specific flavorful features to your baked dessert. You will not lose anything by trying this trick.