How To Make Boxed Cake Mix Taste Homemade With 13 Unique Ingredients

Boxed cake mix can feel like a dirty secret hiding in your pantry. No one wants to be accused of cutting corners on something as important as a homemade birthday cake, but that way of thinking is outdated, not to mention patently wrong. Using a box mix is not a cop-out. Instead, think of it as buying an insurance policy for the baking process.

Box mixes are an excellent platform for new bakers to learn how to play with flavors and ingredients, giving them the confidence to branch out and experiment. After all, when you know that the cake is already guaranteed to bake up tender and tasty, you have the freedom to make something truly exceptional. Plus, with a few key ingredients, you can fool anyone into believing that no box mix was even involved.

But who am I to tell you how to bake? I'm a former managing editor of a baking magazine and co-host of a baking podcast, and whenever I didn't know how to bake something, I turned to world-class bakers to teach me. When I wasn't baking from scratch, I was learning ways to make box-mix treats taste homemade. These tips are from the accumulated knowledge I've gathered over 10-plus years of baking.

One of my favorite ways to wake up the flavor profile of a boxed cake mix is with a bit of help from my spice drawer. Individual spices like nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice each bring a unique, warm note to a cake, but more complex spice blends are also fair game, so try mixes like classic masala chai, pumpkin spice, and apple pie spice.

Choose a relatively mild-tasting box mix to start with, like a buttery yellow cake or a white cake mix, so that the spice has room to shine. For subtle flavor, start by adding 1 teaspoon, then work your way up to a whole tablespoon if you want a truly spicy punch. If you want to take the spice flavor to the next level, consider pairing it with a complementary ingredient, like a bit of maple syrup or pumpkin puree.

As a general baking note, if you're going to use spices, get the most out of them by making sure they're fresh, as the flavorful oils and compounds in spices often fade or go rancid within a matter of months. Ground spices generally age faster than whole, so consider investing in some whole nutmeg, star anise, and others that you can grind up with a spice grinder (or a coffee grinder in a pinch).

Mashed, ripe banana adds moisture, flavor, and earthy depth to any and all baking. With a boxed cake mix, banana does all this and more. Beginning with over-ripe bananas (which have the most sugars), mash 1 to 1½ cups' worth of banana and add it to the mix. You can select a plain mix, like yellow or white cake, or get creative and mix some of this banana into a chocolate cake or caramel cake mix, adding fruity undertones to traditionally rich desserts.

Want to take your cake to the next level? Use complementary flavors for the frosting. Pair whatever banana-infused cake you make with a thick, homemade peanut butter frosting for an Elvis-themed cake, or try a tangy cream cheese icing that balances out the bananas' earthy sweetness.

If mashed banana isn't your jam, you could preform the same hack with applesauce in place of banana. Use about 1 cup of applesauce to start with (as it has more moisture than mashed banana), and maybe swap in apple juice for the required water to help double down on the cake's fruity flavor.

This hack involves playing with your cake after it's baked. Once the cake is cooling on a wire rack, consider poking it with holes and ladling on your favorite booze of choice. This will give you deeply flavored shortcut versions of rum cake, fruit cake, or other liquor-soaked delights. The best part is that this will work with basically any flavored cake mix on the market.

To get the most out of this boozy cake boost, pair the proper booze with the right fruity flavors, like Calvados or other apple-flavored brandy with apples (try using applesauce in the mix) or Kirsch liqueur with cherries for a Black Forest cake-like take. On the less fruity side, consider pumping up your boxed chocolate cake mix with some Irish cream liqueur or coffee-scented Kahlúa. You can also take your favorite cocktails and use them as base inspiration. RumChata poke cake, anyone?

Keep in mind that a little goes a long way — this application of liquor will be quite strong, considering it won't get cooked off in the hot oven. If you want to keep it light, try brushing on a few teaspoons of alcohol rather than letting it soak like a poke cake. For a heavier taste, soak each layer with a few tablespoons, or use up to ½ cup for the whole cake.

Most box mixes call for water as their liquid, but a simple swap of dairy often helps make the baked good all the richer. My favorite dairy to use in cakes is buttermilk, as its natural acidity brings tender texture and tang into the equation. Whole milk works, too, but the buttermilk will kick the overall cake into overdrive.

This buttermilk swap works particularly well with cake mixes that have the term "velvet" on the packaging — i.e., red velvet cakes. Velvet cakes, which started popping up in Victorian times, have a finer texture thanks to the use of cocoa powder and an acidic ingredient like vinegar or buttermilk. The two will often react to create a supremely tender crumbed cake. Of course, this means that the buttermilk will also bring some nice softness to devil's food cake mixes and other chocolate varieties. However, if you'd like to stick to adding water or want to simply avoid using dairy, try using bubbly seltzer to make a fluffy cake.

Like the mashed banana mentioned above, pumpkin or squash puree brings undeniable moisture and flavor to a box mix. Starting with either a plain yellow cake box mix or a spice cake mix, try folding in about 1 cup's worth of fresh pumpkin puree or 1 (15-ounce) can to the other ingredients. When using canned pumpkin, make sure you're adding in pumpkin puree, not the similar-looking can of pumpkin pie filling, which has additional sugar and thickeners. If you're not using a spice cake mix, be sure to add in a dash of pumpkin spice or a homemade blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger.

Another complementary flavor you can incorporate into your pumpkin cake is maple syrup, either in the form of homemade maple buttercream or a touch of maple extract. For a more neutral frosting option, consider using a spiced buttercream as a topper, doubling down on the warm spice that's already present. If you'd like to bring in a crunchy element, toasted walnuts or pecans would be a welcome addition to the mix as well.

In this case, two pre-made mixes make one truly homemade-tasting dessert. Boxed pudding mix adds moisture, flavor, and delightful coloring to a humdrum cake mix. (Pro tip: It's also the secret to a Boston cream pie-style angel food cake.) If you want to try this out in the most traditional way, consider combining a 3.4-ounce box of French (or plain) vanilla pudding mix with a 15- to 16-ounce white or yellow cake mix. This blend should make the cake taste like a rich custard and give it a divine texture to match.

Consider matching up other flavors of cake and pudding mix to help you double down on tastes like lemon or chocolate. More outlandish combos include pairing butterscotch pudding with a banana cake or, conversely, combining banana pudding mix with a caramel cake blend. A particularly popular pudding/cake creation is the classic pistachio pudding cake, which will often join yellow cake mix with the pale-green instant pudding mix. With some fresh-chopped pistachios added in, it's a delicious treat for any season.

Often viewed as a mere flavoring agent for your afternoon cuppa, tea leaves are also a tasty addition to cake. Beginning with a plain vanilla, yellow, or white cake mix, consider swapping freshly brewed tea or tea-infused milk for the required water. Or, better yet, blitz 1 or 2 teaspoons of your favorite tea leaves in a blender and stir the powder directly into the mix. This aromatic, herbal flavor will help balance the strong sweetness of the box mix.

As for blends to try, Earl Grey or masala chai would both be delicious choices, with the former incorporating a note of citrus and the latter pumping up the spice levels. The Earl Grey would be particularly nice with a lemon or lemon poppyseed cake mix. For something more out there, try using the lightly orange-hued, spicy and sweet Thai iced tea. If you do use this blend, consider turning your Thai tea cake into a poke cake, using sweetened condensed milk — the traditional mix-in for Thai iced tea — as the creamy soaking liquid.

Many bakers will suggest swapping melted butter for a box mix's required vegetable oil, but why not take it a step further and make it brown butter? After all, brown butter elevates everything from pancakes to cookies, so it has to work wonders on a boxed cake mix. First, though, let's address what brown butter is.

When you melt solid butter, the butterfat and milk solids separate, with the solids sinking to the bottom of the pan and toasting over time. As this happens, some water (butter is about 15% water) will evaporate off, which will make your butter weigh slightly less and pack less moisture than an un-browned stick of butter. When mixing brown butter into a cake mix, consider adding in a bit of water to compensate for this loss of liquid.

From there, you can use brown butter in pretty much any boxed cake mix you desire. It works particularly well with caramel, pumpkin, and plain cake mixes, but you may be surprised at how nicely the butter enhances chocolate and fruit cake mixes, particularly strawberry.

If you're looking to bring a powerful flavor boost to your boxed mix, try going big and bold with coffee. There are two main ways to mix this potent brew into your cake mix. First, you can swap in a hot cup of coffee for the box mix's required water. Second, you can incorporate a few tablespoons of ground coffee beans or instant espresso powder directly into the dry mix.

Though coffee will add nuance to a spice cake or carrot cake, it truly shines when you're using a chocolate cake flavor. Why? The bitter nature of coffee balances the richly sweet, slightly acidic nature of chocolate. After all, Ina Garten uses coffee to elevate her chocolate cake, and if Ina does it, it works. If you want to enhance your cake's coffee flavor, consider mixing instant espresso powder into your buttercream or brushing your cake with coffee after it's fresh out of the oven.

One of the great ways to spike your boxed cake mix with some delicious beauty is by incorporating a sweet swirl, and what better ingredient could there be for this swirl than your favorite nut butter? Nutella, almond butter, and classic peanut butter spreads can send your cake into nutty overdrive.

To begin with, select mild yellow cake mix and stir in ½ to 1 cup of your preferred nut butter. You can either thoroughly mix this nut butter in (to give the cake an overall nutty flavor) or swirl it into the cake layer right before popping it into the oven. Keep in mind that natural and chunky nut butter will mix in less easily than a smooth, processed nut butter.

Once you've added this secret ingredient, you can further complement your cake by pairing it with chocolate frosting flecked with toasted nuts or even chopped Reese's cups. If you want to try making a PB&J-themed cake, you can add a dual swirl of ½ cup of jam or jelly into the mix.

We've already covered liquor as an excellent cake soak, but there's an alcohol-free liquid that will also do wonders for your cake: simple syrup. Not only will simple syrup help keep your cake moist, but it'll also help it absorb some exciting flavors. So, how do you infuse your simple syrup with tasty aromas?

The easiest way is to incorporate flavors during the heating process. After melting your sugar into your water, add in whatever aromatics you want, like herbs, spices, citrus rinds, or berries, and let it steep off the heat for at least 30 minutes. Alternatively, you can dissolve your secret ingredient of choice, like espresso powder or vanilla powder, in the still-hot syrup.

To apply these customized simple syrups to your cake, you can either brush them on or use a narrow-tipped squeeze bottle to apply an even coat. For flavor pairings, try coffee syrup with chocolate cake mix, lemon syrup with strawberry cake mix, or ginger syrup with carrot cake mix. Even a vanilla simple syrup will add some nuance to your cake.

Although you may be using a pre-made box mix, that doesn't mean you can't bring top-shelf flavor to the table. In fact, basic-yet-premium additions are really all you need to give a box-mix cake some homemade oomph. Some ingredients to invest in for that sophisticated flavor include quality vanilla bean paste and extract, organic eggs, European butter, and full-fat dairy.

How can you tell if you're purchasing premium ingredients? For vanilla, avoid products that have added ingredients beyond alcohol, water, and vanilla, like sugar or dextrose. With butter, consider grabbing a European-style brand, which will run about 82% to 85% butterfat — much more decadent than many American options. If you're going to use a dairy, make sure it's full-fat, as every bit of that dairy richness counts in the crumb's flavor and texture. If you plan on using substitutions, make sure those are high-quality as well, like using top-notch maple syrup for vanilla. All of this extra effort will help your box mix taste infinitely better.

Looking to pump up the fruitiness of your boxed cake mix? While fresh fruit may seem like the smartest mix-in, a lot of problems arise from using raw fruit. First, fresh fruit introduces a ton of moisture into the mix, potentially making your cake a soggy mess. Second, the sweetness and flavor of fresh fruit can also vary, depending on the season and the quality of your fruit.

Instead, my favorite way to incorporate fruit flavor into my baking is with tart and sweet freeze-dried fruit. Blitzed in a food processor or blender and turned into a fine powder, freeze-dried fruit can be mixed into box blends without adding any excess moisture, though it still brings plenty of flavor to the party. Look for freeze-dried berries, apples, melons, and pears, and consider pairing about ½ to 1 cup of the powder with plain- or lemon-flavored cake mixes. The same freeze-dried fruit powder can also be used to naturally flavor your icings, so save some for your cream cheese frosting or buttercream.