How To Make Box Cake Mix Like The Pros

Baking has always been one of those things that requires following the directions exactly. And normally that’s a good thing because it takes all the guesswork and confusion out. You don’t have to think too much. Just follow the directions and you’re good.

But sometimes, the directions we have in front of us aren’t all that great, which means we don’t end up with the best results.

Box cake mix is a prime example of this.

The first few times I tried to make gluten free box cake mix, I made it exactly as directed on the box, and it came out tasting like cardboard. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

For the last couple of years, I’ve been on a mission to build an arsenal of gluten free recipes. So far I’ve mastered brownies, chocolate chip cookies, and peanut butter cookies. But up until recently, I hadn’t yet mastered gluten free cake.

It ended up being one of the more difficult ones to figure out, and I lowkey started to think that I was doomed to be stuck with bad cake forever.

Thankfully, social media came through and sent another gold nugget my way in the form of this TikTok video:

This creator, Jordan_The_Stallion8, is known on TikTok as the President of the Fast Food Secrets Club, and shares all kinds of information, including recipes for popular fast food items so that people can make them at home. But he shares other cooking and baking tips too.

Basically this video of his talks about how professional bakers will often use box cake mix, but follow a slightly different version of the recipe on the box. This altered version replaces water with milk, oil with butter, and uses an extra egg.

As soon as I saw this, I knew that I had to try it. Even just from watching the video, I could tell that the cake looked delicious and visibly fluffy.

I had a good feeling this was going to help me finally get good gluten free cake.

And in addition to using the recipe from the video, I decided to take it up a notch. I included an extra step that my great aunt Josie used to use when she made cakes: add a packet of dry pudding mix to the cake batter (to this day, my family still raves about how good her cakes were because of this).

I recently made cupcakes with this new recipe for my birthday, and they were so delicious that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to shut up about it. This cake recipe is one to be reckoned with!

Recipe:

- 1 box cake mix

- 1 cup milk

- 4 eggs

- 2 sticks butter

- 1 package pudding mix

Bake according to the directions on the box

Also, I know I always talk about gluten free recipes, but this recipe works for regular baking too!

If you’re using regular box cake mix, you can use the method in the video and leave out the pudding, or vice versa. But if you’re using gluten free cake mix, I definitely encourage you to use both.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the internet and social media have a way of showing us some incredible stuff. And it really came in clutch with this recipe, because this cake was everything we could ever hope for in cake!

Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed this recipe, I’d appreciate it so much if you shared it and left a heart, a tip, and a pledge!

And if you’re interested in more delicious recipes, check out some of my previously published ones below!