The canned cake mixes are very practical for making desserts quickly and easily. In addition to having a high availability, the package also contains many of the ingredients needed to prepare a cake. One of the main benefits of this product is that it can be improved very easily, giving the opportunity to make unique and exquisite desserts. It is in fact possible to transform a cake into a real masterpiece by adding ingredients to the batter, improving the quality of the ingredients and preparing different toppings than usual.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Add Ingredients to the Dough
Step 1. Add candies or chocolates
Very often packaged cake mixes allow you to prepare rather simple vanilla or chocolate desserts, with little elaborate toppings. Adding candies or chocolates to the batter before baking is the easiest way to enrich the base of the cake. In fact, by inserting these ingredients into the batter, you can turn the cake into a nice surprise to share with the whole family.
- Add a chocolate bar. For example, you could use bits of Snickers, Bounty, Mars, or other similar bars.
- Add some candy. You could use gummy bears or peppermint candy.
- Add some chocolate or caramel chips if you prefer a simple option.
- Try customizing the recipe according to the season.
Step 2. Add fruit or other types of food
The dough can be enriched in various ways. In fact, it is possible to create an almost unlimited number of combinations. Try using:
- Half a cup of sour cream to make a vanilla cake mix richer;
- A couple of tablespoons of peanut butter;
- Pumpkin puree;
- Dried fruit;
- Coconut flakes or milk
- Fruits such as strawberries, bananas, blueberries, raspberries, or pineapples.
Step 3. Add spices or extracts
These ingredients allow you to customize the preparation. Spices are great for experimenting with a wide variety of cakes.
- Add an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- Try adding lemon extract to a sponge cake mix to turn it into a lemon cake. Start by using a couple of teaspoons and add more according to your preferences.
- Add two or three teaspoons of spice to a preparation.
- Here are some ideas: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.
- Measure the ingredients correctly. For example, if you have decided to use a chopped chocolate bar, reduce the spice.
- Start with a small amount of spice and taste the batter to determine whether to add more.
Step 4. Make a colored batter
The steps outlined so far help improve the taste of the cake, but only by adding dyes will you be able to make it truly unique. So think about the ones you could use to make the dough.
- The dough of vanilla cakes lends itself best to this procedure.
- Transform the dough with a food coloring. You could use a blue, red, yellow, green, or other color one.
- Dye the dough inspired by a holiday. You could dye it green on St. Patrick's Day, red on Valentine's Day, or green and red on Christmas.
Part 2 of 3: Add the Toppings and Prepare a Tiered Cake
Step 1. Garnish the cake
Many preparations come with a simple icing, which is used to garnish the cake. However, to enrich the dessert, you could spread the icing and then add other ingredients. Here are some ideas:
- Crush some Oreos and sprinkle them on the icing;
- Sprinkle some whipped cream on the icing;
- Garnish the cake with blueberries or other berries.
Step 2. Make the icing at home
Homemade glazes often improve cake mixes substantially. Making your favorite icing will allow you to make an otherwise generic cake unique and special. Here are some ideas:
- Add a few tablespoons of cream cheese to the icing of the package and spread it over the cake.
- Make a chocolate glaze (or buy a ready-to-use one) and use it to garnish a vanilla cake.
- Replace the icing with whipped cream and top the cake with strawberries or other fruit.
Step 3. Make a two-tier cake
Making a two-tier cake sounds difficult, but it's actually easy to turn a regular cake into a multi-tiered one. Here's how to do it:
- Cook the cake following the instructions on the box;
- Divide the cake into two parts by cutting it in half. For example, if it is five centimeters high, cut it so that each floor measures two and a half centimeters;
- Remove the top floor;
- Glaze and garnish the lower level;
- Put the top back on the cake and glaze it.
Part 3 of 3: Changing the Ingredients Required by the Package
Step 1. Replace the ingredients
Cake mixes often require minimal or low-quality ingredients. Therefore, replacing some of them is one of the most effective ways to enrich a preparation. The cake will thus have a more intense taste, as if it were homemade.
- Replace water with milk.
- Replace skim milk with cream or whole milk.
- Use coffee instead of water to make a chocolate cake. This way it will have a richer and more intense flavor.
Step 2. Increase the doses of the ingredients
Increasing the doses of the ingredients required by the recipe is another simple way to improve a canned preparation. In this way the dessert will be richer and tastier. At the end of the preparation it will look like it was homemade.
- Add more eggs. For example, if the recipe in the pack has two, use three. The cake will have a more intense taste.
- Increase your sugar, but carefully. Calculate more or less 10-20% more than what is required by the package.
- Add more vanilla. Increasing the dose helps to make the preparation even richer and tastier. As recommended for sugar, only add 10 or 20 percent more.
Step 3. Make a bigger cake
By increasing the doses, not only will you get a bigger cake, you will also be able to use new and better quality ingredients. At the end of the preparation you will be able to share the dessert with more people.
- Double the doses. For example, if the recipe calls for two eggs, use four.
- It may be necessary to add ingredients such as flour, sugar, baking powder and so on.
- Make sure you adjust the doses proportionately. For example, if you add more flour, you will also need to add more sugar, eggs, milk, etc.
