How to Make a Beautiful Layer Cake with a Boxed Cake Mix

I want to share some tricks I’ve learned on how to elevate a boxed cake mix to taste homemade and look beautiful in the form of a layer cake!! I have been baking cakes since I was a child. In fact, one of my most treasured gifts from Santa was an Easy Bake Oven. I graduated from my Easy Bake Oven to using a real oven for baking cakes and cupcakes. Whether from scratch or a boxed mix, it’s a true joy for me to bake cakes or cupcakes for my family, friends, and for my job as a freelance food stylist. Flavor, texture, and density are important factors when it comes to the way cake tastes.

I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside some very talented food stylists and bakers who have shared with me their expertise on how to create beautiful even cake layers and even how to ensure your layers of icing are even. In my experience as a freelance food stylist, I’ve learned that using two cake mixes for one layer cake make each layer bake out thick and even.

In order to make a 9" round cake with three THICK layers, you’ll need to use two standard boxed cake mixes. To achieve the "from scratch" or "from the bakery" cake taste, you will need to substitute a few simple ingredients. Most boxed cake mixes call for 3 ingredients in addition to the actual cake mix in order to make the batter: water, oil, and eggs. 

If the instructions on the box call for water, substitute water with equal parts whole milk.

If the instructions on the box call for oil, substitute oil with equal parts melted butter.

Some articles suggest using extra eggs, which I’ve not yet tried. I’ve found my cakes to be very moist by simply substituting equal parts whole milk for water, melted butter for oil, and using the exact amount of eggs or egg whites the box mix calls for. The sky is the limit when it comes to ingredient substitutions, however, milk and melted butter are on the top of my sub list.

My most recent elevated layer cake was with a new favorite boxed cake mix of mine, Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist French Vanilla. I made this cake for my son to celebrate his first Holy Communion. Each box mix called for 1 cup of water, 1/3 cup of oil, and 3 eggs. I mixed both boxed cake mixes at the same time with 2 cups of whole milk, 2/3 cup or 10 tbsp of melted butter, and 6 eggs.

Before mixing your batter, prepare your 9" cake pans by spraying them generously with Baker’s Joy Spray, and then place a piece of parchment paper in the bottom of each round cake pan. Make the circles of parchment paper by tracing the edges of the bottom of a cake pan onto your parchment paper with a pencil before cutting the circles out with scissors.

Now, let's discuss how to get even cake layers. Once your cake batter is prepared, pour equal amounts of cake batter into your prepared cake pans. For the most even layers, weigh each cake pan with batter in it on a food scale. Once each pan is equal in weight, you know your layers will be even.

Note that you may have to adjust your baking time when you combine two cake mixes. It took 28 minutes for all three layers to bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Check your doneness by sticking a toothpick in the center of your cake. Once the toothpick comes out clean, remove the cakes from the oven and allow them to cool. After 15 minutes, remove your cake layers to a wire rack to cool completely.

Now onto the icing (my favorite part). Did you know that cakes are easier to ice after they've been refrigerated? If I have time and the space in my fridge, I let my layers refrigerate overnight before icing them. Be sure to wrap each cake layer individually before you place them in the fridge.

Now that your cake layers are cool (or maybe even cold if you had time to refrigerate them), it’s time to ice your cake. When I am working on cakes for photo or video shoots, I often use canned icing. BUT, if I am making cakes for my family and friends at home, I make homemade icing. I LOVE icing and always have. Jump to the end of this post for a simple, decadent buttercream recipe. This recipe will make enough buttercream to ice your big, beautiful layer cake.

The best way to make sure your icing layers are even, is to use an ice cream scoop to scoop icing onto your cake layers. Yep, just use the same amount of icing scoops in between each layer. After I have put all three layers together, I like to ice a crumb coat before I add my final layer of icing. Click here to learn more about using a crumb coat. But again, it just depends on the amount of time I have.

If you decide to make cupcakes or a smaller layer cake, just use one box cake mix with the simple ingredient substitutions.

While I would not consider myself a master cake decorator, the techniques I am sharing in this post have been invaluable to me when it comes to baking cakes. I don't take credit for these baking hacks. You may already be using some of these techniques yourself.

I enjoyed getting to work behind the scenes as a food stylist assistant on an episode of Food Stylist vs. Cake. Click here to watch Food Stylist vs. Cake, where you will learn even more cool tricks on how to bake and decorate a cake to perfection. Happiness is knowing there is cake in the oven. Happy Baking!!

-XOXO-

Sally

Big Batch of Homemade Buttercream Frosting

4 sticks of salted butter, softened

1.5 tbsp of good vanilla

10.5 cups of confectioner sugar

3-4 tbsp of heavy whipping cream, plus extra

Using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer or hand mixer or a large spoon, beat your softened butter in a bowl until smooth. Slowly add in your confectioners sugar by the spoonful. Finally, add in your vanilla and heavy whipping cream and beat or mix until the icing is smooth. For a thinner icing consistency, add in additional heavy whipping cream one teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. An optional step is to use food coloring gels to tint your icing to your color of choice.