An average chocolate cake mix is easy to turn into something incredible that everybody will think was made from scratch. This chocolate cake is SO good people who don’t like chocolate cake have told me it is amazing and then asked for the recipe.
How To Make A Box Cake Taste Homemade
When a cake mix is developed the primary concern for what goes into the mix is determined by cost – not by what tastes good. The best box cake mix hacks fix this problem right up:
- Adding pudding for moisture. Even if it says there is pudding in the mix adding an entire box gives you a huge boost.
- Packing in the dairy! Tossing in some yogurt creates that moist, tender, succulent chocolate cake crumb we are all searching for!
- REAL VANILLA! I know good quality vanilla is running about $1.90 an ounce and that is pricey. But a great cake needs quality flavoring. Trust me the box doesn’t have it! The cost of adding 1 teaspoon of vanilla to a cake mix is only $.31 cents. It is really worth it for the flavor you get!
- Chocolate… Any chocoholic will tell you that a good chocolate cake needs lots of chocolate! I toss in a full two CUPS of chocolate chips and it adds little bursts of chocolate throughout the cake. Easy and SO delicious!
Doctored up cake mix is just doing what you can to improve a few things for an amazing cake.
So What IS a Cake Mix?
Really at the end of the day a cake mix is a collection of dry ingredients you would use to bake a cake. Usually there are some powdered versions of wet ingredients in the mix and then you add some fresh items to bake the cake.
Lots of us turn to cake mixes looking for recipes that won’t fail. We all know that using the box gets a standard result with a minimum of fuss. I have two little kids and a crazy life so I’m saying there is nothing wrong with easy!!! But if you have ever had a really amazing homemade chocolate cake it is easy to be disappointed by a boxed mix.
What Brand of Cake Mix is Best?
To make really good chocolate cake mix recipes choose the right mix to start with. When it comes to boxes of cake mix not all brands are created equal. Personally, I always buy Betty Crocker as the quality is the best of all the name brands. I suggest starting with a good quality Devil’s food cake mix for the best results.
Better Than Homemade Chocolate Cake Mix
Ingredients
- 1 package Devil’s food cake mix 15.25oz (Betty Crocker Preferred)
- 1 package vanilla instant pudding mix 3.4oz
- 1 cup low fat plain yogurt
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup warm water
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Grease the desired size of cake pan or line a cupcake pan with cupcake papers.
- Combine everything except the chocolate chips. Beat on low speed with an electric mixer for two minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. Alternately beat by hand for two minutes.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Pour or divide the batter into pans.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs but no actual batter. See below for timing of different size pans: Cupcakes: Bake about 18 minutes 2 Round Cake Pans: Bake about 25-30 minutes 1 9×12″ Rectangular Pan: Bake about 35-40 minutes
Helpful Recipe Notes
Your Rating Matters
When you leave a comment or star rating, it means more than you might think. It helps me understand what you’re enjoying, builds trust for other readers, and supports real, tested cooking content. If you have a moment, I’d truly appreciate you sharing your experience. – Mirlandra
Nutrition Estimate
A Note on Nutrition
Nutritional info is an imperfect estimate. Please take it with a grain of salt.
Love Chocolate? This Chocolate Cream Pie is for you!!!
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Aileen says
I neeeed to try this! I’ve done box mix cake hacks before but this sounds extra special!
Mirlandra says
It is something amazing! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Jana says
I made this recipe as cupcakes for a Christmas Eve party and they were a huge hit!
Mirlandra says
Thanks so much for sharing! I love this recipe – always delicious and so easy too. Happy belated Christmas 🙂
Caryn says
This is now my go-to chocolate cake recipe (yes, for all of the TWO times I’ve ever made chocolate cake)! My husband isn’t much of a cake fan, and he says this tastes amazing. Especially with your chocolate cheesecake frosting!
Mirlandra says
Once in awhile that chocolate cake need does hit! Everybody needs a great recipe to turn to in those moments. I’ve never paired it with the chocolate cheesecake frosting…. #lifegoals Thank you for the kind words!