This Simple Chocolate Cake from a box mix is your shortcut to the most incredibly moist chocolate cake you can bake at home! Using simple ingredients, such as sour cream, extra eggs, and instant pudding, you’ll transform a boxed mix into what might just be the best chocolate cake you’ve ever tasted!
Ready to learn how to doctor up a chocolate cake mix? Keep reading! I’ll walk you through all the essential tips and provide step-by-step photos to guide you in baking this amazing, doctored chocolate cake mix recipe!
Easy Chocolate Box Cake Recipe
This easy chocolate cake recipe is perfect for everyone, from the beginner baker to the absolute expert! That’s why it’s become so popular on Pinterest and Instagram, just like our Peanut Butter Monster Cookies.
Why We Love This Recipe!
I especially love that this moist chocolate cake recipe starts with a Devil’s Food or Fudge cake mix! When life gets busy and you crave a special dessert, but don’t have time for complicated baking, this recipe is perfect! We love how the chocolate pudding and sour cream elevate the cake’s texture and taste, making it irresistible.
Cake mixes conveniently include flour, some sugar, salt, and leavening agents like baking soda and/or baking powder. By using a cake mix for your dry ingredients, you eliminate the time-consuming steps of measuring everything out – a total time saver!
ESSENTIAL Tip for Using Cake Mix From a Box
Did you know that years ago, cake mixes were designed to fill a 9×13″ pan? Nowadays, they’ve reduced the ounces of the mix (while somehow increasing the price!). To solve this, I use a smaller, 7×11″ pan. It works perfectly every time!
I use this pan for my caramel brownies (our family’s #1 dessert!).
Ingredients For a Doctored Cake Mix
For the Cake
- Cake Mix: A 15.25 oz. Duncan Hines devil’s food cake mix seems to work best, but you can use any brand or flavor you like. The base provides flour, sugar, cocoa powder, leavening, and stabilizers, giving the cake structure and initial chocolate flavor.
- Jello Instant Chocolate Pudding: Use the 3.4 ounce size. This adds extra cocoa flavor, enhances moisture, and makes the cake crumb softer and richer. The starches in pudding also help retain moisture, keeping the cake fresh longer.
- Sour Cream: Sour cream adds fat for richness, moisture for tenderness, and a slight tang that balances the sweetness. It also creates a denser, “bakery-style” crumb.
- Canola Oil: Despite the internet’s love for butter in cake, oil produces better moisture as it doesn’t evaporate during baking.
- Eggs: Eggs bind the ingredients together and add both structure and richness. The proteins in eggs help the cake rise, while the yolks contribute fat for tenderness.
- Milk: Replaces some of the liquid lost since the pudding mix adds dry ingredients. The proteins and natural sugars in milk also enhance browning and flavor.
- Vanilla Extract: Rounds out and deepens the chocolate flavor, giving the cake a more “from scratch” taste instead of a “boxy” one.
- Chocolate Chips: Add bursts of gooey chocolate throughout the cake and extra richness. They also slightly melt into the crumb, making it even fudgier.
For the Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Butter: The base of the frosting, providing richness, creaminess, and stability. Whipping it incorporates air, making the frosting light and fluffy.
- Powdered Sugar: Sweetens the frosting and provides structure and thickness (thanks to the cornstarch in powdered sugar). It helps the buttercream hold its shape for spreading.
- Salt: Balances the sweetness and enhances the chocolate flavor, preventing the frosting from tasting overly sugary.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds warmth and depth.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: Loosens the frosting to the right consistency for spreading, while also making it extra smooth and creamy.
How to Make the Best Chocolate Cake From a Box
For the Cake
- Mix: Combine all the ingredients, being careful not to overmix.
- Prepared Pans: We like to bake in two buttered and floured 9-inch round cake pans, but you could also make 3 smaller cakes.
- Bake: Bake the cake according to the back of the box instructions, but add 10 extra minutes. Check with a toothpick inserted into the center to see if it comes out clean.
- Cool: Let the cake cool for 5 minutes, then carefully remove it from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack.
For the Frosting
- Cream: Add the butter to a stand mixer and cream until light and fluffy.
- Blend: Add the powdered sugar, and cream until well combined, then add the remaining ingredients.
- Get Fluffy: Blend on low speed until moistened, and then beat at high speed until fluffy.
Assemble the Cake
- Level: Level the cake with a serrated knife if needed.
- 1st Layer: Place one of the cakes on a cake plate. Top with 1/2 cup of the frosting and spread around evenly.
- 2nd Layer: Place the second layer upside down so the flat bottom is facing up. Spread 1/2 cup of frosting and spread over the top evenly. Push excess frosting out to the edges.
- Crumb Coat: Add a thin layer of frosting all around the sides of the cake. Chill the cake for 30 minutes.
- Finish the Cake: Spread another layer of frosting all over the chilled cake and sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles or mini chocolate chips if desired.
Tips for Cake Success
Here are some helpful tips to answer common questions from our readers:
What Mistake Not to Make with Cakes: Don’t slam the pan! That tip is for brownies. Instead, be gentle!
Activate the leavening: Allow the batter to sit in the pans for a few minutes to activate the leavening, then gently slide into the oven.
How to Know When a Cake is Done: Insert a toothpick into the very center, and if it comes out clean, it’s done!
FAQs
Absolutely! Our kids love doing that! Simply follow the cook time for cupcakes on the back of the cake mix box, and check with a toothpick to be certain they are done.
Can I make this cake in a 9 x 13″ pan?
Yes, and in fact, I do that more and more lately. Just follow the cook time on the back, and check with a toothpick, adding 10-15 minutes as needed.
Can I freeze leftover cake?
Yes!! Cake freezes really well. I like to wrap the layers tightly in plastic wrap a few times and then slide it into a freezer bag or cut into slices and freeze.
Can I make this cake in advance?
Yes! You can make the cake and wrap it in plastic wrap in the fridge, or you can freeze it that way as well. Just defrost in the fridge before frosting. You can also make and frost the cake and store on a cake plate for up to a day in advance, even better in the fridge!
This simple chocolate cake from a box mix is great for birthdays, holidays, or anytime you need a quick and easy dessert for a get-together. It’s a frequent dessert in our house!
More Easy Cake Recipes to Try:
- Banana Bundt Cake
- Lemon Jello Cake
- Cinnamon Roll Sheet Cake
- Lemon Poppy Seed Cake