Want Ultra Moist Boxed Cake With Homemade Taste & Texture? Add Just One Creamy Ingredient

When it comes to making cakes, premade mixes can be a timesaver for busy home bakers. But using a boxed cake mix often yields a final result that tastes like the shortcut it is. There are some mistakes you can avoid to get better results, though, as well as ingredients that can take your boxed cake mix to another level. Food Republic spoke with world-renowned pâtissier Adriano Zumbo to learn one of his expert additions for leveling up boxed cake mix: sour cream.

"Sour cream adds moisture and richness to boxed cake mix, resulting in a more tender crumb and a tangy flavor that enhances the overall taste," Zumbo shared. A full-fat sour cream is the best choice for a maximum upgrade — more fat means more added richness.

In addition to an uptick in moisture, the sour cream lends a creamy quality to your cake batter without thinning it out. Plus, the tartness is a good foil for the sweetness of the cake. "Sour cream, I find, goes well with any type of baked cake, so it's very versatile in its use and results," Zumbo explained.

When adding the sour cream to your other cake ingredients, you don't need to subtract from anything else. Simply add in about two tablespoons to your wet ingredients (this amount can be increased for a larger boxed cake mix). Zumbo explained, "[The] best way to incorporate the sour cream is with the liquids or at the end of mixing."

If you don't have sour cream on hand, you don't need to make a special trip to the store. Mayonnaise is another surprising ingredient that can add tang, fat, and richness to your mix. Just like the sour cream, a couple of tablespoons of mayo — mixed in with the wet ingredients or incorporated as the last step — is all you need.

To bring more fat and richness into play in your boxed cake mix, consider that the majority of premade mixes call for water; you can swap equal parts milk or buttermilk for a lighter crumb and increased moisture. You could even use a flavored milk to amp up results even more — strawberry milk in a white cake mix? Divine.

Starting with a good foundation is an important factor in churning out a good cake from boxed ingredients. After all, if the base isn't quality, the results won't be either. Sorting out the best store-bought cake mixes from the worst is an important place to begin.