For my very first post, I have a little secret to share. Although I am a professionally trained pastry chef, once in a while I like to cheat on my desserts. My secret…(insert dramatic pause)… boxed cake mix! Indeed, I have a special love affair with Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines.
There are three main reasons I use boxed cake mix: time, price, and consistency. I found that after graduating from culinary school, people would often make requests with less than 24 hours notice. Despite using the greatest of care, from-scratch cakes tend to be temperamental and take hours to get that moist delicious flavor. In most cases, it isn’t even necessary if you make subtle changes to boxed mixes such as adding a tiny amount of vanilla extract to the batter or pudding for a denser cake.
In my opinion, save on the cost and make your very own gourmet (esque) cake from all store bought ingredients. Get creative! Don’t get scared away, it is easier than you think, I promise! You don’t need to be a professional baker with the fanciest recipe. I’m going to give you a dead easy recipe which will give you amazing results. Here is a fantastic chocolate smores cake using all store-bought ingredients that will cost you less than $20.
Now to do it, all you need is….
- 1 Box of Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Devil’s Food Cake
- Eggs and oil per the box instructions (these are staples, but get what you need if you don’t have it)
- 1 Jar (16 oz.) Marshmallow Fluff (8 oz. should suffice, I always get the larger jar to make fluffernutters afterwards)
- 1 Jar Duncan Hines Chocolate Frosting (classic or chocolate fudge would be best)
- 1 Box of honey graham crackers (generic store brand would be fine)
First, follow the directions on the cake box to make two unfinished cake sections. I recommend baking in 9-inch round cake pans to obtain thinner cakes. Thinner cakes allow for a greater frosting-to-cake ratio, which most people enjoy. After the cakes cool and you’ve removed them from the pans, spread approximately ½ to ¾ inch of marshmallow fluff on one cake and top it with the other. Cover the whole cake with a nice thin layer of more marshmallow fluff and top that with the chocolate icing. Finally, sprinkle crushed graham crackers over the top for a little kick. Add as much marshmallow and graham as you want inside and out, just keep in mind that the cakes will slide apart if you fill them too much.
Enjoy and happy baking!
