The Cake That Had No Business Being This Good
From the Kitchen
We are a sweet treat family. The question, "What's for dessert?" is asked just as often as "What's for dinner?" In fact, I'm not entirely certain they are even separate questions at all- in this home, they go hand in hand.
I was running out to the store the other day and my daughter asked if I could pick up cupcakes since we had no sweet treats readily on hand. After perusing the bakery in the grocery store and deciding nothing looked quite good enough or even worth the price tag, I sent my daughter a quick text asking what we should do. She told me to just grab a boxed cake mix and tub of ready-made icing instead. I assumed she was willing to bake the cupcakes herself with the shortcut of using these pre-packaged ingredients. I had no idea what she actually had in mind.
She saw a "hack" for using boxed cake mix that promised results far beyond what a boxed cake mix normally delivers. This was no exaggeration. Using a few different ingredients in place of the standard package directions, we were soon devouring the most moist and fluffy yellow cake I may have ever had. She even took the tub of icing and melted it until it was an almost ganache like consistency for the top. Baked in a half sheet pan, it lasted the three of us exactly 48 hours.
A simple boxed cake mix and turning the kitchen over to my daughter for a few hours was all it took to remind me that delight often arrives in the most unexpected (and delicious) ways.
Ingredients
- 1 boxed yellow cake mix
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup of 2% (or whole) milk
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
- Splash of vanilla extract
- 1 tub of chocolate frosting
- Note: Use the ingredients above instead of those called for on the cake mix box.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 315°F. Generously coat a half-sheet pan with nonstick baking spray.
- Combine all the cake ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer on medium speed until smooth.
- Pour into the baking pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool in pan for at least 30 minutes before frosting.
- Microwave the frosting in 15 second intervals until it reaches a pourable, ganache-like consistency. Pour over the cooled cake and spread evenly with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon.
- Slice and serve.