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Doctored Yellow Cake Mix Recipes

If you’re looking for creative ways to take a simple box of yellow cake mix and turn it into a delicious cake that’s anything but simple, this is the post for you! Keep reading, because I’m going to share some of my favorite Doctored Yellow Cake Mix recipes.

Can I Doctor a Box of Yellow Cake Mix?

If you’ve been following this blog for any time at all, you’ve probably already figured out that I’m all about doctored cake mix recipes.

I’ve spent the past couple years focused primarily on white cake mixes, but more and more I find myself turning to a simple box of yellow cake mix.

And let’s face it. A lot of the recipes you’ll find in my 20 Amazing Recipes that Start with a White Cake Mix post you’ll discover a plethora of recipes that would work just fine with a yellow cake. In so many cases you can use a yellow cake mix in place of white.

That’s not always true, of course. If you’re doing, say, a zebra striped cake, you’ll want to start with white, to get true colors when you add coloring gels.

You can Change the Flavor of a Yellow Cake

It’s so simple, y’all. Here are some of the most popular additions you might choose:

Chocolate: You can turn a yellow (or white) cake into a chocolate cake by adding 1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder. You will have to add an additional egg (or a bit more milk or water) to the mix to make up for the additional dry ingredients. Another way I love to enhance my chocolate cakes is with coffee. You could use a cup of coffee in place of water or milk.

Lemon: It’s so easy to convert a yellow cake into a lemon cake. Just add the zest and juice of two lemons to the recipe, (replacing some of the water with the lemon juice). You might also choose to add a cup of lemonade (or even frozen lemonade concentrate).

Strawberry Cake: Add a package of strawberry jello or strawberry pudding mix. You can also add fresh or dehydrated strawberries to the mix. Another option is strawberry milk. Yum.

Spice Cake: Any yellow cake can become a spice cake by adding cinnamon and other spices (like apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice). Just make sure you spice combination includes cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and clove.

Carrot Cake: Start with a box of yellow cake mix, but add orange juice in place of water, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, grated carrots, and nuts (if you choose).

Butter Pecan or Brown Butter: Add browned butter to your yellow cake mix to give it a rich depth of flavor you won’t get from regular butter. Throw in some pecans for a true butter pecan cake flavor.

Tropical: You’ll find many tropical cakes listed below. Using a yellow cake as a base for a pineapple upside down cake or a coconut lime cake just makes sense!

Other Ways to Jazz up a Box of Cake Mix

Fruit, nuts, and other sweet treats can further jazz up a box of cake mix. I love these additions so much that I dedicated a whole post to them.

Any or all of those suggestions will work just as well with a yellow cake as a white one.

Doctored Yellow Cake Mix Recipes

You can make so many amazing cakes using a simple box of yellow cake mix!

Other Ways to Use a Box of Yellow Cake Mix

You don’t have to stop with traditional cakes, y’all! You can use a box of yellow cake mix to make all sorts of things, like lemon coconut bars, scones, kolaches, tea cakes, muffins, cupcakes, and much, much more.

Oh, and if you’re wondering how many boxes of cake mix to use for your project, I have a full post dedicated to that, too!

Hopefully by now you’ve figured out that a box of cake mix is the key to many, many delicious desserts. And I’m so excited to discover even more recipes as this blog continues to grow.

That’s it for this post, friends!

Thanks for stopping by! If you make any of these recipes and enjoy them, don’t forget to leave a comment below. And while you’re at it, go ahead and pin some photos to your Pinterest boards!

About the Author

Janice Thompson is an author, baker, and all-around mischief maker! She has overcome a host of baking catastrophes, including a toppled wedding cake, to learn more about the baking process. Janice has published over 165 books for the Christian market but particularly enjoys writing recipes and baking devotions. To learn more about Janice or to drop her a note, visit her About the Author page.

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