The Classic Snack You Should Be Adding To Boxed Cake Mix

On the list of underrated ingredients you should add to boxed cake mix, we've always been partial to applesauce. This wholesome, yummy puree is actually amazingly versatile when it comes to making your store-bought cake mix taste homemade, whether you are using it in lieu of oil for a healthier confection or implementing a subtle, tasty flavor into your cake with a larger portion. Applesauce might be the perfect treat for eating straight from the fridge — and it only lasts a little over a week once opened, so snack away! — but you are going to love it in a boxed cake mix, where it's a culinary rabbit in the hat that leads to extra moisture, natural sweetness, and even a pop of added fiber, all of which enhance your cake.

If you are substituting applesauce for oil in your cake, feel free to use a 1:1 swap. If your box calls for ¼ cup of oil, go ahead and stir in the exact same amount of applesauce. If, on the other hand, you want to really taste the apple-y goodness, pick a yellow or white cake (Aldi has an ultra-affordable boxed yellow cake mix that customers love!) and a more heavy-handed amount of applesauce. Specifically, we like to use 1 ½ cups while also keeping the required amount of oil. This will transform your plain Jane vanilla cake into a scrumptious apple cake that you can further augment with cinnamon and clove. This cake tastes extra-superb with a brown sugar frosting!

While applesauce is, overall, a bang-up addition to your cake mix, you should know a few things before adding it in. First of all, you might want to use unsweetened applesauce, as store-bought cakes are already pretty sweet when they come out of the oven, and applesauce with added sugar will only make them sweeter. And, while the puree will handily substitute for oil, doing so may cause subtle changes to the height and density of your cake. User reports suggest that applesauce increases the cakey texture of boxed cakes, making the crumb chewier and more dense. While many people store their applesauce in the fridge, you may fare better if you bring it to room temperature before mixing it into your batter, which allows for easier incorporation of ingredients.

On the whole, however, adding applesauce to your boxed cake mixes for either oil substitution or delicious flavor is an easy process that shouldn't require too much head-scratching. We're keen to get in the kitchen and really play around with the possibilities. We mentioned white or yellow cake, but we think applesauce would also really shine in a carrot cake or a spice cake! Maybe even strawberry cake mix, where the fruit flavors would complement each other, especially when topped with whipped cream and blueberries? The choice is yours, and the experimentation process is bound to be delicious.