Homemade Yellow Cake Mix
You won’t ever need a processed boxed cake mix again! This simple homemade yellow cake mix is buttery, moist and absolutely delicious!
In my efforts to eat a less processed diet, I’ve eliminated cake mixes from the lineup. It’s been painful, I can’t lie.
There’s something about the no-fail moistness of a boxed mix that is appealing, but I’ve promised myself not to give in although it’s been hard.
We’ve been through our fair share of dry homemade cakes as I’ve searched for the perfect replacements for the old boxed mixes.
You can imagine I was overjoyed when I saw this recipe for a make-ahead yellow cake mix! Not only is it a snap to prepare, but it keeps in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Along with that – it tastes fabulous. Buttery, moist and absolutely delicious.
I can’t wait to share with you tomorrow what I made with this delectable mix. So in the meantime, whip some up.
Talk about feeling like a complete Becky-Home-Ecky, this cake mix made me happy that I’ve stuck to my guns about giving up the old kind. It is a hundred times more delicious and that’s a fact.
P.S. I can’t wait to use this mix for the gazillion recipes I have that call for sprinkling a dry cake mix over this or that to create cobblers and crisps, etc.
In fact, I’ll share with you a secret for one of my most favorite peach cobblers of all time.
Here it is (and please ignore the fact that I’ve just gone off on a tangent about giving up processed cake mixes since this dessert is far from organic or healthy).
Lightly spray a 9X13 pan with cooking spray.
Layer peaches (canned or fresh) on the bottom of the 9X13 pan close together in a single layer.
Sprinkle a yellow cake mix over the top of the peaches.
Dot the top of the cake mix with one stick of butter.
Open up a can of Fresca (I imagine Sprite or 7-Up would work equally well), drink half and pour the other half over the top of the cake mix and butter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, until golden brown.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Relish in the fact that you are eating vitamin-laden fruit and zero-calorie soda, therefore constituting a healthy dessert. Peace out.
One Year Ago: Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars
Two Years Ago: Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Bars
Homemade Yellow Cake Mix
Ingredients
- 2 cups (424 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups (213 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups (171 g) cake flour
- ½ cup nonfat dry milk powder
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (227 g) salted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Process sugar, flours (or flour and cornstarch if making the substitution for the cake flour), milk powder, baking powder, and salt in a food processor for 15 seconds to combine. Add butter and vanilla and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal (you want this much finer than, say, a pie crust). Freeze the dry mixture in a zipper-lock bag for up to 2 months or use immediately.
- To make the cake, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour your pan of choice (see the note below the recipe).
- With an electric mixer, beat the prepared cake mix, 1 1/4 cups warm water and 2 large room-temperature eggs until the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan(s) and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25-27 minutes for two 9-inch layer cakes. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan(s) and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25-27 minutes for two 9-inch layer cakes.
- See the note for alternate cooking times with other baking pans. Cool the cake(s) in pan(s) for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Cool completely.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Cook’s Country April/May 2010
163 Comments on “Homemade Yellow Cake Mix”
Hi, can I make this mix with the butter in advance and keep it in my cooler for Dutch oven cooking while camping? I would add the wet ingredients there, without the use of a mixer.
Yes, I think you could do that!
I used to do all the cooking for our huge high school Winter Guard contest for the bus drivers, volunteers and coaches and judges. I always kept something really good for the judges. Dessert always included my Chocolate Chip Gooey Bars. My middle daughter graduated in 2017 and after 6 years, I retired my post with much gratitude. My youngest is moving up the ranks and I refuse to take that beast over again. BUT, just to let them know I still care about them…I decided to bake up my gooey bars this morning to drop in the judges room. Ooof…no cake mix. I googled gooey bars from scratch. All include a box of cake mix. (Right?!!) I read all the comments here and none were for gooey bars… go figure. What threw me was that there are 2 sticks of butter in this mix AND I have to add a melted stick for the crust. So ATTENTION ALL GOOEY BUTTER CAKE PEOPLE….. This recipe makes TWO 9×13 gooey butter cake crusts. If you only make one crust today, use half the homemade mix and add the egg and a HALF stick of melted butter. It is baking up beautifully in the oven and I daresay it looks better than the box mix recipe! Smells so good. Of course, after I finished making them I started to wonder if Mel already had a similar recipe. I am scared to look. (hahaha) Here is the one I use. It is fantastic. (Remember: if you use this recipe, half mix and half a stick of butter, not a whole stick!) https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/cake/chocolate-chip-gooey-butter-cake.html
Could I substitute powdered buttermilk for the powdered milk?
I haven’t tried that but I think it’s definitely worth a try!
I have an old Cuisinart 11 cup food processor and have learned that pulsing large flour mixtures (like for a pie crust) can send flour flying everywhere, so I sifted and mixed the dry ingredients together and then divided it into three batches, 9.9 oz. each, and pulsed each batch in the food processor with 1/3 cup butter cubes and 1 t. vanilla extract. Then, I combined the three batches together.
Thanks so much for the recipe! I look forward to trying it. I have three questions. I just made the mix. It weighs 37.7 ounces and is 6 cups! Before adding the butter, it weighed 29.7 ounces. Most cake mixes are about 16-18 ounces. 1. Are you saying to use this whole mix, along with 2 eggs and 1 1/4 cups water to fill two 9-inch pans?
Also, the recipe I am using calls for a cake mix and then you add 4 eggs, 3/4 cup oil and 1/2 cup pineapple juice. 2. I guess I will just use two eggs, no oil, and do you think I can use 1 1/4 cups pineapple juice, or should some of the liquid be water? We leave our butter out on the counter to stay soft, particularly in cool weather. 3. Would it be OK to leave this in a container in the pantry instead of the freezer, since none of the ingredients need to be refrigerated? Thanks!!
I made this receipe, and a box mix holds 15.25, that is what I measured out from the mix for the dry mix that recripe called for. The Bundt cake turned out oily as the receipe I made also called for a cup of oil.
Are you suppose to use the whole homemade mix as sub for one yellow cake mix?
Yes, it should be a 1:1 substitution.
Hi Mel! I love your recipes! Is this mix more of a golden butter or yellow cake mix? I would love to find a dry golden butter cake mix and was wondering if this might be it. Thanks!
It’s definitely more of a yellow cake mix.
Do you happen to have a white cake mix recipe?
Not yet – sorry!
Thanks Mel! This is exactly what I was looking for! I knew you’d have it on your awesome site! I have a quick question though. When you say ‘chilled butter’ do you mean straight out of the fridge?
Yep!
I never have powdered milk in my kitchen, hard to get in my area, would substuiting 1/2c of whole dairy milk for some of the warm water; when actually making the cake turn out alright? or would it have a neg effect on the cake texture? thank you
Not sure – I haven’t tried using liquid, dairy milk in place of the powdered. Good luck if you experiment.
I never have the powdered milk either. I usually add 1/4C of milk and test the consistency. If it looks like it is still too thick, I add a little more. But I live in Florida where it is really humid so it depends on the day.
Hi there,
I just wanted to let you know that we LOVE this recipe. My daughter has some major food allergies and I have been able to make her cakes using your recipe. I have to leave out the eggs; but I just substitute with 1/2 c of plain applesauce and it works like a charm. Everyone always asks for the recipe so I send them the link to your web site. Thanks again,
Kristen
Hi. Any idea how it would turn out with whole wheat flour? Denser I assume. Any idea how to keep it light and fluffy? Just asking since we want to make this tonight and only have whole wheat flour on hand.
Not really sure, Cristi – it will definitely be more dense; measuring the flour with a light hand will probably help a bit.
Hi! My recipe calls for box cake mix, 18.25 oz. golden butter cake mix. Then I have to add 1/2 cup of butter, 4 eggs and 2/3 c. water. If I use this dry mix recipe, would it be too much butter since this recipe already has 1/2 c. butter in it?
Thank you.
Rhonda
I’m not sure since I haven’t tried a variation/conversion like that but I probably wouldn’t add extra butter and would instead make this homemade cake mix according to the instructions in the recipe since I’m not sure how it will work out using other ingredients/variations.
Ive made this cake recipe a few times and I love it!!! I wanted to use this recipe for cupcakes, which i see is possible from the comments at the beginning of the recipe. However, I want to make chocolate cupcakes. How much cocoa powder should I use in this recipe? Or do you recommend that I use one of your chocolate cupcake recipes instead? Thanks a bunch!!
I’d recommend using a recipe written especially for a chocolate version like these chocolate cupcakes since I haven’t tested converting this yellow cake mix to a chocolate (but I should!).
Bad idea with the Fresca. If it’s got Aspartame in it, Aspartame and heat together is not a good idea. It’s why you don’t see any commercial baked goods which use Aspartame as a sweetener. Heat makes Aspartame break down and what it breaks down into is even less healthy than aspartame by itself.
What do you think about using soy milk in place of the milk in this recipe?
Devorah – I haven’t tried any substitutes for dairy milk so I don’t know how it would work out – good luck experimenting if you try it!