Homemade Yellow Cake Mix

Any recipe that calls for a yellow cake mix can be made better with a scratch cake! It’s easy, so why not? This homemade mix (my own creation and tested to perfection, inspired by my frustration with recipes that call for a yellow cake mix but don’t tell you how to make the recipe with a scratch cake) makes a light, moist cake you can count on every time. You can make batches of cake mix ahead of time and take one out just like a cake mix, or make the mix one at a time as needed.

Featured on CITR

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 10-12

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes   Cook Time: varies  

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup non-fat dry milk

Directions

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and non-fat dry milk. Store in an airtight container or baggie. Keeps well in the pantry for months!

To replace in recipes calling for a standard-size 18.25 ounce store-bought yellow cake mix:

Use in any recipe calling for a yellow cake mix as a base (add 1 teaspoon vanilla to the recipe along with the cake mix as the recipe will assume vanilla was included in the store-bought mix).

Or to make a basic yellow cake, use the following instructions.

Cake mix directions:.

1 recipe Homemade Yellow Cake Mix
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 eggs

Place Homemade Yellow Cake Mix in a bowl. Add water, vanilla, butter, and eggs. Combine with an electric mixer then beat two more minutes. Pour into a greased and floured cake pan. Bake at 350-degrees, using these baking times (watch carefully as your oven may vary–test for doneness using a toothpick):

8 or 9-inch cake rounds — 20-25 minutes
13 x 9 pan — 35-40 minutes
cupcakes — 12-15 minutes
tube/bundt pan — 45-50 minutes

Don’t overbake! You’ll dry out your cake.

NOTE: If you don’t like using dry milk in your cakes, you can always leave the dry milk out of the mix. When making the cake, replace the water in the recipe with milk.

Have you ever read the label on store-bought cake mixes? They’re packed with additives, preservatives, artificial coloring, oils, corn syrup, etc. Make up several batches of Homemade Yellow Cake Mix at a time, store in the pantry, and whip ‘em out any time for a quick, easy cake with none of that stuff!

Let them eat (homemade) cake!

Update: I have two sizes for yellow cake mix now. Most recipes (especially bar and cookie recipes) calling for a yellow cake mix require the smaller size mix. When making a yellow cake as a stand-alone cake, however, the larger size is nicer. (Cake mixes actually make relatively small cakes!)

To make stand-alone yellow cakes (or cake recipes calling for a yellow cake mix) using a larger size recipe (remember, bar and cookie recipes work best using the standard size above), directions are as follows:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup non-fat dry milk

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and non-fat dry milk.

To replace in recipes calling for a yellow cake mix: ?Use in any recipe calling for a yellow cake mix as a base (add 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla to the recipe along with the cake mix as the recipe will assume vanilla was included in the store-bought mix).

Or to make a basic yellow cake, use the following instructions.

Cake mix directions:
1 recipe Homemade Yellow Cake Mix
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 eggs

Place Homemade Yellow Cake Mix in a bowl. Add water, vanilla, butter, and eggs. Combine with an electric mixer then beat two more minutes. Pour into a greased and floured cake pan. Bake at 350-degrees, using these baking times (watch carefully as your oven may vary–-test for doneness using a toothpick):

8- or 9-inch cake rounds — 25-30 minutes
13 x 9-inch pan — 40-45 minutes
cupcakes — 15-20 minutes
tube/bundt pan — 45-50 minutes

Categories: Cakes, Desserts, Ingredients & Mixes

Submitted by: suzanne-mcminn on July 6, 2010