I came across a thing-y on the interwebs – so you know it must be true – where the author talked about how much better you could make a cake mix by stirring a packet of instant pudding in with the eggs and other ingredients called for.
But, they did not give the details, so, as one does, I went to da google and da google did not let me down. Lot’s of recipes and methods and suggestions and stuff; so I looked around and considering that I had a box of lemon pudding bought by accident in
my pantry, I chose to make a lemon pudding cake with a yellow cake mix.
And it was so good, I am planning other pudding/cake mix flavor options; pistachio/strawberry? Butterscotch/spice?
Who knows?
INGREDIENTS
For the Cake Pan:
•1 tbsp flour
•1 tbsp solid shortening (or butter)
•1 tbsp veggie oil
Cake:
•1 box cake mix
•1 box instant pudding
•Whatever else the cake mix calls for
A note on cake mixes: I have been using Betty Crocker, but picked Duncan Hines up on a whim. When it came time to put it all together, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the D.H. folk call for using softened butter in place of the more usual oil; so, I think I am switching brands.
First things first, heat your oven to whatever temp the cake mix calls for and prepare your cake pan(s) by mixing the flour together with the solid shortening and veggie oil and then brushing this all over your cake pan. Works a treat. Every time. The cake(s) will come out of the fussiest pan perfectly.
Oven preheated and cake pan prepped, make the cake by combining the ingredients called for by the cake mix with the packet of pudding mix in a mixing bowl.
Mix according to package instructions, the folk at Duncan Hines suggested one minute on low to moisten then four minutes on medium-high, scraping the bowl as needed.
As you will note, this makes for a pretty thick batter.
Scrape the batter into your prepared cake pan(s) – I used a Bundt pan – and bake according to cake mix instructions, or until a toothpick (or wooden skewer) inserted in the center comes out clean.
I ended up baking my cake for an additional five minutes, but my oven is fairly new, so I don’t know if that was because of my particular oven or the added pudding.
Remove the cake from the oven and set aside to cook on a rack for 30 minutes or so; really, until the pan is cool enough to handle with your bare hands.
Invert on to your serving plate and allow to cool completely.
As you can see, even this kinda fussy cake pattern popped out perfectly, and because of what I call the One. One. One. cake pan preparation, there are no unsightly flour splotches like you can get when just buttering and oiling a pan.
I had thought to turn this into a rum cake, but opted for the classic dusting of powdered sugar.
Of course, I was also serving it with a scoop of dark chocolate orange espresso spiced rum mousse and a dab o’ whipped cream, so going simple on the cake topping worked out nicely.
All in all, a fine dessert.