High-Altitude Cake Mix Baking

 I have been a little obsessed experimenting with cake mixes lately, and I am now confident I've found the winning combination. This is how I take a cake mix and make it taste like homemade, with adjustments for higher altitude. And yes, I know how to make a cake from scratch, but I am experimenting with boxed mixes for the moment, you purist. 

Boxed mixes call for 3 eggs, 1 cup water, and 1/3 cup oil and to cook the cake(s) at 350 deg. F. No. At higher altitude, you will get a crumbly finished product that is also boring. No bueno.

Instead, to a boxed cake mix, add the following:

 4 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup melted butter

1 tsp vanilla or other extract (I love using almond, rum-flavored, or orange extracts for chocolate cakes. The sky's the limit with a yellow cake as it is basically a blank slate.)

1 (3.9 oz) box instant pudding mix (any flavor you like)

Use a hand mixer to combine ingredients for two minutes. Fill cake tins only halfway. The batter will be thicker than you're probably used to for a cake, but it will work out.

At higher altitudes, you also want to cook a cake faster at a higher temperature to prevent it from drying out. I heat my oven to 375 deg. F and cook two 9" layers in dark metal pans for 21 minutes, and the cakes come out tender and moist. Your oven might be different, so cook for the minimum recommended time and take cakes out as soon as a toothpick or fork, when inserted into the cake, comes out clean.

I have also been obsessed with the following frosting recipe:

1 (3.9 oz) box instant pudding mix (I love the cheesecake flavor especially)

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Thoroughly mix the pudding mix with the milk and set aside. Beat the whipping cream until it is just going from the soft peak stage to the stiff peak stage. Carefully fold in the pudding-milk mixture until it is fully incorporated into the whipped cream. Use a pastry bag or offset spatula to spread the frosting on cooled cake. 

My husband's favorite so far has been a vanilla cake with vanilla pudding mix with raspberry filling between the layers and a cheesecake pudding-cream frosting. That would be a great combo for cupcakes, as well, but making cupcakes annoys me. 

My next attempt will be the chocolate cake from the movie Matilda. I've made it before from scratch, and it was okay, but I didn't know as much about high-altitude cake baking, and I found the cake a little too dry--especially around the edges. I'll try to remember to take a picture of the new one I attempt with cake mixes.

I just realized that talking about mundane things is my way of retreating from an oversharing episode (see my last post). I am, metaphorically speaking, hiding in a quiet room until I feel like coming back out to mingle with the crowd and be emotionally exposed again.