DIY Vanilla Cake Mix
This recipe was born of necessity more than anything else. I’m certain everyone has experience with at least one, if not more, instances of the phenomenon termed “shrinkflation” (a portmanteau of “shrink” and “inflation”) impacting a favorite product. This is the practice of reducing the weight, volume or size of a product while maintaining the same price – in effect raising the consumer’s cost per unit on the product. While the term originated fairly recently, examples of the phenomenon (such as selling slightly smaller candy bars for the same price) can be traced back to at least the 1960’s and instances of the phenomenon tend to rise alongside inflation. Boxed cake mixes are a somewhat new victim of shrinkflation, which is where this recipe comes in.
Before about 2015, the standard net weight of a boxed cake mix was 18.25 ounces. There are literally thousands, possibly tens of thousands of what I would call semi-homemade recipes that either explicitly call for an 18.25 ounce cake mix or were written before 2015 so implicitly expect that the required cake mix will be 18.25 ounces. However, post 2015, the standard net weight of a boxed cake mix was reduced to 15.25 ounces, which would leave you 3 ounces short on the dry ingredients for those thousands of recipes. Even more recently (circa 2023) some brands reduced the net weight even further to only 13.25 ounces resulting in a 5 ounce difference between the boxed cake mixes and the recipe requirements. A 3-5 ounce difference in the dry ingredients will have a significant impact on the results of a recipe, affecting flavor, consistency/texture, rise, etc.
One option to address this issue is to “borrow” 3-5 ounces from a second cake mix to make up the difference. This is certainly a simple solution, but, from my perspective, it is a little bit of a messy one. Implementing this solution means I have a partial cake mix in my pantry for which the original instructions on the package no longer apply and who’s to say when I might want to make another recipe that calls for boxed cake mix? I’d rather have a single, complete option that can be neatly swapped in for the original 18.25 ounce cake mix. So I set myself the goal of developing a recipe that would be a one-for-one replacement for the no-longer-available 18.25 ounce cake mix.
In the process of developing this recipe I reviewed the ingredient lists and instructions on several different brands of boxed cake mixes, dozens of homemade cake mix recipes, as well as a handful of homemade cake mix “upsizer” recipes. None of the homemade cake mix or upsizer recipes yielded quite the right amount of dry mix, most of them yielding significantly more than I was looking (which makes sense if you want a big bucket of cake mix to measure smaller portions out of), so I needed to refactor and scale to get the proper yield. I also noticed that the boxed cake mixes include a small amount of fat/oil in them, while most of the homemade cake mixes don’t include any fat/oils in the mix, relying solely on ingredients added later. Having all of the dry ingredients in the mix coated in fat has a similar effect to the reverse creaming method resulting in a tender cake with a fine crumb. It also helps reduce the risk of overmixing as the coating of fat insulates the flour from the water molecules in the wet ingredients which helps to inhibit the formation of gluten (no one wants a tough, chewy cake).
After several rounds of tweaking, scaling, and testing (both baking off the actual cake layers and using the full yield of the recipe in semi-homemade recipes calling for cake mix), I arrived at this recipe. Most of the ingredients should be pretty easily accessible, but here are some notes for substitutions:
- If you don’t have/can’t get buttermilk powder, replace it with more powdered milk and apply one of the following options:
- If you are planning to bake a cake using the mix, replace 1/4 cup (60ml) of the water with liquid buttermilk or soured milk
- If you are using the mix in an alternate application or don’t have liquid buttermilk, replace the baking soda with baking powder (baking soda relies on acidic ingredients to react with, baking powder does not)
- If you don’t have vanilla powder, you can omit it and instead add 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste when incorporating the liquid ingredients for whichever recipe you are following
If you’d like, you can print a copy of the recipe card shown in the image above to attach to your cake mix, either for convenience in your own pantry or for gifting to someone else:
DIY Vanilla Cake Mix
Equipment
- food processor
- As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.kitchen scale or measuring cups
- measuring spoons
Ingredients
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- 268 g sugar
- 16 g buttermilk powder
- 15 g powdered milk
- 6 g vegetable shortening
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
Instructions
- Place all of the ingredients in a large food processor bowl. Pulse until the ingredients are uniformly combined. The mixture should be loose and powdery with no visible clumps or lumps from the shortening.200 g all-purpose flour, 268 g sugar, 16 g buttermilk powder, 15 g powdered milk, 6 g vegetable shortening, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp baking soda
- Transfer to an 4-cup air tight container and store in the pantry until ready to use. To bake a 9"x13" cake or 2-8"x8" round cake layers, follow the
DIY Vanilla Cake Mix – Preparation Instructions
Notes
Nutrition
DIY Vanilla Cake Mix – Preparation Instructions
Equipment
- As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.kitchen scale or measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- mixing bowl
- cake pan(s) (1-9×13 or 2-8×8)
Ingredients
- 517 g
DIY Vanilla Cake Mix (one full batch) - 150 ml water
- 100 ml oil
- 3 eggs (large, room temperature)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and flour your cake pan(s) (or line the bottom and sides with parchment paper).
- Place all of the ingredients in a medium to large mixing bowl. Mix until the batter is smooth and homogenous with no dry ingredients remaining.517 g DIY Vanilla Cake Mix, 3 eggs, 100 ml oil, 150 ml water
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) (if using 2-8×8 inch pans, ensure the batter is evenly divided between the two). Tap the pans lightly on the counter to release any large bubbles.
- Bake in your preheated oven for 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted halfway between the center and the edge of the pan comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool in the pan(s) for about 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.
Nutrition
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