How Boxed Cake Mix Can Magically Transform The Texture Of Your Milkshake

If you've ever tried the ultra-thick milkshakes that are all over Utah — or if you've just sucked down an extra-dense cup in any other state — you know how satisfying these desserts can be when they're more like slurpable ice cream than a drink. There are quite a few ingredients you can add to your homemade milkshake to give it some extra thickness, including malted milk powder, buttermilk, and peanut butter. And while it may be totally unexpected, you're missing out if you've never poured boxed cake mix into your blender.

For the most part, boxed cake mix just contains the dry ingredients that you'd add to a cake (such as flour and sugar), including a slew of delicious flavorings like cocoa powder. Unless you've added a thickener, most milkshake recipes rely solely on ice cream to create a dense texture. But when you add a mix containing flour, sugar, and potentially cocoa powder to your milkshake, you're going to instantly get a thicker, sweeter drink with very little effort required. Plus, as the texture of your beverage changes, the additional flavors will make you feel like you're drinking your favorite cake.

Before you start blending, there's one essential step to follow for safety: Heat treat your boxed mix by sprinkling it on a baking sheet, then warming it in the oven for about five minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Because we're using the flour raw in the milkshake, we'll need to kill off any pathogens that could cause food poisoning.

From there, deploy anywhere from ¼ to ½ cup of the dry powder to make two shakes. After it has cooled following the heat treatment, simply add it to your normal recipe. You don't have to scale back on ice cream or milk to make room here — unless you want an extra-dense drink, in which case pour in a little less milk.

Once that's done, you can get to the fun part — creating a thick, tasty treat. It's easy to whip up a cake batter-flavored milkshake by using vanilla ice cream, yellow or white mix, and whipped cream and sprinkles on top. But you'll also want to try chocolate, devil's food, or triple chocolate fudge mix with chocolate ice cream and a chocolate syrup garnish instead. Get creative and make a chocolate-covered strawberry drink with strawberry cake mix and ice cream, chocolate syrup, and chocolate chips. Or for something citrusy, build a lemon meringue-inspired treat by combining lemon-flavored mix with vanilla ice cream. There are plenty of sweet treat avenues to explore while making a thick, elevated shake.