5 Ways To Season Your Boxed Cake Mix

In a perfect world, we'd love to build an entire cake from scratch — stand mixer, hand piped frosting and all. But in the real world, we know that laborious process can take a significant chunk of time out of an otherwise hectic week. Sometimes, there just aren't enough hours in the day, and that's why boxed cake mixes are the real MVP when you're too busy to bake an entire cake, but would rather craft something slightly more impressive than a poundcake you impulsively grabbed at Costco.

Boxed cake mixes can serve as a perfect starting point for a recipe that's easy, but personalized. Adding your own seasonings, when done right, does little to compromise the cake's texture, but imparts another level of flavor. The pairing options are virtually endless: A yellow cake with cinnamon? A lemon cake infused with poppy seeds? Why not? With these seasoning tricks, your guests might start asking where you got the recipe... um, Betty Crocker, mostly.

If you've ever sipped on a mug of Mexican hot chocolate, then you're already in on the secret: Pairing cocoa with warm spices like cinnamon and dried chilis is an instant upgrade. The same rule applies to other desserts — cookies, brownies, and even pre-mixed cake. Adding the spices will impart a bit of heat, transforming a one-note, sweet chocolate cake into something a little edgier.

A typical boxed mix yields a 13-by-9 sheet cake — so when it comes to adding spices, it's important to draw inspiration from recipes with a similar serving size. Two teaspoons of cinnamon will suffice to add an autumnal, warm kick to your cake mix.

On top of that, add one teaspoon of your own preferred source of spice. Ancho chili powder, available in a one-pound container for $17 on Amazon, is considerably milder and pairs well with chocolate — often used in Mexican mole. Cayenne is notably hotter, meaning you might want to go a bit lighter with it, depending on your preference.

When it comes to adding spices to your cake mix, do so while your ingredients are still dry: It'll allow you to evenly blend the spices throughout the mixture. Then, simply follow the directions on the back of your box, which will typically instruct you to add water, eggs, and vegetable oil. The mix of savory, warm and spicy will bring out notes of chocolate in ways you'd never thought imaginable.

A classic white cake is made with egg whites: No yolks included. This yields a fluffy, ivory-colored dessert, flavored subtly with vanilla. Add some nuance and fruitiness to a simple box of white cake mix in seconds with almond extract and a sprinkling of orange zest.

Extract of any kind — whether almond, vanilla, or coconut — is a tricky game. Add too much, and you're stuck with an overpowering flavor. A teaspoon of almond extract will impart a light nuttiness. To make things a touch more interesting — and to add pretty, orange flecks throughout the cake batter — toss in the zest of one large orange. When zesting, be sure to work only with the peel; stop grating once you've reached the white pith of the fruit, which can be bitter. And if you can find it, a couple drops of orange blossom water, used in North African and Middle Eastern desserts, will add even more fragrance.

Unlike white cake, traditional yellow cake incorporates egg yolks. In most cases, yellow cake is flavored with vanilla extract. That's a pretty neutral starting point for some genius flavor combinations, like a chai-vanilla cake that will pair perfectly with your favorite cup of tea.

You can buy a chai spice blend, or you can make your own. Often conflated with ultra-sweet lattes, chai (which literally means "tea" in Hindu) includes a blend of bold, warm spices: Cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves among them. Black pepper is also a typical addition, bringing a subtle wave of heat.

Shake a couple teaspoons of your chai spice blend into a dry yellow cake mix before adding your eggs, water and oil. Think of it as a spice cake with a more aggressive punch. To cool things down, coat your chai cake in a thick layer of cream cheese frosting and drizzle some honey on top to garnish.

There's a reason you often see lavender and lemon paired together. Sure, the lilac-and-yellow color combination is pretty and makes you feel like you're living inside a Pinterest board. But it's more than that: The ingredients lend themselves to desserts that are delicate, fruity, and floral. Adding a touch of lavender to a box of lemon cake mix will propel your flavor profile from "box mix" to "something you might find at a Parisian café."

If you've ever watched an episode of "The Great British Baking Show," then you'll have probably picked up one thing about lavender: Add too much, and your cake will taste like soap. To avoid that outcome, we recommend creating a lavender simple syrup with dried lavender, sugar and water. When crafting your lemon lavender cake, simply combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water, and a tablespoon of dried culinary lavender until the mixture reduces to a syrupy consistency. This allows you the opportunity to taste as you go — leading to a syrup that's floral enough, but not overpowering.

Once you pull your lemon cake out of the oven, poke some holes and brush your lavender simple syrup over the entire thing, giving it some time to soak through. Try topping the whole thing with a lavender-infused buttercream and a dusting of lemon zest. 

This may be the most unlikely flavor combo on our list, but we promise, it works. Sweet and tangy, strawberries shine when paired with smoky, ever-so-slightly spicy flecks of freshly cracked black pepper. And we're not alone: Strawberries with black pepper have been paired together in cocktails, salads, and jams.

If you're skeptical, sprinkle a pinch of black pepper onto a strawberry and take a bite. Yes, it's revelatory. What's more, strawberry-based cake mixes tend to err on the sweet side, meaning a hint of spice will counteract the sugariness. Simply blend two teaspoons of black pepper into your cake mix before adding wet ingredients. The key to this trick? Stay away from pre-ground black pepper, which usually doesn't deliver much on flavor. Instead, use a grinder that allows you to pulverize the peppercorns on the spot.

To amp up the fruity flavor, try adding a generous layer of frosting swirled with strawberry preserves. Then, add a sprinkle of finely ground black pepper for garnish — because with the right touches, a boxed cake mix can still look gorgeous.