Blame it on the Pumpkin Crumble Cake. I went to make my favorite fall pumpkin treat (because I’m not a fan of pumpkin pie) and I didn’t have a yellow cake mix to top it with. But, then I thought to myself – There’s got to be a way to make yellow cake mix, and it’s got to be better than the boxed stuff.
And it was!
By the way, have you ever read the side of a cake mix box?? Yikes! Making it myself made me feel a whole lot better about eating pumpkin crumble cake, let me tell ya!
I doubled this recipe and measured up all of the ingredients into plastic zippy bags. I used one to top my pumpkin crumble cake and saved the other to make as a regular cake at a later date.
Before I give you the recipe, I wanted to share that while this recipe worked fabulously for the topping I needed on the Pumpkin Crumble Cake, as an actual cake, I did find it lacking compared to our favorite homemade yellow cake. It was delicious, but the top of the cake had a cornbread appearance to it (probably would have been better if I had sifted the ingredients, but it was easily remedied by slapping frosting on the cake!). It also did not rise as much as a boxed mix will, but I figure that’s the trade off for not eating a bunch of chemical compounds. Here’s a photo that gives you an idea of what I’m talking about…
Honestly, I don’t use cake mixes to make cake – I only tried it for this post so I could give an account of how I thought it did against a traditional boxed cake mix. My daughter is the cake baker in this house, and she makes all of hers from scratch, so the lack of perfection isn’t a big deal to me. Using it as a topping was an absolute winner, so I’m happy!
Now for the recipe!
Homemade Yellow Cake Mix
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ cup sugar
- ½ cup non-fat powdered milk
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Measure out ingredients into a plastic storage bag and label with instructions. If putting in the freezer for long-term storage, be sure you are using a freezer bag and consider double bagging. However, this mix will last quite a while in the cupboard.
- BAKING INSTRUCTIONS:To make into a cake, mix together cake mix, ¾ c. water, 1 tsp vanilla, ½ c. softened butter, and 3 eggs. Pour into 2 greased and floured 8" or 9" round cake pans. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes. Adjust time if using a different kind of pan.
- TO USE AS A CAKE MIX TOPPING: (like on my Pumpkin Crumble Cake)Follow the directions on your recipe as you would for making a topping from a boxed cake mix.
Rachel says
Great looking recipe!! Have you or anyone else tried this recipe with gluten-free flour?
Amy says
I have not, but I think that would be totally doable.
Jessica says
I would like to use this for the pumpkin crumble. Could I leave the dry milk out for that usage?
Michelle says
Thank you so much for this recipe, Amy!!! I just used the yellow cake mix to make a delicious birthday cake for my daughter’s 2nd birthday today. It was a hit!! I made a round cake and then used a frosting recipe to make a cream cheese, butter, and strawberry frosting. My daughter and our other children LOVED this cake! And I love that it was healthy and no weird ingredients like you said 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to post this to help me create a good treat for my kids and hubby.
Love all the Homeschool information you post too! I follow you with all of that, as I’m homeschooling my children 🙂 Bless you!
Amy says
Thank you, Michelle!
Gordon says
Would this recipe equal out to be a 18.25 mix? Was considering it for my gooey butter cake recipe rather than buying cake mix.
Amy says
I used this exact recipe for my gooey butter cake!