Wake Up Your Boring Boxed Cake Mix With Some Maple Syrup

While some bakers may disagree, in our opinion, boxed cake mix is one of the best culinary inventions of the past century. It often works out to be cheaper per serving than scratch cake, and you don't have to be an expert baker to get a consistently great texture (scratch cakes can be iffy). Just following the recipe on the back of the box can be boring, though, so many home cooks like to doctor up the mix with add-ins like sour cream, mayonnaise, and even ranch dressing (we tried the last one; it wasn't terrible). While the aforementioned ingredients primarily affect the texture (except the ranch, which did lend the cake a rather unique flavor), it's also possible to change up the flavor, as well. One way to do this, if you're a fan of fall flavors with a real sweet tooth, is to use maple syrup.

All you need to do to add some maple flavor to your cake mix is substitute maple syrup for the water called for in the back-of-the-box recipe. Since cake mix already contains sugar, the result will be a very moist, very maple-y, but yes, very, very sweet cake. You can dial back on the extreme sweetness by using a smaller amount of syrup, however, while either maple extract or non-alcoholic maple flavoring can provide some maple taste without the added sugar.

If you like the idea of a maple syrup-flavored cake, your first thought might be to add it to yellow cake mix, which is a valid choice. Yellow cake flavor is basically vanilla, although the fact that it's made with whole eggs gives it a richer flavor that won't be as easily overwhelmed by a maple infusion as a more delicate white or angel food cake. Yellow cake isn't the only kind that works, though. Spice cake mix often includes warm spices such as allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg, all of which go great with maple, while carrot cake, too, may be made with similar seasonings. Even chocolate cake can work here, as the cocoa powder in the mix can add some complexity that keeps the maple from dominating the cake.

If you choose to frost your cake, you could even add a little maple to the frosting. If you've baked your cake in a bundt pan, you can make a maple syrup glaze by combining a small amount with powdered sugar. Maple syrup can also be used to replace the vanilla and some of the milk in homemade buttercream frosting, while a small amount can be stirred into a can of store-bought frosting, as well. (Not too much, though, unless a runny glaze is what you want.) As a final touch, chopped pecans or crumbled maple candy can be used as a cake topper, while you can always bake maple cupcakes and top them with crumbled bacon if you're feeling nostalgic.