As part of a Pillsbury Baking giveaway, Pillsbury sent me a few boxes of cake mix to experiment with. This cake (along with the White Chocolate Cheesecake Key Lime Bundt Cake) was one of the experiments. I wanted to see how using a popular technique for extending cake mix would work with the new Orangesicle flavored mix. Judging by my friends' assessment of this cake, it worked very well.
Enhancing Cake Mix
If you've never heard of it, extending or enhancing cake mix is when you add flour, sugar, oil, sour cream and various flavorings to a box of cake mix. And while it may sound like it defeats the purpose of convenience, it really doesn't. You don't have to be as precise with steps and measurements as you would if you were making a scratch cake, there's no creaming step, and in the end you get the texture benefits that cake mix offers. As for my experiment, the Orangesicle cake mix worked just as well as the cakes I make with vanilla mixes.
Orangesicle Cake Mix Substitute
The Orangsicle flavored cake mix was a seasonal flavor, and I'm not sure if Pillsbury will be bringing it back. In the meantime, you can substitute orange flavored cake mix.
Recipe
Enhanced Orangesicle Cake Mix Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box 15.2 oz Pillsbury Orange Creamsicle flavored cake mix
- 1 cup Pillsbury's Best flour or White Lily stir well or weigh before measuring (4.5 oz)**
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup water
- ⅓ cup fresh orange juice
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
Vanilla Frosting
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoons whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 9 inch round cake pans with sides THAT ARE AT LEAST 2 inches high, with flour-added baking spray.
- Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to mix. With an electric mixer, beat for a full minute, scraping sides of bowl well.
- Divide batter evenly among pans (if you have a scale, you should weigh about 25 oz in each pan).
- Bake for 30 minutes on center rack or until cakes test done. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then carefully invert. Let cool completely.
- To make the frosting, beat the softened butter and 1 cup of sugar until smooth. Continue adding sugar gradually until you've used all 4 cups, then beat in the salt and vanilla. Add the milk 1 tablespoon a time, beating until smooth and creamy. If you feel like the icing is too creamy, add a little more sugar. If it is too dry, add more milk.
- Note: I used White Lily and it worked perfectly, but any all-purpose flour should be fine.
Lisa says
can the enhanced cake mix recipe be made in a bundt pan? Thank you!
kathy king says
I made the orangesicle cake mix today to take in to the office. I bought a tub of cool whip cream cheese frosting for it and it was delicious!!!
Anna says
Polly, good luck finding the orange! If you found the Key lime, you should be able to find the Orangesicle as well.
Shannon, I made an orange buttercream using a pound of confectioners' sugar, 2 sticks of butter, milk, orange juice , orange zest and vanilla. It was okay, but I feel like there are better frosting recipes out there. I think 2 sticks of butter to 1 pound of sugar was a little too much butter and I would have been better off using the recipe on the box of Imperial confectioners sugar which calls for 1 stick of butter to 1 pound of sugar.
Another frosting that might be really fun with this cake is one of the old "Dreamsicle" recipes where you use
1 box (small) vanilla instant pudding
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon orange extract
8 container whipped topping
Make vanilla pudding with milk, stir in vanilla and extract, fold in Cool Whip (or 3 1/2 cups sweetened whipped cream).
Just do a Google search for Dreamsicle frosting and you'll see a ton of fun ones.
A basic cream cheese frosting might be good, too.
Shannon says
Hi Anna,
What frosting did you use? Did you make a vanilla butter cream or did you use a store bought frosting? The cake looks beautiful.
Polly says
I was excited to find the key lime cake mix, but only for a short time. I make cake balls by the hundreds and was excited to get a few more flavors. When mixing the batter, I use concentrated limeade instead of water to enhance the flavor. I did the same thing with the pink lemonade last year, when it first came out. I will have to try the orange, if I can find any more of the mixes.
Thanks for all of your recipes and ideas.!!
Anna says
Hi Priscilla! You can find out more about this recipe by doing a search for WASC. The recipe is commonly referred to as White Almond Sour Cream Cake because the first version was made with a white cake mix, almond extract and sour cream. The texture is kind of like cake mix cake, but denser, moister and less airy. Results will vary depending on what brand of cake mix you use. Also, over the years there's been a change in the amount of cake mix per box. Old boxes called for 18.25 and the new ones are around 15. What I've found is that it doesn't seem to matter what box size you use because the 15 oz box worked just as well as the old 18.25 oz size box without any changes. But again -- that might vary. I'd recommend starting with a Pillsbury or Betty Crocker pudding added cake mix and adding the other ingredients as listed above. Also, if you search around you can find other versions of enhanced cake mix recipes where people have added additional butter or oil.
Priscilla says
What an interesting idea to "extend" a cake mix with flour and sugar. I have been doctoring cake mixes for a long time, but never heard of this idea. How would you describe the texture? It looks like a cross between all scratch and mix, maybe springy like a cake mix but a little more dense?