I know. I know. You’re wondering “why in the ever-lovin’ world did she name this cake Dr.?” Trust me, it’s aptly named. See, it’s been doctored up so much from the original box whence it came, it’s basically got a doctorate in the technical field of Homemade-ish.

Sounds legit, right?!

Do we really eat cake like this? Why yes, yes we do.

Mom’s Any Flavor Dr. Cake

This cake is totally choose-your-own adventure style. You like vanilla cake? Use vanilla flavor box cake with vanilla flavor pudding. Chocolate? Go ALL in with the chocolate! You could even use Chocolate extract in place of the Vanilla. How about a touch of lemon? Start with a vanilla cake and use lemon flavored pudding. Or vice versa. You simply can't go wrong!

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Ingredients

  

• 1 box Cake Mix Any Flavor
• 1 box Instant Pudding Mix (3oz) Any Flavor
• 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1 cup Sugar
• 3/4 tsp Salt
• 1 ⅓ cup Water
• 1/8 cup Vegetable Oil
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Sour Cream Greek Yogurt works too. If you're hard core and goin' all Milli Vanilli (I typically do), you can even use Vanilla Greek Yogurt.
• 3 Eggs

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour pans.
• Mix all of the dry ingredients thoroughly.
• Add wet ingredients.
• Pour batter into greased and floured prepared pans filling a bit over halfway full.
• Bake until cake is firm. Baking time varies based on pan size. Follow box directions.

Notes

Keep in mind that the additional ingredients will increase the amount of batter you are making. I can easily fill (3) 6 inch round cake pans. Or one huge sheet pan. Or (2) 9 inch pans….you get the idea. You get a lot of cake with this recipe! You *may* find that you need to increase your baking time depending on how full your pan is. 325 is a good temperature as it allows your cake to bake thoroughly throughout without the worry of burning the top. The lower temp and additional bake time allows for a more even bake.

But wait, there’s more!

This frosting will leave people thinking you are some sort of winning contestant on the Great American Baking Show. Own it. You don’t ever have to tell them you used a can of frosting for the base…

Dr. Frosting

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Ingredients

  

• 1 tub Vanilla Canned Frosting
• 1 box Cream Cheese optional (adding this makes a killer cream cheese frosting for sugar cookies fyi)
• 2-3 drops Extract of choice I prefer 2 drops of Vanilla & 1 drop of Almond
• 3-4 tbsp Confectioners Sugar *you may continue adding 1 tbsp at a time until you have reached desired consistency*

Instructions

 

• *I like to use my KitchenAid mixer for this particular recipe using the paddle attachment. That way I can walk away for a few seconds (or 15 minutes because I get side-tracked and forget I'm even making cake). But, a hand mixer will do just fine.*

  Empty your tub of frosting into a bowl, slowly mix in your extract 1 drop at a time and lastly add the sugar.

  This frosting leaves a delicate crust around your cake. Enough to hold it in place, but soft enough to taste super fresh.

Notes

Add too much powdered sugar? No problem – simply add milk, 1 tbsp at a time, until it thins the frosting to your liking.