Boxed cake mix is a great blank canvas for creative upgrades — and one of the easiest ways to elevate its flavor and texture is with a canned ingredient you may already have in your pantry: sweetened condensed milk. To better understand how and why this rich, sugary ingredient works well with store-bought cake mix, Food Republic spoke with Kierin Baldwin, chef-instructor of Pastry & Baking Arts at the Institute of Culinary Education’s New York City campus. “Sweetened condensed milk is essentially a source of concentrated milk solids and sugar with some retained water,” Baldwin explained. “Adding it to a boxed cake mix can make the cake taste richer and retain more moisture.”
However, she recommends being mindful of the wet-to-dry ingredient ratio. “Most boxed cake mixes call for the addition of water, oil, and eggs. To incorporate condensed milk, I would recommend replacing part of the water with a small amount of condensed milk.” Specifically, most cake mixes call for one cup of water, so try substituting in 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk and only using 3/4 cup of water. By removing some of the water, you’ll prevent the cake batter from being too wet and ensure the cake rises and bakes thoroughly. Baldwin also noted that this addition “may also make the cake denser and noticeably sweeter due to its high sugar content.”
Tips for adding sweetened condensed milk to boxed cake mix
Sweetened condensed milk can take boxed cake mix to the next level — but only if you know how to strike the right balance. Specifically, chef-instructor Kierin Baldwin warns against being heavy-handed with your secret ingredient. “Sweetened condensed milk should be used sparingly because it contains a significant amount of sugar,” she said. “Boxed cake mixes are already formulated to be quite sweet and moist, so there’s only so much richer or sweeter they can get before becoming cloying or overly dense and sticky.”
If you do happen to go overboard on sweetness, you can balance your cake out by skipping a traditional frosting and topping it with whipped cream and fresh fruit or a citrusy glaze to add brightness. On the other hand, if the sweetened condensed flavor doesn’t come through as much as you’d hoped, you can use drizzle your boxed cake mix with condensed milk for next-level texture and extra creamy sweetness.
Forgot to pick up a can of sweetened condensed milk on your last grocery run? You’re in luck: making sweetened condensed milk at home couldn’t be easier. You could also substitute sweetened condensed milk with another canned good, such as cream of coconut, which pairs perfectly with coconut or tropical-flavored cake mixes.
