Looking through the pantry this evening, I noted that I have about four boxes of cake mix. I also noted that I don’t particularly enjoy baking a cake from a cake mix. In terms of what all I have to clean up after the baking is finished, I don’t find boxed cake mixes all that much more convenient than baking from scratch.
Still, I hate to let them go to waste, and I do love brownies. I checked the cake mixes for directions, and they’re all pretty close to the same 3 eggs, 1/3 to 1/2 cup of oil, and a bit more than a cup of water. Looking at my Betty Crocker cookbook (from scratch) recipes for brownies and, say, chocolate cake, I note that the most striking differences are in the amount of baking powder called for, the presence of baking soda and buttermmilk in the cake, and far less liquid in the brownie recipe.
I’m kind of tempted to break out a box of chocolate cake mix, add two eggs (instead of three), and some oil with no water at all, and throw caution to the winds.
Still, ever mindful of the adage that cooking is art and baking is science, I thought it would be prudent to ask around first before I do so.
So does anyone have any experience in using cake mix as brownie mix, and what kinds of adjustments would I want to make to the instructions on the back of the box?
I often make cookes from cake mixes, and that calls for 2 eggs and half a cup of oil, then dropping by spoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet and baking at 325 F for 10 minutes. The result is quite tasty; I imagine you could spread the resulting cookie dough in a pan and bake it like brownies, but it won’t have the yummy fudgey denseness that a proper brownie should.
I do know from personal experience (and from following directions on the back of the box) that you can go the other way; that is, you can use a brownie mix to make a cake. The essential difference is the addition of an egg. Two eggs, you get brownies; three eggs, you get cake.
Now, whether cutting out an egg will cause a cake to collapse into a brownielike state, I do not know. Heck, give it a try, cake mixes and eggs are cheap.
The Cake Mix Doctor would seem to suggest that you can. I’m at work, so I can’t check my copy of the original cookbook “The Cake Mix Doctor” but I’d bet there are instructions there.
I found a lot of recipes by googling “cake mix brownies.” They’re all different, though(some use 1/4 cup of water, others use 3/4, and the number of eggs vary too), so I guess you’d have to pick one to try that sounds good.
If you want to try something else with all the cake mix Paula Deen makes Gooey Butter Cakes with cake mix as a crust. They do require lots of butter so they are not the healthiest thing around but may be interesting if you get tired of brownies.
Tired of brownies? What am I saying? That’s not even possible. Nevermind then.