Boxed Cake Mix Extender

So today I’m going to tell you about a fun tradition I have going with my sister’s kids. About 4 years ago my sister was making her son’s first birthday cake. She was doing an Elmo cake for him. We were together, and she could tell it took everything in me not to leap over the counter and try to take over as she was decorating. I might be a little overbearing, I know. After trying to get Elmo’s face done, she looked at me and said “Fine, you can do it”. That is where the tradition started. Since then, she has let me make her kid’s cakes, and I LOVE to do it. One of the sweetest parts of this tradition was when she told me she overheard her son telling her daughter “When your birthday comes up next, all you have to do is tell Julie what you want and she can make ANYTHING”. Since they are only 5 and 3, I can still impress them and I’ll keep doing it until they realize I’m no professional…

So onto why this has anything to do with Food Storage. This year, her daughter wanted a Dora Cake. Fair enough right? Well then she decided she wanted a Three Tier Funfetti Dora Cake. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think you have to give into every little whim of a child, but I’m the Aunt and I’m allowed to! I had a Funfetti mix in my food storage, but I knew it wouldn’t be big enough for three tiers. I didn’t want to go to the store, because I never want to go to the store. So I got online. I found a recipe for a cake extender. Basically you can use it in any cake mix and it makes it bigger. I love food storage for so many reasons, but the Everyday Emergency is one of my favorites. For more about WHY food storage, check out our series here.

Boxed Cake Mix Extender

Ingredients:
3/4 cup of flour (I used whole wheat flour ground in my Wondermill)
1/4 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 cup of water
1/4 cup of oil
1 egg

Directions:
Mix dry ingredients in with the cake mix. Mix wet ingredients separately. Add together and follow directions on cake box. You may need to cook it a little longer since it’s more batter, but it just depends on how you spread out the batter.

So I wrote this down on an envelope and can’t remember where I found it online. I can’t seem to track it down again, but it seems like it’s a common recipe. I really liked how it worked. This little extender allowed me to make the full three tiers and it tasted great. A lot of people actually commented on how good it tasted. I know you can make cakes from scratch and everything, but she wanted Funfetti. And I’m a FUN Aunt! Hopefully you can put this little trick into use one day, when you have an Everyday Emergency!