Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix Baking Spree

I tend to avoid recipes that call for prepared cake mixes because, like my mother, I sometimes suffer from make-it-from-scratch syndrome. A recent trip to Williams Sonoma, however, inspired me to try a few new recipes, including one for pumpkin butter dessert bars, which I sampled at the store. Spiced with cinnamon, double-textured like a lemon bar, these pumpkin treats instantly won the affection of all who sampled them. The recipe calls for a jar of Muirhead pecan pumpkin butter, but any brand of pumpkin butter will do.

The other new recipe I tried was for quick apple kuchen. Of the three recipes posted here, I would say the kuchen tastes the most artificial, a sour cream glaze giving it an Entenmman's-like character. Best served warm with a cup of coffee, however, this kuchen is still delectable.

And my mother makes this rum bundt cake (pictured above) every year for the Greek New Year. The recipe calls for both a box of cake mix and a package of vanilla pudding. I've tried several times to re-create the recipe from scratch and have found that the original recipe produces the tastiest cake.

Here is an article from today's Bulletin:

The Secret's In The Box
The Bulletin, December 7, 2007

Three-hundred sixty-four days a year, my mother suffers from make-it-from-scratch syndrome. On her one day a year liberated from this affliction, she spends a few hours preparing a Greek New Year's cake (vasilopita), pulling from the pantry a box of Duncan Hines yellow cake mix and a box of instant vanilla pudding. She combines these two powders in a bowl, adds a considerable amount of rum - the secret, she says, to the cake's moist texture - and before long has produced a beautiful rum bundt cake, the dessert of choice for our annual coin-hiding, cake-cutting, Greek ritual.

Introducing this old WASP recipe into my mother's repertoire - one dominated by traditional Greek dishes like spanakopita and moussaka - was no easy task. My stepfather, the man responsible for accomplishing this feat many years ago, still gloats to this day.

Only after several attempts at making the cake from scratch (substituting for the powdered mixes a pound cake one time and a chiffon cake another) received unfavorable reviews, did my mother concede, vowing never to tinker with the recipe again, a pledge widely supported by the rest of the family. Moist and boozy with a sugary-buttery glaze, this cake - in its original incarnation - has been a favorite since its debut.

Although my adoration for the rum bundt cake has made me less skeptical than my mother of recipes calling for instant cake mixes, I still find myself calling home to consult the authority before opening the box. "Be sure to add vanilla extract or a splash of Bourbon," she always tells me, adding, "you need something to hide that artificial flavor." Rarely do I end up making the recipe.

A recent visit to Williams- Sonoma, however, unexpectedly inspired a prepared-mix baking spree, my arrival to the shop fortuitously coinciding with the presentation of a batch of freshly made pumpkin dessert bars. Spiced with cinnamon, double-textured like a lemon bar, these pumpkin treats instantly won the affection of all who sampled them. Much to my surprise, the recipe called for a box of yellow cake mix.

After successfully making the pumpkin bars at home, along with a pan of quick apple kuchen, neither recipe calling for extract or alcohol, I resolved never to look suspiciously at recipes beginning with a premade mix. Though I'll never tell my mother, my recent discoveries have confirmed an inkling I've had for years regarding the legendary rum bundt cake: The secret's in the box, not the bottle.

The rum bundt cake can be made in mini pans as well. This was a batch I made last year for the Greek New Year's Cake. Last year, I made the cake from scratch — truthfully, it's much better using the box!
Rum Bundt Cake

1 box yellow cake mik
1 pkg. instant vanilla pudding
½ cup rum
4 eggs
½ cup canola oil
½ cup water

Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Mix all with an electric mixer for five minutes. Grease bundt pan and lightly flour. Bake for one hour.

1 stick butter
¼ cup rum
½ cup sugar

Meanwhile, combine rum, butter and sugar together in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. When cake comes out of the oven, pour one-third of this mixture into the bottom of the cake. Let sit for 30 minutes. Turn cake out onto a cooling rack. Paint a layer of the glaze all over the cake. Let harden. Paint another layer. Repeat until all the glaze is gone.

Note: Tastes even better the second day.

Pumpkin Butter Dessert Squares

1 package yellow cake mix
½ cup butter, melted
3 large eggs
1 jar Muirhead pumpkin butter (This is the Williams Sonoma brand, but any will do. The jar was 13.5 oz.)
½ cup milk
1 tablespoon flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Measure one cup of cake mix. Set aside. Stir remaining cake mix with the butter and one egg. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch pan. Mix the jar of pumpkin butter with the remaining two eggs and milk. Pour mixture over layer in the pan. Stir the reserved cake mix with the flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon. Mix until crumbly. Sprinkle over the top of the pumpkin layer. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into two-inch squares. Serves 24.

Quick Apple Kuchen
Serves 20-24

1 box yellow cake mix
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sweetened coconut
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 large apples, peeled and sliced thinly
1 egg
1 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Combine first three ingredients together in a bowl. Mix with your hands or beat slowly with an electric mixer. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Pat mixture into pan. Bake 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix cinnamon and sugar together and toss with the apples. Remove pan from the oven and top with the apple mixture. Whisk egg and sour cream together and drizzle over the apples. Return to the oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Serve immediately.