Doctored Red Velvet Box Mix Cake

How to make a boring red velvet box mix taste extra moist and delicious! Almost as good as homemade. No one will ever know!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 30

Total Time 35

Servings cups

Calories 500kcal

Three, 8"x2" cake pans
Stand mixer, hand mixer or even a bowl with a whisk
For decorating: 8" cake board, bench scraper, offset spatula, rustic scallop cake comb, piping bag and Wilton 2D piping tip.

1 box red velvet cake mix I like Betty Crocker Delights super moist red velvet cake mix, or Duncan Hines.
5 ounces all purpose flour 1 cup spooned in and leveled
7 ounces granulated sugar 1 cup
6 ounces sour cream, room temperature or plain greek yogurt - ¾ cup
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ounces vegetable oil ¼ cup
4 ounces unsalted butter, melted ½ cup
12 ounces buttermilk, room temperature or regular milk + 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. 1 ½ cups
3 large eggs room temperature
1 Tablespoon Super Red Food Coloring

Preheat oven to 335℉. Prepare three 8" round cake pans. I prefer to use cake goop.
Add all of your ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment attached and mix on low for 2 minutes to combine.
Stop and scrape the bowl and then mix on medium for two minutes.
Pour batter into your cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out of the center with just a few sticky crumbs clinging to the toothpick. I gently touch the top of the cake to see if it bounces back to check if it's done. If it needs more time only bake for 1 minute more then check again.
Let cool a few minutes in the pan before turning out onto a cooling rack. Let cool fully and frost.

Place egg whites and powdered sugar in a stand mixer bowl. Attach the whisk and combine ingredients on low and then whip on high for 1 minute to dissolve the powdered sugar
Add in your salt and vanilla extract
Add in your butter in chunks and whip with the whisk attachment to combine. It will look curdled at first. This is normal. It will also look pretty yellow. Keep whipping.
If your buttercream looks curdled, remove about ⅓ cup of buttercream and melt it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds until JUST barely melted. Pour it back into the whipping buttercream to bring it all together.
Switch to a paddle attachment and mix on low for 15-20 minutes to make the buttercream very smooth and remove air bubbles. This isn't required but if you want really creamy frosting, you don't want to skip it.