Make a Killer Tiny Boxed Muffin Mix Cake
Boxed cupcake mixes are handy for baking a dozen handmade buns, but that’s not all they can do. The prepackaged mix contains flour, sugar, flavorings and baking powder, ingredients that match a number of other cake-like desserts. In fact, with a couple of simple tweaks, you can turn an ordinary box of muffin mix into a decadent crumb cake, as the dry mix can be manipulated to become both muffin and crumb.
There’s nothing wrong with a cupcake, but it’s better for everyone to have a whole cake of crumbs. First of all, you must create the perfect crumb layer. Crispy but not hard. Soft but not sticky. I poured my boxed mix (it was an 18.25oz Krusteaz chocolate chip muffin mix) into a large bowl and scooped out one cup of the mix into a separate, smaller crumble bowl. I mixed in the brown sugar and cinnamon, then added the melted butter to a smaller bowl. After some stirring and pressing, the crumb mixture became well-wetted with oil. (It should be lumpy, but not soaked in oil.)
Instructions for making a typical boxed muffin mix include adding water, butter, and eggs. The dough will turn out thick, and quick bread will turn out strong and slightly dry. In order to get a moist pie-like dough with the same dry ingredients, I decided to fluff up the dough and remove the egg so the final crumb wouldn’t be as dry as muffins. Luckily, it made my life easier. To make the batter more fluffy, I used a higher ratio of wet ingredients, and since I had already taken a cup of dry ingredients for the crumble, this meant I could leave the liquids pretty much the same as stated on the box.
The box asks for 1/2 cup of water and oil. I measured them on the narrow side (so I just made a mistake on the light part of the measurement) and subtracted one egg from what is indicated in the box. The only change I would like to make in the future is to reduce the oil measurement a little more than I did to 1/3 cup instead of 1/2 cup. This will make the cake porous but lighten it up.
Mix water, oil and eggs in a box until smooth. Pour it into an oiled, parchment-lined cake pan or baking dish. The dough should be fluid, but not watery. Separate the crumb mixture with your hands and spread it over the entire surface of the dough until it is evenly covered with small pieces of crumb. Bake in the oven at 350°F for 45 minutes or until the center springs back when pressed lightly.
Let the cake cool for at least 20 minutes before removing it from the mold so that the filling can set. Turn it upside down on a plate, put another plate on the bottom and turn it over again with the crumb side up. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve. The crumb is crispy but soft, with a warm cinnamon flavor, and the cake is moist and tender—far from a dry, dense cake.
Although my cupcake mix was littered with chocolate chunks, this crumb-turned-boxed cupcake would be stellar if you used banana muffin, blueberries, or plain mix. Keep in mind that the following recipe uses an 18.25 oz box of muffin mix, so if your mix is a different weight, you will need to adjust some measurements. This well crumbled cake will keep at room temperature for up to five days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Cupcake mix crumble cake
Ingredients for the Crumb Filling:
- 1 cup dry muffin mix in boxes
- 5 tablespoons butter, melted and chilled
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cake Dough Ingredients:
- Leftover dry cake mix (18.25 oz box of mix minus 1 cup for filling)
- A meager ½ cup of water
- ⅓ cup butter
- 2 eggs
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9″ cake tin and place the parchment paper circle in the bottom of the tin.
Empty the entire box of dry cake mix into a large bowl. Take one cup of the dry mix and place it in the smaller crumb bowl. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon with a little muffin mix. Pour in the melted butter. Stir and press it all together until it is well combined and lumpy. Postpone.
Prepare the cake batter in a large bowl with the remaining dry boxed cake mix. Add water, oil and 2 eggs. Mix together until well blended. Pour batter into cake pan and smooth out. Break up the crumbs with your fingers, sprinkling it on the surface of the dough. Make the crumb layer as even as possible. No need to press the crumbs into the surface.
Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes or until center springs back when lightly pressed. Cool completely before removing from mold.