In Fact, I Have a Better Way to Make Viral Coffee Box Cakes.
Part of getting older is watching the younger generation “discover” what you’ve known for years. It happens most often with music, movies, and fashion—I’ll never forget how happy I was to tell my parents about this little-known band I discovered called The Band—but now it’s happening to me with food hacks.
If you follow Lifehacker regularly, chances are you are not a TikTok user. It’s just that there isn’t much overlap between the two demographics. But if so, then you’ve probably seen this viral video going around in circles.
In it, TikToker @katedavidsun cracks open a box of brownie mix, replacing water with coffee (or espresso). It’s not a new hack – it wasn’t even when I covered it five years ago – but it’s a good hack, and I’m glad Kate is spreading the word to the younger generation (many of whom have definitely not read Lifehacker five years ago). Adding coffee doesn’t make your cakes taste like mochas, but it does add depth and nuance, enhancing the chocolate flavors and hiding any “processed” flavors, giving the boxed dessert a more homey feel.
How to make coffee brownies in boxes even better
However, there is another hack you should use to make your boxed brownies even better: replace the vegetable oil with something more flavorful, like olive oil, pistachio, pumpkin seed oil, or any other oil with distinctive properties. These oils further hide the flavors we associate with industrial baked goods, while still adding some flavor of their own. Olive oil can add fruity or peppery notes, pistachio oil is distinctly nutty and slightly savory, and pumpkin seed oil is rich and (like pistachio) deeply nutty. As with coffee, all you have to do is replace the lingering cooking oil with the same amount of energizing oil and then bake as usual. I recommend using both hacks at once. (I love double brownies .)