How to make cake mix more brownie-like?

JAS_OH1

JAS_OH1

Forum GOD!
Joined
12 May 2020
Local time
3:19 PM
Messages
11,128
I see hits online for making brownies more cake-like, but I want to do the opposite. I have a box of Devil's Food chocolate cake mix in my pantry. I don't want it to be fluffy and airy, I want it to have a fudgy, brownie-like consistency. I am going to use it as a base in small individual serving dishes with dark chocolate pudding on the second layer, then topped with Chantilly creme and fresh berries. Does anyone have any idea how I can make the cake less "cakey" and more like the fudgy brownie base I want?
 
Have you considered adding black beans to it (overcooked and mashed)...

It wound definitely give you that brownie texture. You'd have to look at a black bean brownie mix and work out what your cake mix contains, it just make a black bean brownie base... they are wonderfully easy to do.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Have you considered adding black beans to it (overcooked and mashed)...

It wound definitely give you that brownie texture. You'd have to look at a black bean brownie mix and work out what your cake mix contains, it just make a black bean brownie base... they are wonderfully easy to do.
Click to expand...
I was kinda hoping to not have to go shopping (especially on weekends), but good to know for future endeavors. I just want to get rid of that box of chocolate cake mix in my pantry and US Mother's Day is Sunday, so going to make a small dessert for MIL.
TastyReuben said:
I can’t vouch for it, but you can try this:

Cake Mix Brownies - Use Any Flavor!
Click to expand...
I have eggs and oil, I will give it a whirl (no chocolate chips around but that's fine since it says it's optional). I don't know why when I Googled I couldn't find that.

Thank you both!
 
JAS_OH1 said:
I was kinda hoping to not have to go shopping (especially on weekends), but good to know for future endeavors. I just want to get rid of that box of chocolate cake mix in my pantry and US Mother's Day is Sunday, so going to make a small dessert for MIL.

I have eggs and oil, I will give it a whirl (no chocolate chips around but that's fine since it says it's optional). I don't know why when I Googled I couldn't find that.

Thank you both!
Click to expand...
It doesn't have to be black beans, it can be kidney beans or anything along those lines. Even canolini beans or butter beans...
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
It doesn't have to be black beans, it can be kidney beans or anything along those lines. Even canolini beans or butter beans...
Click to expand...
All my beans are raw/dry, I have nothing in cans. I gotta lot of other prep work to do besides just dessert (baking a loaf of fresh bread, breading fish, making salad, making pudding from scratch, making homemade whipped cream, etc.) so I am going to stick with something a little easier. I do like the sound of it, especially since it will add nutrition to a sweet dessert, and at a later date I will give it a whirl. If I were to do it for a dessert with the inlaws, it might add farts to MIL and FIL's night later on...especially him, he is already gassy as it is!
 
JAS_OH1 said:
All my beans are raw/dry, I have nothing in cans. I gotta lot of other prep work to do besides just dessert (baking a loaf of fresh bread, breading fish, making salad, making pudding from scratch, making homemade whipped cream, etc.) so I am going to stick with something a little easier. I do like the sound of it, especially since it will add nutrition to a sweet dessert, and at a later date I will give it a whirl. If I were to do it for a dessert with the inlaws, it might add farts to MIL and FIL's night later on...especially him, he is already gassy as it is!
Click to expand...
I use all dry as well... It's really about the only use for my pressure cooker. Fast soak in hot/ boiling water and 20 mins in the pressure cooker, done.

But I can definitely recommend them for future.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
I use all dry as well... It's really about the only use for my pressure cooker. Fast soak in hot/ boiling water and 20 mins in the pressure cooker, done.

But I can definitely recommend them for future.
Click to expand...
Yeah, no pressure cooker here. I don't make beans very often, maybe 5x a year.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
I see hits online for making brownies more cake-like, but I want to do the opposite. I have a box of Devil's Food chocolate cake mix in my pantry. I don't want it to be fluffy and airy, I want it to have a fudgy, brownie-like consistency. I am going to use it as a base in small individual serving dishes with dark chocolate pudding on the second layer, then topped with Chantilly creme and fresh berries. Does anyone have any idea how I can make the cake less "cakey" and more like the fudgy brownie base I want?
Click to expand...
Brownies tend to be denser. What are the instructions for the cake mix? Based on some googling, reduce the amount of water and reduce the number of eggs to make the batter denser. For comparison, the Betty Crocker cake instructions says use 1 cup of water and 3 eggs, while the brownies use 3 tablespoons water and 2 eggs. Both use a 1/2 cup of oil.
 
MaximumSam said:
Brownies tend to be denser. What are the instructions for the cake mix? Based on some googling, reduce the amount of water and reduce the number of eggs to make the batter denser. For comparison, the Betty Crocker cake instructions says use 1 cup of water and 3 eggs, while the brownies use 3 tablespoons water and 2 eggs. Both use a 1/2 cup of oil.
Click to expand...

This makes sense to me.

CD
 
Use an entire (about 100 grams) bar of chocolate of your preference, cut into bits and mixed with the batter. Most cake mixes only provide cocoa powder, but the chocolate is what makes it fudgey. Also add an extra egg, that usually does the trick.
 
To get a fudgy texture there is usually less rising agent in a brownie compared to cake - but I'm afraid that isn't gong to help you at all as you can't take it out of the mix. The easiest option is to add chocolate as suggested by Windigo - but if you don't have any then I'd suggest adding less water for a denser batter.
 
TastyReuben said:
Let us see the results!
Click to expand...
I will. I originally was going to bake the brownie crust in the little oval serving dishes, but I was looking at them and thinking how small they are and how it's going to be hard for me to determine how much batter to put in them. I want the brownies to be very thin. I am going to cut the box mix in 1/2 and just bake it in a glass 9x9 pan, then cut an oval shape for each serving dish. That is, if it decides to cooperate and not crumble. If it crumbles then I will just press the cooked brownie bits inside of each dish before topping with the pudding. I suppose I had better wait until the morning or early afternoon to make the Chantilly creme so that it retains it's height.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom