Baking a cake always seems like a big task that takes a lot of time and effort. But according to Ree Drummond, baking a cake can be as easy as cracking open a cardboard box. You’d never guess her Top Secret Chocolate Cake wasn’t entirely homemade, and that’s because it’s gone completely undercover.
“This is a Top Secret Chocolate Cake and I call it that because I don’t tell anybody that I use a cake mix,” Drummond said in a recent segment posted to Food Network’s Instagram page. “And it’s so delicious that no one would ever know.”
To make Drummond’s Top Secret Chocolate Cake, first start with your favorite boxed dark chocolate cake mix (Drummond opts for Duncan Hines, but you can go with whichever one calls to you). Then add milk, beaten eggs, butter, and a tablespoon of vanilla to give the cake mix that homemade flavor.
“[Vanilla] really kind of helps elevate any sort of store-bought cake mix,” Drummond said.
She then adds chocolate chips to the bowl before mixing all the ingredients together. The chips will help keep the cake moist and add an even more chocolatey flavor to the final product. It’s then time to bake the cake and let it cool. Drummond bakes her cake in a bundt pan to give it a more homemade (and impressive!) look, but any cake pan works great.
The decorations are what take this cake from good to great. And for Drummond, decorating starts with a hearty drizzle of her two-ingredient ganache, which is just chocolate chips melted in some hot cream. She then tops the cake with some colorful sprinkles, but you can do chopped nuts, coconut flakes, toffee bits, cookie crumbles, or even more chocolate chips.
Check out Drummond’s full recipe for her Top Secret Chocolate Cake and never feel daunted by baking a cake again. Shhh — no one has to know it all starts with a boxed mix…
Before you go, check out the gallery below:
Leave a Comment