Food and Recipes Desserts Cakes 3 Classic Cakes That Start With a Box of Cake Mix By Micah A Leal Micah A Leal Micah Leal is a chef and recipe developer with more than 5 years of professional experience in restaurants and bakeries such as Husk Restaurant and Harken Cafe & Bakery in Charleston, South Carolina. Micah Leal is an enthusiastic chef with a special interest in the food science and culinary histories that shape the recipes people make today. His reputation for making recipes accessible and thoughtfully teaching difficult kitchen techniques is informed by his experience as a pastry chef as well as his background as a high school teacher. He has also developed nearly 200 recipes for southernliving.com and Southern Living Magazine. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Published on October 21, 2018 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Southern Living Whether it's an elegant tiered wedding cake or grandma's beloved fruitcake, we've been trained to expect cake in one of its various forms when we gather for something important. Sometimes making cake from scratch isn't feasible in the midst of everything else going on in life, so here are 3 cakes we love that can easily be made with our recommended boxes of cake mix. 01 of 03 1957: German Chocolate Cake Southern Living Rather than making a cake with several layers, German Chocolate Cake is just as good baked in a sheet pan and covered in a single coat of its classic coconut-pecan frosting. Slice the cake into easy-to-grab squares or rectangles. To take this cake to a deeper level of indulgent, beat together 1 (8-oz.) package of cream cheese with 8 tablespoons of softened butter and 1 (16-oz.) box of confectioners sugar. Spoon this frosting in dollops across the top of the cake batter just before baking. This will bake into the cake and create gooey pockets of cream cheese frosting. Brand Recommendation: Duncan Hines Decadent German Chocolate Cake Mix 02 of 03 Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Hector Sanchez Few cakes are more emblematic of Southern gatherings than a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. The pineapple and bright maraschino cherries bake beneath the cake in a mixture of butter and brown sugar before being inverted onto a serving platter and forming a gorgeous, juicy covering to a classic yellow cake. We like sticking with tradition on this one, so we recommend using a standard yellow cake mix. Brand Recommendation: Betty Crocker Super Moist Favorites Yellow Cake Mix 03 of 03 Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake Jennifer Davick Coffee cake is a luxury when it's actually served with coffee. So be sure to brew a pot of to accompany this Cinnamon Swirl Crumb Cake. The streusel is included in the box of cake mix, and it's sprinkled both in the middle and on top of the cake batter to create two crunchy cinnamon layers in the cake. For bigger gatherings, consider making this cake in paper muffin cups for an easy and portable portion. Brand Recommendation: Krusteaz Cinnamon Swirl Crumb Cake & Muffin Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit