Not Pillsbury Or Duncan Hines: The Boxed-Cake Mix That Ranks Highest At Walmart

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There's no doubt boxed cake mixes are tasty, but their virtues go far beyond that. They not only provide a shortcut method for whipping up cakes but also form the basis for so many quick and delicious recipes. For instance, you can churn out a full, fruity dessert with just a boxed cake mix, butter, and one canned ingredient. You can even turn boxed cake mix into easy fudge — no candy thermometer needed!

Whatever use you have in mind for the handy baking blend, you may be at a loss regarding which boxed mix to stock your pantry with. Global grocery chain Walmart has an answer, though, and it isn't Pillsbury or Duncan Hines. The most highly rated boxed cake mix sold by Walmart comes from that fictional First Lady of Food, Betty Crocker.

Out of more than 6,000 online customer reviews, Betty Crocker Favorites Super Moist Yellow Cake Mix has maintained a near-perfect 4.8-star rating, blowing away every other cake mix listed on Walmart's website (including other Betty Crocker flavors). Admirers of the product praise its moisture, lightness, flavor, and versatility in recipes. "This is one of the best boxed yellow cake mixes I've tried. It's genuinely good just as it comes out of the box, moist, flavorful, and reliable every time," one online reviewer, Tonya, praised, adding that a few tweaks deviating from the box instructions (doubling the number of eggs called for, for instance, substituting oil for the butter, and using milk instead of water) upgrade the results to homemade quality. "Whether you follow the box directions or dress it up a bit, this is a solid, dependable cake mix and one I keep on hand regularly," they added.

While the general consensus is that Betty Crocker Favorites Super Moist Yellow Cake Mix is a winner all on its own, there are various tweaks and extra ingredients that can take any boxed cake to the next level, including this one. For example, one reviewer wrote that they add lime soda into the mix to yield a refreshing citrus cake, adding that any type of drink packet could be incorporated to turn up the flavor. Another baker substitutes pineapple juice for the liquid.

Other commenters ratified the suggestion to increase the egg inclusion, sub milk for the prescribed water, and swap in butter for the oil, with one customer specifying that softened butter should be used. Another cautioned against overbaking, advising that the box instructions are geared around specific appliances, and one should start testing the cake for doneness five or 10 minutes before the timer runs out.

In terms of creative dessert twists that veer outside the standard preparation, some consumers report mixing pie filling into the cake batter to delicious effect. One customer lauded the product's versatility as a base for many different treats, mentioning that mixing fresh fruit directly into the batter is a good way to go. Others have transformed this mix into banana bread or muffins, while another didn't mix up a batter at all but, rather, combined the powdered mix with melted butter to serve as a cobbler topping.