For The Fluffiest Boxed Cake, Add This Starchy Ingredient

Boxed cake mixes don't have to be boring; that's an already well-established fact. Nuts, fruit, chocolate, and many other ingredients can be mixed into the batter to upgrade the flavor — and that's just the beginning of ingredient swaps that will make any boxed cake mix taste better. You can choose your favorite ways to create the perfect texture, balance of flavors, and aesthetic, but there is one ingredient you shouldn't skip if you want a cake that is moist and tender. For a cake made from a box that turns out fluffy and moist, add a little bit of Instant ClearJel.

Having Instant ClearJel on hand is one of the tips that will have you baking like a pro in no time. It's a powdered product that could be compared to extra-strength cornstarch, a modified food starch made from corn that helps maintain smooth texture in all sorts of baking and cooking projects. It's your secret weapon for thickening home-canned pie filling and for creating a smooth, perfect gravy every time. Not only does it improve consistency, it extends shelf life, and it might just be the key to creating the fluffiest cake you've ever made.

Instant ClearJel thickens pretty much anything faster than cornstarch, and though it can withstand heat, it doesn't require heat to work. It begins thickening as soon as it touches liquids, so mix it in with the dry ingredients of your boxed cake mix before adding in the liquids like water, oil, or eggs. The amount of Instant ClearJel you use in a recipe depends on the amount of flour you use — a general rule is to add 1 tablespoon of ClearJel as well as 1 ½ tablespoons of water for every 1 cup of flour.

Instant ClearJel locks more moisture into the cake batter as it bakes to create a fluffy and springy texture, but there are ways the thickener can go wrong. If you add too much, you'll get a cake that's dry and crumbly because it pulls all the moisture from the rest of the ingredients. If your wet ingredients are too warm, you could run into problems as well because it will speed up the thickening process and lead to an off-texture. Oh, and double check to make sure you got the "Instant" version of ClearJel before you start baking — there's a version that requires heat to work that's known as a "cook-type" that doesn't work quite the same with a boxed cake mix.