In an ideal world we’d all have the time, the patience and the resources to make every cake from scratch, but we all know that sometimes, we just have to go the boxed route. That doesn’t mean our cakes have to be subpar! Rachael Ray is here with ways to hack your boxed cake mix to make cakes just as delicious as anything from a bakery or from scratch. Watch the video for her tips, then read on for even more!

Did you catch all of those tips? To recap:

• For chocolate cake, if the box calls for water, use hot water. It’ll wake up the flavor and make it more chocolatey.
• Add two extra egg yolks – no matter how many eggs are required – for extra moisture and density.
• Does the recipe call for vegetable oil? Ignore that instruction and use melted butter instead! Your cake will be richer and more flavorful.
• You know how if you make a multilayer cake, you have to slice off the top of one or more of the layers? Prevent wasted cake by sprinkling sugar over the top to prevent the cake from rising too much.

For even more boxed cake hacks, watch the video and head over to Rachael Ray’s site for even more, including ones especially for white cakes, chocolate cakes and all cakes! Do you have any of your own to add? When do you use boxed cake mix and when do you bake from scratch?