At my local Walmart there is an entire display setup for fall themed box mixes and baking items you may need to get you through the season. While looking through it I found a couple familiar items from last year but a surprising amount of new items. This mix for Caramel Sheet cake from Dolly Parton’s line at Duncan Hines caught my eye. The packaging has fall colors and leaves and it was in the fall section but nothing about caramel sheet cake screams fall, it is a more subtle dessert that could certainly be enjoyed year round. However I need a break from the pumpkins and apples right now and know this will be the perfect mix to try out.
To start off, this box mix includes the cake mix and a caramel topping mix which is unlike most box mix cakes that only include the cake. To make the cake, you need eggs, melted butter, and milk. Combine the ingredients with the dry mix included and you have yourself a cake batter. I was suprised to find the cake batter was caramel flavored, I had expected vanilla cake with a caramel topping so that was a nice suprise. I poured the batter into a 9×13 pan as it recommended and once spread out it was very thin, I feel like a smaller pan would have been better.
The box says to bake this mix for 20-25 minutes but seeing how shallow the batter was in the pan and knowing box mix companies always lie, I put it in for 15 minutes and found it perfectly cooked. 5 more minutes and this cake would have been dry and sad. It did rise up more than I expected and was golden around the edges. Now while that cools, we will move onto the caramel topping. Inside the box there is also a packet of caramel, and it tastes 100% like straight caramel so I’m not sure why we have to add anything to it but regardless I followed the instructions. You combine the caramel with melted butter and then as an option you can also add powdered sugar if you want. I tasted it with just the butter added and it was good but not super sweet so I opted to add in the powdered sugar as well. It may have thickened a bit but not much.
I will say that this was not very much caramel topping for a 9×13 sixed cake. Once I poured it over the cake I was disappointed. I spread it as thin as I could over the cake without ripping up the cake itself and still couldn’t cover the entire thing. This is disappointing and leaves you with an ugly cake that I wouldn’t present to anyone outside my household. I wish they would have included more caramel or called for more of each ingredient added to make more of the topping.
As I tried to cut myself a slice, from the middle so I actually got some caramel topping, I found the topping was too sticky that every time I stuck my knife and spatula into the cake it came up with the caramel sauce ripped off the top of the cake and no matter how long I let this sit it never solidified or stopped doing this. Visually, this is not a cake you would want to gift to someone. Taste wise, it was really really good and I would want to share it. The caramel of the cake and the topping paired together well. The cake was standard box mix consistency and while it was thin, the caramel topping felt like enough and I don’t feel any extra frosting would be needed. I’m torn with this mix, it tasted really good but one of the big selling points in my opinion is the caramel topping and you don’t get nearly enough of it. For $3.48 I don’t dislike this box mix but I’m not sure if I would buy it again.
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