Air Fryer Box Cake. Chocolate and vanilla box cakes put to the test in the air fryer. Find out how to bake a cake in the air fryer using a box cake mix. Along with how to make your box cake taste better.
Air Fryer Box Cake
I am not a box cake kind of person. I love to bake and find baking so relaxing. I never buy shop bought pastry or shop bought bread and always make my own.
I also love baking with the kids and teaching them new baking recipes. We love to make air fryer pie crust, air fryer cookies, air fryer blueberry tarts and so many other baking recipes.
So when one of my readers asked me to test air fryer box cakes for her, I was intrigued by how they would turn out, especially in the air fryer when it is much harder to bake a cake compared to the oven.
I bought lots of boxes of Green’s Vanilla Cake Mix as well as Betty Crocker’s Devils Food Cake Mix.
After getting over the ridiculous price for them and the fact that Betty Crocker expects you to pay extra for the fudge sauce, I was ready to give it a go.
Can I Make A Cake In An Air Fryer?
But first, I am sure you want to know if you can make a cake in an air fryer? Yes you can and if you get the cake cook time and temperature right, then your air fryer cake will be spot on.
But an air fryer cooks from a different angle compared to an oven, therefore note that you will need to cook your cake at a lower temperature.
Air Fryer Cake Pan
To achieve an air fryer cake, you will need to purchase an air fryer cake pan. There are many different ones to choose from.
But the most important thing to consider is that the cake pan you use will fit in the air fryer.
Or even better, go with a spring form pan as then it is easier to release your cake from the cake pan after cooking.
Air Fryer Box Cake Mix
I did what most people did with a box cake mix. I followed the instructions to the letter and then felt depressed when my box cake tasted so disgusting that I wanted to throw it in the bin.
It was crumbly, it was dry and only edible with loads of custard poured over it. Though Sofia is always sold on strawberry custard. After all, these little ones always eat with their eyes!
That was of course, attempt 1 with both a vanilla version and a chocolate one. I was determined to do a better job next time.
Air Fryer Box Cake Round #2
I bought the ingredients again for an air fryer box cake recipe. This time I was going to use my baking knowledge to transform a box cake and make some box cake improvements.
As well as the box cake I also added in:
- Eggs – Many box cakes call for two eggs, I added three.
- Butter – The box cakes call for a small amount of butter, I added extra.
- Coconut Milk – To make the box cake creamy, I added in some coconut milk. It gave it a wonderful creamy texture and some from the can will work great.
This is EXACTLY what I added for vanilla cake in the air fryer. Then I adjusted it for chocolate cake.
With the chocolate box cake, I used extra virgin olive oil and milk instead of butter and coconut milk.
I found that the air fryer box cake mixes were much better when you added in ingredients to make them taste better. But neither will ever be as good as a homemade cake.
How To Bake A Cake In Air Fryer?
The quick version of baking a cake in air fryer goes as follows:
- Load box cake mix into a mixing bowl.
- Add in extra ingredients.
- Mix with a hand mixer.
- Air fry + eat!
There is a little more to it than that, but those are the simple basics!
Listen To Air Fryer Box Cake
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Air Fryer Cake Baking Times
I have experimented with a few different air fryer cake baking times and have found what works is 20 minutes.
It also needs a lower temperature because of the way the air circulates in the air fryer compared to the oven.
It then stops your cake from being overcooked in some places and raw in others.
Then for chocolate cake I found it was the same cook time as vanilla cake but required a mix in air fryer temperatures.
Air Fryer Box Cake
Ingredients
Kitchen Gadgets:
Air Fryer Box Cake Ingredients:
- 1 Box Cake Mix vanilla or chocolate
Chocolate Box Cake Mix:
- 100 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 250 ml Skimmed Milk
- 3 Large Eggs
Vanilla Box Cake Mix:
- 3 Large Eggs
- 75 g Butter
- 100 ml Coconut Milk
Instructions
- Add your box cake mix into a bowl and load in your other ingredients.
- Using a hand mixer, thoroughly mix your ingredients until you have a cake batter. Watch for kids stealing the batter!
- Load your cake batter into a floured cake pan.
- Air fry for 20 minutes at 150c/300f. Or if making chocolate cake adjust and cook for the last 5 minutes at 160c/320f.
- Allow to cool and serve. Add icing to the top if that’s your thing.
Notes
Nutrition
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Hi. I’ve tried several times to cook a boxed cake in the fryer and it’s always soup in the middle. I follow instructions but no luck. Any ideas?
Hi Sherry,
Sorry for the late reply. To get the inside to cook we usually turn the heat down to around 150c/300f and cook for up to 10 minutes. Depends on the air fryer used and how thick is the baking pan used 🙂
Hi. So I’ve just made the devil’s food cake and followed your instructions to the t. Unfortunately I had to put it in twice so far for an additional 5 minutes each time on 160c. I’m not sure if it will be done after this 2nd time Or whether it will need to cook longer. But this is the result. Sides are done all the way around. In fact the cake has come away from the pan, indicating that it’s done. However the centre is still runny, not cooked at all. I have a cosori air fryer, the biggest one.
Hi Saadiya,
Thank you for your comment. It looks like it could be a difference of air fryer, as you can see in the pictures ours was cooked after the times stated. We will be trying out the Cosori air fryer in a few weeks and be posting the differences in a new blog post. Just try and cook on a lower heat for longer then the inside will cook and not just the outsides 🙂
The SAME thing just happened to me. Not sure what I need to do, maybe lower temp and cook way longer as the top was getting black. Total disaster. I baked at 320 for 28 minutes. Any advise would be appreciated.
Just tried this for the 1st time. At the 20 minute mark, it wasnt even close to done. Had to add at least another 15 minutes tot he time, plus after the initial 20 minutes, I needed to cover it with foil to prevent the top from burning during the added cooking time. Not sure where I went wrong as I fallowed the vanilla directions exactly. Will try again…maybe. Or I may just stick with my insta pot cakes.
Hi Kathy
The type of Air fryer you are using can be a contributing factor to cakes going wrong. We are using a Philips Air Fryer XL you can do a quick search on a Philips site. It can feed up to 4 people so the basket and heating element are bigger than a standard air fryer, if you have the same air fryer then have you made it in the oven before you got your air fryer and did the cooking times differ that much from what the box said?
If after 20 minutes if it was raw in the middle had the cake risen? If it had then turn the heat down to 160/320f, and it should cook better on a lower heat 🙂
I have an Iconites 10 in 1 air fryer convection oven. Can I bake 2 round cakes at the same time?
Hi Melissa,
Depending on the size of the air fryer oven you are using you could cook 2 at the same time. Just make sure you swap them over half way so that they both end up cooked 🙂
Just made this as a surprise for the kids when they come home from school tonight. Can’t believe how moist the cake is.
My cake mix came out perfect thank you. 5/5.
Love your box cake tips. I am at the phase of your first attempt and wondered what i was doing wrong. Didn’t know that I should be adding in other things to the cake mix.