If You Have A Box Of This Duncan Hines Cake Mix, You Have The Start To This Classic Southern Dessert

Duncan Hines is one of the most popular boxed cake mix brands on the market with as many flavors as competitors like Betty Crocker and Pillsbury. While Duncan Hines' yellow cake won for the best tasting boxed cake mix in a recent Tasting Table ranking, its Butter Golden cake mix is the foundation to a classic Southern dessert known as the Sock-It-To-Me cake.

A decadent cake from the '70s, the Sock-It-To-Me cake recipe was once printed on the Butter Golden cake mix as the company itself recognized that one can upgrade boxed cake mixes with a few simple ingredients. And all you need to transform the cake mix into an entirely different dessert is a bundt pan, oil, sour cream, sugar, eggs, and a cinnamon, brown sugar, and chopped pecan swirl. It might not still be printed on the cake mix box, but this vintage dessert deserves a comeback. 

The sour cream, eggs, and sugar give the batter an unbelievably moist and bouncy crumb that, when combined with the cinnamon swirl, converts a simple yellow cake mix into a coffee cake that you can finish with a simple vanilla glaze. To execute the cake, you'll add the sugar, oil, sour cream, and eggs to the cake mix, stirring to combine. Once the batter is thick and mixed, add half of it to a bundt pan, spoon over the brown sugar, nut, and cinnamon mixture around the center perimeter of the batter, and cover with the remaining batter before baking.

While the Sock-It-To-Me cake appeared in the '70s on Duncan Hines boxes, the catchphrase may pay homage to the famous Aretha Franklin song "Respect" that debuted in the '60s and later appeared on a game show. This cake is certainly delicious enough for you to blurt out its namesake catchphrase to ask for a second slice. And while the original recipe is a delight to the senses, you can always bring even more decadence and flavors to the mix.

For example, you can augment the spice of the brown sugar mix with pumpkin spice mix or simply a mix of ginger, clove, and nutmeg to the cinnamon. If pecans aren't your favorite nuts, replace them with chopped almonds, pistachios, or hazelnuts. If sour cream isn't a household staple, you can replace it with full fat Greek yogurt for the same moisture and tangy taste, but with a boost of protein to boot! 

A glaze of vanilla, powdered sugar, and a splash of milk is the final touch the Sock-It-To-Me cake needs, but you can also get creative with toppings. For example, you can swap glaze for a cinnamon sugar coating by brushing the cake with melted butter to later dust with cinnamon and white sugar. You can also make a heartier, tangier topping by slathering homemade cream cheese frosting over the top of the cake and finishing with more chopped pecans.