Coffee Bundt Cake Using Cake Mix Pudding Mix Wellplated Com

This coffee bundt cake recipe may have deceived me for years, but I’m way too excited about it to keep it hush-hush. Call the tabloids! This cake has a story to tell. On the outside, this cake appears to be straightforward:

A classic bundt with a lovely shape, golden tone, and solid companionship for your cup of coffee (just like Cranberry Coffee Cake and Buttermilk Cake). Topped with the perfect vanilla glaze that hints at subtle sweetness and cues that this cake is a special treat.

However, there’s more than meets the eye to my grandma’s coffee bundt cake.

The first surprise is a gorgeous interior swirl—a hidden ribbon of cinnamon sugar and chopped pecans that infuses the cake with warm flavor. (This Honey Swirled Coffee Cake also has a delightful hidden swirl).The second is the cake’s texture. Unlike dense and filling coffee cakes, my grandma’s bundt cake is like biting into a cloud.AND the scandal. Are you ready for this? This bundt cake isn’t from scratch. Its only ingredients? A box of yellow cake mix, a box of vanilla instant pudding mix, milk, eggs, and vanilla and butter extracts. That’s it.

Yes. My Grandma—who for years made hundreds of holiday rolls, pies (ahem, Grammy’s Lemon Cream Pie), and cookies 100% from scratch—uses a boxed mix and instant pudding to make her heavenly coffee cake. Feeling a little duped? Me too. But this cake mix coffee cake is too delicious to care about honesty.

How to Make Grandma’s Coffee Bundt Cake

How a coffee bundt cake that is this easy—it’s one bowl and is ready to bake in less than 10 minutes—taste this fabulous is a mystery to me, but Grandma clearly knows best.

The Ingredients

Cake Mix. Even my Grandma, a devoted from-scratch baker, knew when to take a shortcut and grab a box of trusty cake mix.Pudding Mix. Grandma’s trick for adding tons of flavor and moisture to this rich and fluffy cake mix coffee cake.Milk + Water. Bring all the dry ingredients together.Eggs. Gives this bundt cake its fluffy lift, while also making it rich and tender.Vanilla Extract. Enhances the flavor of the cake.Butter Extract. My grandma’s secret for giving this coffee bundt cake rich butter flavor without actually using butter.Cinnamon + Sugar. A dynamic duo that gives this cake its hidden core of spiced sweetness. (Also responsible for making Cinnamon Crunch Bagels truly amazing.)Pecans. Add a lovely nutty crunch to this cinnamon-swirled coffee bundt cake.Powdered Sugar. Stirred together with milk, butter extract, and vanilla for a perfectly simple and delicious coffee cake glaze (also delicious on Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls).

The Directions

Storage Tips

To Store. Store leftover coffee bundt cake well-wrapped at room temperature for up to 1 week.To Freeze. Freeze cake mix coffee cake in an airtight freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Go ahead. Add a box of cake and pudding mix to your shopping cart. I won’t tell if you don’t!