You have no idea. I have been SEARCHING for a boxed cake mix that is palm oil free, FOREVER. You’re probably already aware of my obsession with cutting out palm oil from my diet (and attempting to get others to as well). I’ve cut out palm oil for 2+ years for environmental reasons. Don’t make me go into detail here – if you’re unaware of why harvesting palm oil is detrimental to the environment, animals, and ecosystem, check out Before The Flood by National Geographic & Leonardo DiCaprio (2016). Now back to glorious boxed cake mix. If you grew up in the US, then you’ve 100% eaten a cake from a box in your lifetime. And you most definitely loved it. I haven’t met a soul that’s like “oh, yuck! I hate boxed cake!,” because you can’t! It generally comes out super moist, sweet, and is super easy to make. It is also a staple in many recipes – like our classic Rum Cake that my Maa has been making for years. So when I was limited to not eating cake from a box mix due to palm oil, I was frustrated! It’s not like I craved it everyday – I was more annoyed at the fact that a DRY cake mix HAS palm oil – like what in the actual F?!

So the other night I had a craving for some cake, but didn’t want to go through the whole process of making it from scratch – cause if you know ANYTHING about me by now, I am anything but simple, so it would’ve been some decadent flavor-building deliciousness – which meant time.

But I just didn’t have the energy! So I went to my local grocery store and scoured the shelves in the baking aisle reading ingredients on every box – yes, people probably think I’m generally nuts when I go to the grocery store, but I don’t care! Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker all had palm oil, so my next choice was Pillsbury and BOOM NO palm oil, canola oil, but no palm! I immediately picked up a box and had an idea – why can’t I use boxed cake mix to make a dairy, egg, and palm oil-free cake?! And thus this delicious Whipped Lemon Frosted Boxed Cake was born! I am SO happy with the way this came out, so I hope you get a chance to make it for yourself and indulge!

Cake:

• 1 Pillsbury Moist Supreme Yellow Cake Mix – this brand is KEY as it’s the only one without Palm Oil
• 9 tbsp JUST Egg
• 5.3oz (1 single container) of unsweetened plain coconut yogurt – I used So Delicious
• 1/2 cup coconut oil – I used Viva Naturals
• 1 cup water

Whipped Lemon Frosting:

• 8oz Vegan Butter at room temp – I used Miyoko’s
• 1/2 cup plain vegan cream cheese at room temp – I used Tofutti
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar – sifted
• fresh lemon zest from 2 whole medium lemons
• Natural Yellow Dye (optional) – I used Supernatural Yellow

Decorations:

• Fresh lemon slices
• Fresh blood orange slices (optional
• Sprinkles – Supernatural is palm oil free

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees. Spray and flour 2 8 or 9 inch pans. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the JUST eggs and yogurt until smooth. In a large bowl, add in cake mix, coconut oil, and water. Pour in egg mixture and whisk by hand for 2-3 minutes until smooth and all the lumps are out. Pour evenly into prepared pans and bake for about 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean and jiggling stops.

3. While cakes are baking, make the frosting. Using a stand mixer (or hand mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer), add room temp butter and cream cheese to the bowl. Begin whipping. Increase speed to medium high as it begins incorporating more and continue whipping until super fluffy. Pause and scrape down bowl in increments to make sure texture is consistent throughout. You want this to be as smooth and whipped as possible. Then reduce speed to low and slowly add in powdered sugar. I add about 1/4-1/2 cup at a time and incorporate on low and increase to whip in. I used about 3 1/2 cups – I like my frosting a medium thickness – not thin and not stiff thick.

So depending on how you like your frosting, add more or less sugar. Just remember it should be spreadable. Before you whip in your last scoop of sugar, add in your lemon zest. Whip until all incorporated. Remove a heaping 1/2 cup or so and reserve on the side in a bowl. This will be dyed yellow. The rest will remain white.

4. Once the cake is completely cool it’s time to get frostin’. Take one cake out of the pan carefully, and place upside down on a platter or cake stand – the flat side should be up. Before doing this, trim if it’s super uneven/round on top. Mine were not. Plop on about a heaping half a cup and spread evenly on this layer.

Place the second layer on tup carefully. Frost the entire cake – top and sides – with a bit heavier layer of frosting on top until you’ve used all the frosting. Place in the fridge.

5. Meanwhile, mix 1/2 a tsp of the supernatural yellow dye with about 1/4 tsp water and mix until smooth. Add it to the reserved frosting and stir until you achieve a pastel yellow color. Bring the cake out of the fridge, and add this frosting just to the top and spread evenly. Decorate with lemon, blood orange slices, and sprinkles on the side.

6. Serve up and eat!!!