The Top Boxed Chocolate Cake Mix: Results from Our Taste Test

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

We love the convenience of boxed cake mix, but at times, it seems like nothing can beat a homemade treat. Store-bought desserts lack the taste and quality of a made-from-scratch cake … or so we thought. Duncan Hines’ Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix completely raised our expectations of what we’ve come to anticipate from a store-bought mix. Ready-made mixes have a reputation for being artificial tasting, overly sweet, coarse, and generally of poor quality. 

While we’ve definitely been disappointed with a number of them in the past, the Dark Chocolate Fudge flavor from Duncan Hines doesn’t fall into such a category, taking the top spot in our ranking of boxed chocolate cake mixes. The texture of the cake stands out the most, with its silky feel deserving of the “fudge” in its name. The cake is rich and moist, without being overly dense. It rises pretty well, and has a great crust that contrasts the fluffy crumb.

Best of all, the flavor is pretty incredible for a boxed cake mix that’s less than $2. It has that classic dark chocolate depth and it isn’t too sweet, so you can dress it up with whatever frosting, ganache, or sprinkles you please without the treat coming off as overly saccharine. The product has a 4.7 star rating out of 5 on Amazon, with customers praising the taste of the cake, as well as its versatility.

With its fudgy feel and rich taste, there are an abundance of things you can do with Duncan Hines’ Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix. It’s great when used as intended, but there are plenty of creative ways to use boxed cake mix that will capitalize on its deliciousness. Turning the mix into brownies works well with this particular mix, since it forms a crisp crust when baked and has an incredibly moist finish. Add in some more oil and eggs to mimic brownies’ thickness, along with some chocolate chips. The mix can also give homemade cinnamon rolls a richer finish. 

With some extra flour and added yeast, the cake mix provides the breakfast staple with a fluffy, chocolatey taste. Since the dark chocolate mix isn’t too sweet, it complements the fiery cinnamon and sugary glaze well. Some sweet cream cheese or spiced bourbon icing also adds a delicious depth to elevate the dark chocolate cinnamon rolls. Dark chocolate cake mix makes a decadent crust for classic pecan pie, too. Some extra egg yolks and butter turns the batter into a dough that easily stretches out to fit your pie dish. The deep, cocoa-flavored crust is a delicious way to amp up the buttery, slightly sweet taste of toasted pecans without much effort.