Cake Enhancer substitute

Best substitute

Leave it out entirely

Omit, and change nothing else

Best for cakes eaten within a day or two

Different texture

The honest first answer, because cake enhancer is an optional improver rather than a functional ingredient. It does not leaven, sweeten, bind or add flavor, so removing it does not break the recipe. What you will notice is a crumb that is very slightly less tender on day one and distinctly drier by day three, plus a cake that is a little more crumbly when you slice it thin.

Other cake enhancer substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Instant pudding mix
Different taste
Use 1 tbsp for every standard two-layer cake, or 3 tbsp for the classic doctored-box-mix approach
The closest thing on a supermarket shelf, because instant pudding mix is mostly modified starch plus emulsifiers, which is broadly what a cake enhancer is.
What changes
It genuinely produces a softer, moister crumb that keeps well. It also brings sugar, a little salt and vanilla flavoring, so use the vanilla kind in a vanilla or lemon cake and cut a tablespoon of sugar from the recipe if you are using the larger amount.
Best for
layer cakes, boxed mix upgrades, bundt cakes that need to keep a few days
Use instant, not cook-and-serve. Whisk it in with the flour rather than adding it to the wet ingredients, or it clumps.
3Dry milk powder plus a little oil
Close match
Use 1 tbsp dry milk powder plus 1 tsp neutral oil for every cup of flour
A tidy homemade approximation.
What changes
The milk solids hold water in the crumb and bring a small amount of natural emulsifier, and the extra fat coats flour proteins so the cake stays tender. The result is a soft, slightly richer cake with a marginally deeper golden crust, and it does not flavor the cake in any way you would notice.
Best for
butter cakes and sponges, cakes you want to bake the day before, recipes with a fairly lean batter
Whisk the milk powder into the dry ingredients to avoid lumps. If your recipe is already very buttery, skip the oil and use just the milk powder.
4Swap part of the liquid for full-fat yogurt or buttermilk
Different taste
Replace up to half the milk or water, measure for measure
This is the technique that most reliably produces the soft, damp, long-keeping crumb people buy cake enhancer for, and it does it with real ingredients.
What changes
The fat and the acid both tenderise, and the extra body holds moisture. Expect a faint tang, a slightly denser and more velvety crumb, and a bit more rise if your recipe contains baking soda, because the acid activates it.
Best for
chocolate and coffee cakes, lemon and vanilla loaves, cakes that need to survive two or three days
If the original recipe used only baking powder and you are adding a fair amount of acid, swap about a quarter of the baking powder for baking soda to keep the rise balanced. Avoid fat-free yogurt, which adds water without the tenderising fat.
5Vegetable glycerin
Close match
Use 1 to 2 tsp for every standard cake, added with the wet ingredients
Glycerin is a humectant, meaning it physically holds onto water, which is one of the two things a cake enhancer does.
What changes
A teaspoon or two makes a real difference to how moist a cake feels on day three without changing the flavor, color or rise at all. What it does not do is emulsify, so it will not give you the finer, more uniform crumb the powdered blends produce.
Best for
cakes made ahead for decorating, fruit cakes and loaves, cakes that will sit under fondant
Do not be generous with it. Glycerin is measured in teaspoons for a reason, since larger amounts taste cloying and have a laxative effect.
6An extra egg yolk, or a tablespoon of mayonnaise
Close match
Use 1 extra yolk, or 1 tbsp mayonnaise, for every standard two-layer cake
Egg yolk contains lecithin, a genuine emulsifier, so this is the oldest version of the trick that cake enhancer packages up.
What changes
An extra yolk gives a richer, more tender, slightly yellower crumb that keeps better. Mayonnaise does the same job because it is oil, yolk and a little acid already emulsified, and the finished cake does not taste of mayonnaise.
Best for
yellow and vanilla cakes, chocolate cakes, cakes where a richer crumb is welcome
One extra yolk is the limit for a standard cake. More than that and the crumb turns eggy and custard-like rather than light.

What is Cake Enhancer?

Cake Enhancer is a powdered blend of emulsifiers with a little starch and often milk solids, sold as cake enhancer or cake improver, that you stir into cake batter to hold water in the crumb, so the cake bakes softer and more even and stays moist several days longer than it otherwise would.

Cooking tips

Know what you are replacing before you replace it. Cake enhancer does two things: it emulsifies, which gives a finer and more even crumb, and it holds water, which slows staling. It contributes nothing to rise, sweetness or flavor, so no amount of extra baking powder stands in for it.
Most brands specify 1 to 2 teaspoons per cup of flour, a very small proportion of the batter. If a recipe calls for a great deal more than that, it is probably a commercial formula scaled for a bakery, and the whole recipe needs adapting rather than just this line.
Any powdered stand-in, whether pudding mix or milk powder, must go in with the dry ingredients and be whisked through. Added to the wet mix it forms stubborn lumps that bake into pale streaks.
The biggest cause of a dry cake is not the absence of an improver, it is overbaking and overmixing. Pull the cake when a skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs rather than bone dry, and stop mixing the moment the flour disappears.
If the reason you want cake enhancer is that the cake has to be baked days ahead for decorating, freezing beats any additive. A cooled cake double-wrapped and frozen, then thawed still wrapped, comes out tasting freshly baked.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave cake enhancer out?

Yes. It is an improver, not a structural ingredient, so omitting it will not make a cake fail. Bake the recipe exactly as written otherwise. The only difference you will notice is that the cake is slightly less soft on the first day and noticeably drier by the third.

What is actually in cake enhancer?

Broadly, emulsifiers such as mono- and diglycerides or lecithin, carried on a starch or milk-solids base, sometimes with a little enzyme or acid. The emulsifiers help fat and water stay mixed in the batter, which gives a finer and more even crumb, and the blend as a whole helps the baked cake hold onto its water for longer. Formulas vary by brand, so read your own packet.

Is cake enhancer the same as a dough improver or bread improver?

No, although they are cousins. Bread improvers are built around gluten development and yeast activity, often with ascorbic acid and enzymes, which is the opposite of what you want in a cake where gluten development means toughness. Do not swap one for the other.

Will instant pudding mix change how my cake tastes?

A little, yes. It adds sugar, a small amount of salt and a vanilla flavoring, which is unnoticeable in a vanilla or chocolate cake and slightly out of place in something delicate like an olive oil or almond cake. If you are using 3 tablespoons or more, cut a tablespoon of sugar from the recipe to compensate.

Does cake enhancer make a cake rise higher?

Not really. Any extra height comes indirectly, from a better-emulsified batter holding its air bubbles more evenly, not from any leavening action. If your cakes come out flat, look at the freshness of your baking powder, your oven temperature and how thoroughly you creamed the butter and sugar.

Related substitutes

More baking substitutes

Cake Enhancer substitute

Other cake enhancer substitutes

2Instant pudding mix

3Dry milk powder plus a little oil

4Swap part of the liquid for full-fat yogurt or buttermilk

5Vegetable glycerin

6An extra egg yolk, or a tablespoon of mayonnaise