How Long Is Betty Crocker Cake Good For

Got an expired cake mix and wondering if it's nonetheless practiced enough to use? Does block mix e'er go bad?

The practiced news is, your mix is nearly likely perfectly fine to utilize.

Even if it has expired a year or ii years ago.

In this article, you will learn everything you need about storage, shelf life, and expiration of cake mixes.

Permit'south dive right in.

Shelf life
Using expired block mix
Signs of spoilage
Storage

How Long Does Cake Mix Last

Block mixes come with a shelf life of about 6 months to a year, merely you can safely utilize them for months (or even years) past the best-past date on the label. Opening the packet, assuming you're going to store the leftovers properly, doesn't shorten that flow.

The all-time-past date on the characterization isn't an expiration date. It'southward an gauge of how long the cake base will retain peak quality.

Here'south how Duncan Hines puts it in their FAQ (DH):

One time this time period has lapsed, we can no longer ensure that the overall experience of the product will be what is needed.

In other words: the mix won't get off, merely the taste and texture of the cake yous broil might not be the best.

At present that you know you can use an expired cake mix, the obvious question pops upward.

How long is cake mix good later on the "expiration" date?

4 to 6 months afterward the best-past or best-earlier date on the label is a pretty condom bet, but your cakes should turn out corking for much longer. All yous need is to add some baking pulverisation or baking soda to make upward for the raising agent that lost its authority.

Let'due south talk most that.

	Pantry
Cake mix (unopened or opened)	All-time-by date + iv – half dozen months

Delight note the period higher up is for best quality.

Cake batter ready for baking — Block concoction prepare for baking

Using Expired Cake Mix

The dry out mix commonly contains a leavening amanuensis like blistering powder or blistering soda. These are responsible for increasing the volume of the dough.

Unfortunately, both baking pulverization and baking soda lose potency over time. And then while a five-year-old mix might be perfectly safe to utilise, the cake will near likely plough out flat.

The prepare?

Yous guessed it – adding more than baking powder or soda back in.

Hither's how:

Check if your mix uses baking powder or baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). In about cases, it'south the former.
Effigy out the base corporeality you need. Find a cake recipe that'south similar in size and texture to what you lot are want to bake with your mix, and uses the same raising agent. And then check how much of the raising amanuensis the recipe calls for. Popular DIY cake mixes like this 1 and that one employ nigh ane tablespoon (iii teaspoons) of blistering powder per 4 cups of the mix. You can become with that proportion as well.
Add the baking soda or powder to your dry mix. If your mix is 6+ months subsequently its date, use 1-fourth of the amount. If it's more than a yr, use half. Two years or more? Employ 3-fourths or even the whole amount (if it's "expired" for similar three years). The older the mix, the more of the raising agent we add together.

I cannot guarantee this trick volition work exactly as you lot would similar information technology to because every cake mix is slightly different. Merely going with it should help a fair flake.

Warning

If your cake mix is more than than iv – 5 months past its date, don't use it for a blistering project that must plough out perfectly, due east.one thousand., a birthday cake or a rhubarb cake you brand only once or twice a yr. Instead, apply information technology in a recipe you wanted to test out during the weekend, so if things get s, it'south not a big deal.

How To Tell If Cake Mix Is Bad?

Block mix doesn't spoil the manner dairy does. It oftentimes can sit down in the cabinet for months or even years on end without changing much.

Nevertheless, here's what to look for to tell if your cake mix has gone bad:

Mold or other changes in advent. If moisture got within the packet, in that location would exist mold. If that's the case, discard the whole thing. Same thing if there are other visible changes.
Pantry pests. If yous find any holes in the package or dead insects in the mix, throw information technology out. Then inspect nearby foods and get rid of these pests before they infest the whole closet.
Off or sour smell. Either is a good indicator that you should discard the mix.
The cake smells or tastes "funny." If the thing you baked smells bad or tastes off, go rid of information technology.

If the dry out mix looks and smells perfectly fine, chances are information technology's safe to apply.

Now, if the mix is quondam, the worse that can realistically happen is a agglomeration of cupcakes (here'south how long are cupcakes expert for) or muffins that are flat (if you didn't add the raising agent) or taste not equally good equally they used to. That's why I already said that it's best to use old block mix merely when the stakes are low and discarding the baked cake won't exist a huge effect.

How To Store Block Mix

Cake mix (or cake base, as some bakeries phone call it) doesn't crave much in terms of storage. All it needs is a cool and dry place (DH).

And by cool I mean that room temperature is skillful enough, equally long every bit it doesn't sit nigh any sources of heat. Information technology's the same every bit with storing sprinkles (do sprinkles expire?).

The same guidelines apply to other made-for-y'all mixes, like muffin mix, pancake mix, or brownie mix.

Related: Does Pancake Mix Get Bad?

In short, a cabinet in the pantry or kitchen is perfectly fine.

One time you open the package, store the leftovers well sealed. Protecting the dry mix from moisture will prevent mold growth, and consequence in it staying okay to use as long every bit possible.