How To Make Boxed Cake Mix 10x Better, According to Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis has portrayed a wide range of contradicting roles in her prolific career: the original scream queen in Halloween, cool-mom Tess Coleman in Freaky Friday, and who can forget about the hot-dog-fingered IRS inspector in Everything Everywhere All At Once. Lately she has been making the awards-circuit rounds for her performance alongside Pamela Anderson in the movie, The Last Showgirl. 

But just when you think you know Curtis and all that she is capable of as an actress, she manages to show off her huge range through something new and totally unexpected. In fact, we recently learned Curtis is a great home cook and baker who loves to doctor up easy shortcuts like boxed cake mix.

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As boxed-cake mix fans ourselves, we've seen and tested different hacks from just about everyone and their mother, but apparently not Jamie Lee Curtis, until now! When Curtis makes her favorite boxed cake recipe, she never forgets one ingredient: lemon gelatin. 

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Why You Should Make Boxed Cake Mix with Jell-O

In a 2024 Today Show segment, Curtis shared how to make her favorite lemon cake. Her infatuation with the dessert all started when she was reading through the 1999 cookbook, The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn and found the recipe for Susan's Lemon Cake. The shortcut cake recipe elevates a standard box of yellow cake mix into a bright Bundt cake shining with lemon flavor, which comes from lemon Jell-O.

Related: The Asian Way to Make Boxed Cake Mix 10x Better

Anne Byrn's cookbook isn't the only one where cakes made with Jell-O can be found, either. "The first mention of a similar recipe was in a 1962 Jell-O cookbook titled The Joys of Jell-O. The book features a recipe for “Pastel Pound Cake,” in which white or yellow cake mix is combined with any flavor of Jell-O gelatin powder, ¾ cup water, ½ cup “salad oil,” and 4 eggs," writes Annabelle Doliner in a report for Food52.

Now, there are two types of Jell-O we refer to when we talk about Jell-O: the pudding kind and the other kind that's made from pure gelatin. To make lemon cake like Jamie Lee Curtis, you'll want to grab gelatin. Next to imparting a wonderful classic lemon flavor, the gelatin, according to Curtis, "makes it rich and moist and yummy."

Related: The British Way to Make a Boxed Cake Mix 10x Better

How to Make Jamie Lee Curtis' Lemon Boxed Cake Mix with Jell-O

To quote TODAY show host Savanah Guthrie's reaction to Jamie Lee Curtis's walk-through of the cake process, it's "outrageously easy."

Combine a box of yellow cake mix with one package of lemon Jell-O gelatin, then add vegetable oil and warm water. For an extra hit of citrus, Curtis takes a creative liberty and adds fresh lemon zest into the cake batter. Crack in four eggs (this helps make the cake denser, richer and ultra-moist). Pour the batter into a greased Bundt pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Make a glaze with powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Once the cake has fully cooled, pour the glaze over the top. So easy and delicious, you'll be screaming about it.

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