At the RTA Store, our customers know all the tricks to get that custom home look on a budget — whether it’s taking advantage of our free kitchen design service or installing our DIY kitchen cabinets that come ready to assemble. If you’re like us and love a good do-it-yourself transformation, why stop there? Now that you have the kitchen of your dreams, it’s time for dessert! Here, we’ll offer tips and tricks to transform store-bought sweets into simply scrumptious homemade (and semi-homemade) treats!

Think Outside The Box

If you don’t have the time to invest in whipping up a cake from scratch, boxed cake mix is the next best thing. Forget sifting flour and measuring cups of sugar —the dry ingredient steps are already done for you. All you need to do is add water, oil, and eggs. Mix it up; pop it in the oven, and voilà — freshly baked cake! But while it’s undoubtedly tasty, it’s never quite as rich and dense as the real deal. If you want to bake a boxed cake that tastes more like homemade, follow these simple swaps:

• For a richer taste, add two extra egg yolks and use melted butter instead of vegetable oil.

• For a chocolate cake, always use hot water to deepen the cocoa flavor, or use dark roast brewed coffee instead of water.

• For a vanilla cake, pump up the flavor with a half-teaspoon of vanilla extract, and use whole milk instead of water for a denser texture.

Make A Good Thing Even Better

If you don’t have time to bake, period — never fear! When guests are coming to see your beautiful DIY kitchen cabinets and you need a quick dessert that’s equally impressive, go the semi-homemade route. Start with a store-bought sweet and make a good thing even better. All you need is a dash of creativity and a sprinkling of do-it-yourself ingenuity. Here are some suggestions:

• Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to store-bought brownies. Top with salted caramel sauce and sliced almonds, or fresh raspberries and shaved dark chocolate.

• Slice a store-bought pound cake into two halves, length-wise. In a small bowl, fold diced fresh strawberries into whipped topping and dollop onto the bottom half of the pound cake. Add the top half, gently press together, and generously sprinkle with powdered sugar.

• Top grocery store bakery banana bread with a drizzle of icing and sliced banana for a homemade touch. If you need an easy recipe for Powdered Sugar Glaze with only three ingredients, click here.

• When in doubt, make a trifle. Chop store-bought brownies or cake into bite-sized cubes. Whisk up some instant pudding. Alternate layers of cake, pudding, and anything else you have in your refrigerator or DIY kitchen cabinets, like chocolate or caramel syrup, whipped topping, berries, chopped nuts, or cookie crumbs.

At The RTA Store we help make your dream home a reality with RTA (Ready To Assemble) and Pre-Assembled cabinets and accessories. Whether it’s your kitchen bathroom, laundry room, home office, bar room or TV room, we offer the same (if not better) quality you would find at any retail store, but for a fraction of the price. Stop by our website or give us a call and let us make your dreams come true with the help of our free room design tool!