This One-Bowl Ugly Cake Is So Much Better Than It Looks

There’s a beauty to desserts that are appealing because they’re imperfect. They have personality and are easy to love. That’s totally the case with ugly cake, which is utterly lovely to eat and make.

Buttery yellow cake mix gives it a cheerful hue, and a little dusting of powdered sugar over its bumpy, crackly top adds a simple daintiness. The best part is hidden at the bottom, where a rich custard layer made from cream cheese and pudding mix awaits.

If you’re all thumbs with baking or simply need a no-fuss dessert, ugly cake is your go-to. Serve it warm, when it’s soft and pudding-y, or at room temperature, when it sets up and is cakier. Either way, you’ll have a hit on your hands.

What Is Ugly Cake?

There are lots of recipes called “ugly cake” in community cookbooks and on recipe-sharing sites. What they have in common is cake mix gussied up with something simple but tasty. In this version, you dollop cream cheese beaten with pudding mix over the top of the cake batter.

In the oven, the cake rises while the topping sinks, giving dense and creamy contrast to the fluffy cake on top. It’s a combination of all good things in one bite—think gooey butter cake meets magic cake.

Duncan Hines Mix Is Best for Ugly Cake

In our tests, Duncan Hines cake mix came out head and shoulders above the rest. Betty Crocker worked, but was noticeably not as good as Duncan Hines. The edges came out darker and there was a somewhat dense layer of cake under the custard layer. 

If you only have Betty Crocker cake mix, reduce the butter to 1/3 cup, and start checking for doneness around 35 minutes. The cake itself won’t be as fluffy.

Tips for Making Ugly Cake

• The pudding mixture at the bottom makes testing for doneness with a toothpick unreliable. Instead, go by the color of the cake (golden brown on edges, golden on top) and touch (the top should feel firm when you press it gently with your fingertip). 
• Your cream cheese should be completely at room temperature. Otherwise it won’t mix smoothly into the pudding mixture. 
• For a switch-up, try different flavors of pudding mix, such as lemon, banana cream, or cheesecake.