Past the expiration date…..long ago

Must have been bought in fall 2014.

Today I found a ten-year-old gingerbread mix tucked in the back of the fruit room shelves.  Rather than toss it, I decided to try an experiment . . . what did I have to lose?  

Stirred it up according to directions.  Yuck.  Because spices and leavening die after a couple of years on the shelf, I added 1 tsp vanilla, 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, a few shakes of salt and 2 Tbsp flour.  Passed the taste test.  Baked according to directions.  Turned out fabulous - just as high as I would have expected from a fresh mix, plus the taste was spot on.  An egg-yolk based lemon sauce that I cooked while the gingerbread baked, made it even better.  I’ve had great luck with two very old angel food cake mixes, without alterations, but this is the first time for a regular kind of cake mix.  Probably won’t ever need to do this again, as I am better at dating and rotating now, but it’s nice to know I could if I needed to.