Cake Bakers...what am I doing wrong?

[joannqn]

I have yet to find a cake made from scratch that I like. I like box mixes, especially Duncan Hines. I like light, airy cakes. Homemade cakes just come out tasting funky and way too dense.

 

So, today I tried a chocolate cake recipe by King Arthur flour someone recommended on the "I need an awesome cake recipe" thread several days ago. It's awful! It came out dense, heavy, tasteless. The texture is a cross between brownie and fudge with dried out edges. Yuck!

 

I can cook and bake well. I make pies, bread, cookies, etc., all without problems. I'm known among my friends for my desserts. I'd lose that reputation if they ever had a cake I made from scratch.

 

So, what am I doing wrong? Is there such a thing as a light, airy, yummy, chocolate cake made from scratch?

[stormy weather]

I've used just the cake part of this recipe and it turns out light like a mix. Also on the Hershey's cocoa box there is a recipe that turned out very light for me, it had boiling water added in at the end. Come to think of it the texas sheet cake I use has the boiling water too and it it very light. Maybe that's the secret:confused: Hope those help.:001_smile:

[WistfulRidge]

I've never tried that recipe so I wouldn't know if it is the recipe or not, but I've always had good luck with the Hershey's chocolate cake.

 

I've noticed that dense cakes either a) have a thick batter (like brownies) so the recipe just doesn't have enough liquid to make it airy b) is over mixed; it's much easier to over mix a from scratch recipe than a box recipe (not quite sure why, but I've found it to be true).

[Heather in OK]

My go-to-from-scratch chocolate cake is HERE.

[AK_Mom4]

Use egg whites in place of whole eggs. Beat air into them until super fluffy/soft peaks(sort of like you are going to make a meringue). Mix all the other ingredients together, then gently fold in the egg whites. 4 egg whites - 2 regular eggs. This will work for most any cake recipe (except something intentionally dense like a pound cake).

 

Also, sift your dry ingredients to get more air in them and prevent clumping and really cream together the butter and sugar until totally smooth (not just mixed....)

[Scarlett]

My go-to-from-scratch chocolate cake is HERE.

 

Yum!

[MamaSheep]

I have yet to find a cake made from scratch that I like. I like box mixes, especially Duncan Hines. I like light, airy cakes. Homemade cakes just come out tasting funky and way too dense.

 

So, today I tried a chocolate cake recipe by King Arthur flour someone recommended on the "I need an awesome cake recipe" thread several days ago. It's awful! It came out dense, heavy, tasteless. The texture is a cross between brownie and fudge with dried out edges. Yuck!

 

I can cook and bake well. I make pies, bread, cookies, etc., all without problems. I'm known among my friends for my desserts. I'd lose that reputation if they ever had a cake I made from scratch.

 

So, what am I doing wrong? Is there such a thing as a light, airy, yummy, chocolate cake made from scratch?

 

Do you use cake flour, or all-purpose? Cake flour is a little lighter and finer and has a lower gluten content. Also, you might try sifting or spooning the flour into the measuring cup so it doesn't get packed down in there, if you're not already doing this.

 

As a disclaimer, I use all-purpose flour and scoop, usually, but nobody around here minds the texture difference. But when my mom, who has a degree in such things, taught me to cook, she was careful to explain the "proper" methods and ingredients, and evidently it makes a difference. So it might be worth a try.

[texasmama]

Do you think you may have overcooked it?

 

My usually wonderful and moist cake turned out dry today, and I believe it is because it was overbaked a bit.

[joannqn]

I may have overcooked it but I'd hate to see how it would turn out less cooked. The center was like an underbaked brick...moist, dense, heavy, virtually no crumb.

[redsquirrel]

It sounds over cooked, how is your oven? Does it have hot spots?

 

Try cake flour. What is the age of your leavening? How old is your cocoa? How old is your flour? Flour gets stale/rancid very quickly. How much stirring happened after the flour was added? You might have stirred too much and it got tough.

 

What was the description of the cake? Was it supposed to be a dense chocolate cake? Many chocolate cakes these days are meant to be very thick and fudgy. I find it harder to find a chocolate cake that has much volume. It is just the fashion. When you describe it as having no crumb, well, there are many people who look for that in a chocolate cake. You might want to focus on recipes with names like "old fashioned' in the title. "Old Fashioned Milk Chocolate Cake" is the thing I would look for. Scratch bakers are often not looking for that light 'box cake' texture. They can get that from a box, right? For homemade they want a more luxurious cake.

 

Did you cream your sugar and butter together well? It is the air whipped in by that process that gives your cake volume. You want the sugar/butter mixture Light and Fluffy. The leavening doesn't add bubbles, it simply expands and strengthens the bubbles that are added during the creaming process.

 

Honestly, if it was tasteless, I am suspecting your ingredients are old. Flour gets stale, cocoa gets old quickly, butter goes flat tasting in the freezer. The heaviness sounds like it was a dense recipe and there wasn't good creaming action. Maybe your leavener is a little tired. Add in some overcooking and you have a lame cake.

 

FWIW, I cannot STAND a box cake. I get fed on every couple years and they taste like the box. Really. A homemade, fresh cake is so much better.

[kalanamak]

When I want a light cake, or a cake that keeps a bit, or a cake with whipped cream frosting (and therefore will need to stay in the fridge), I turn the chiffon cakes from my '50s Betty Crocker cookbook. A quick google will give you many flavors.

[Lara in Colo]

Are you at high altitude? This changes a cake dramatically!!!

 

If you are I can recommend a GREAT cookbook that teaches you how to cook at higher alts.

 

Lara (6280ft)

[asta]

One of the things my cake book stressed was the difference between:

 

1 cup flour, sifted

 

and

 

1 cup sifted flour

 

The first is a cup of flour that you then sift. The second is a pile of sifted flour that you then (gently) scoop a measured cup from.

 

Two completely different measurements.

 

 

a

[Tammyla]

:iagree: Yep, and cake flour for me is a must. Measurements need to be spot on without a mix.

 

I'd say keep trying and do factor in altitude if necessary.

 

One of the things my cake book stressed was the difference between:

 

1 cup flour, sifted

 

and

 

1 cup sifted flour

 

The first is a cup of flour that you then sift. The second is a pile of sifted flour that you then (gently) scoop a measured cup from.

 

Two completely different measurements.

 

 

a

[flyingiguana]

I think I recall that cake flour also has cornstarch in it, which makes the cake lighter. I can't find an ingredient list for cake flour, so I can't check if that's true. However, supposedly one can make a substitute for cake flour:

 

"Many markets carry cake flour, and in a pinch a substitute can be made with ¾ cup sifted bleached all purpose flour and two tablespoons of cornstarch."

 

My mother used to insist on sifted cake flour -- but I make cakes with all purpose flour right out of the bag and they seem fine. Whipping the egg whites is helpful. Another thing that helps is using an acidic liquid. For some cakes, I've replaced a bit of the fat with yogurt.

 

I don't really like the taste of cake flour, perhaps because other ingredients have been added to make lighter cakes. I suspect, though, that one might be able to find pastry flour or some such thing that is just the less gluten-y type of flour without a lot of added things. I know one can get it in the whole wheat version, so I suspect a white flour version must be out there.

[joannqn]

It's this recipe.

 

It may have been over-mixed, but I did follow the directions which called for beating well between each of the four eggs.

 

The butter and sugar were not creamed together. The butter was mixed into the dry ingredients.

 

I used regular flour. All of my ingredients were fresh, except maybe the baking soda (but other things are cooking up fine).

 

I think I'll try cake flour and probably a chiffon cake next. The picture on the website shows a pretty moist cake, a bit denser than I wanted, but mine doesn't have even that texture.

 

Thanks for all of the ideas.

[flyingiguana]

It's this recipe.

 

It may have been over-mixed, but I did follow the directions which called for beating well between each of the four eggs.

 

 

That's pretty much the recipe I use except that I replace half the milk with yogurt. And I use all oil (not sure what the conversion is for butter to oil -- it's not exact). I mix the wet and dry ingredients separately (except the water), then mix them together and add the water (heated to boiling) at the end.

 

I don't separate the eggs and whip the whites for this recipe. The batter is so runny, I don't think that would work. I don't sift anything either. I stir the cocoa into the sugar before anything else. The sugar breaks up the cocoa lumps.

 

This recipe comes out very similar to a boxed mix for me. I wonder if I'm getting a lighter cake because I'm using all oil.

[redsquirrel]

This is a fairly standard cake. It is of the variety that I call a "quick cake". That is my own mental catagory, not a real one. This is going to make a denser cake than you are looking for. They call it a 'snack' cake and to me, that doesn't mean volume. It means moist and a bit flat and very forgiving. If you are beating the butter into the flour, then that pretty much prevents much/any lightness. I am guessing your oven is running bit hot and the outside cooked before the middle which exacerbated the issue for you. Do you have an oven thermometer?

 

I have no idea why you found it 'tasteless' other than you may just accustomed to the flavorings of boxed cakes? And just because you bought the ingredients recently doesn't mean they weren't old. However if you bought them since thanksgiving I would expect they are fine. Things turn over quickly this time of year. I swear once bought some sad cocoa. It was very flat and just not right. Now, I tend to only use Hershey 'special dark' cocoa for my chocolate baking. It gives a beautiful colour and, I think, a richer flavor. However, that is a matter of personal preference. I could certainly spend a whole lot more on better cocoa.

 

Yes, you can make your own 'cake flour' by subbing 1 to 4 TBSP of cornstarch for flour in every cup. Actual cake flour is not made with cornstarch. It is a lower protein (lower gluten) flour. It's all about the gluten. I tend to bake with whole wheat flour and whole grains. When I make muffins or things that I like a bit lighter, some cornstarch subbed for some flour can really make things lighter.

[Brenda in MA]

I agree with the other person who said that the recipe you posted would give you a "heavier" cake. The clue for me was the 4 eggs. That's a lot of eggs for 1 cake if you want a light texture.

 

I don't know what kind of pans you are using, but you need to get good quality pans that are relatively thick. I have a set of aluminum pans from Wilton that do a nice job. I got mine at AC Moore. The other thing I swear by are Wilton's bake even strips:

 

http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30D620-475A-BAC0-592117323818A1AA&killnav=1

 

These you dampen and pin around the edges of the layer pans. These strips prevent the outside edges of the cake from cooking too quickly by keeping the edges relatively cooler during the first part of the baking process. With the strips on the pans, the layers take a little bit longer to cook than the directions will say, but the result is a very nice layer with an even top (no camel hump in the middle.

 

If you have a gas oven especially, you might want to put a cookie sheet on a rack in the oven beneath where you place the layers to help keep the bottoms of the layers from cooking too quickly.

 

I also like to use cake flour and spoon it gently into the measuring cups.

 

Best wishes,

Brenda

[2cents]

My totally scratch cakes have disappointed me so now I just do 'doctored' cake mixes that include sour cream. They are consistently good and great for tiered cakes.

[redsquirrel]

You can make your own cake strips with old towels or even cloth diapers. They do work beautifully. That cake comes out FLAT, lol. No hump in the middle at all. You could putt on the thing. It makes for a nice stacked cake.

[ktgrok]

Are you using the right flour? You need pastry flour for cakes, not all purpose.

[CalicoKat]

Find a recipe that uses sour cream or buttermilk. Those are generally old tried-and-true recipes.

 

What flavor of cakes, preferred texture, are attempting to get?

 

I've got a couple that are yummy. But my taste buds are pretty weird when it comes to cake. :D I'm thinking of my granny's coconut frosting white cake, slurp! It's the Easter holiday tradition but I'm sure I could get my mom to slip me the recipe.

 

There's a boiled raisin cake that's really good too, no frosting required.

 

Carrot cake is yummy.

 

My personal fav. for the Christmas season is cranberry pudding (it's a steamed cake recipe) with a buttery sauce. To-die-for!