I'm a novice baker but I'm proud of the cakes I've decorated, lately. The biggest problem I have is the cake itself. I've always used box cake mixes and decided to try the "enhanced" recipes.
Every single recipe turns out so moist, it's almost mushy. What am I doing wrong? I follow the recipes and the baking times but they all turn out the same....looks great on the outside but so dense and so moist on the inside that I almost feel like it's not baked enough.
I've tried 6 different recipes and they all turn out this way. Am I so used to the dryness of a boxed cake that I don't know what "moist" is supposed to be?
What are you adding to the mix? To much oil? Etc? Google search or look here for wonderful receipes that are scratch or froma box mix with other ingredients added. I use box mix as a base and then add from there. Be careful with to much oils, sour creams, etc. I add a little sour cream, whole fat milk in place of water and sometimes a little extra instant pudding into my box mixes. My biggest thing is adding Swan's cake flour extra cup into my box mixes. They come out full, fluffy, light and moist and beautiful. My clients are always very happy with the texture and taste and moistness of my cakes. There is no sense having a beautiful cake unless it doesn't taste great. I hear of this to many times. Good luck, and Happy Cake Decorating. 
I tried a few of the "doctored" cake mix recipes and had the same results. The cakes were wet and entirely too moist.
I use the "origional" WASC recipe by kakeladi found in the recipes here on cc. This recipe uses NO oil and only half of the liquid (water) than the other recipes I've used. This is a great recipe and it's my customer's favorite.
When using a cake mix and adding ingredients be careful to portion the ingredients equally. For example if you are adding apple juice then don't add the water. Add a pudding mix (cook & serve) &/or Dream Whip this will help greatly with excess moisture. Also be sure to adjust the eggs if you are adding ingredients as well as.
The cake doctor books have a great way of explaining this process.
Also you can find the recipe on the back of a Dream Whip box.
What are you adding to the mix? To much oil? Etc? Google search or look here for wonderful receipes that are scratch or froma box mix with other ingredients added. I use box mix as a base and then add from there. Be careful with to much oils, sour creams, etc. I add a little sour cream, whole fat milk in place of water and sometimes a little extra instant pudding into my box mixes. My biggest thing is adding Swan's cake flour extra cup into my box mixes. They come out full, fluffy, light and moist and beautiful. :
when you add the extra cake flour are you adding additional liquid? And do you add it all the time or just for certain cakes?
[quote="cakemom42"]Add a pudding mix (cook & serve) &/or Dream Whip this will help greatly with excess moisture.
Whoa! I was told to ALWAYS use the INSTANT pudding to my cake & cookies......Am I wrong about this one or what? Help???? 
I add a little extra whole milk, not much. I love using Swan's . My cakes are fuller , and tastergreat. I always use instant pudding mix. Also like the poster said, Dream Whip is a great product. It comes down to what you are wanting , according to what ingredients you use in your mixes. The Cake Doctor is a great source of understanding how things make your mixes work. Hope this helps. 
[quote="KATHIESKREATIONS"]
Add a pudding mix (cook & serve) &/or Dream Whip this will help greatly with excess moisture.
Whoa! I was told to ALWAYS use the INSTANT pudding to my cake & cookies......Am I wrong about this one or what? Help????
Whenever someone says "always" or "never", I ALWAYS ask "Why? / Why not?" I rarely take those two words at face value. Because I've discovered, over time, that when you ask "why?", the person who SWEARS by it can rarely give you a reason (let alone a GOOD reason) as to why they believe "always/never".
As I used to tell every one of my employees (in my cake shop and when I worked in corporate america), "If the answer is 'We've always done it this way', then we're doing it wrong."
I tried adding the pudding to a cake once and my official taste testers sent word back for me to"never do that again!" Many on CC do it and it works well for them, but my "market study" came back as a big fat "No-Go!" on it.
[quote="KATHIESKREATIONS"]
Add a pudding mix (cook & serve) &/or Dream Whip this will help greatly with excess moisture.
Whoa! I was told to ALWAYS use the INSTANT pudding to my cake & cookies......Am I wrong about this one or what? Help????
I've always heard that it should be INSTANT pudding as well. 
That said, I don't use pudding in my WASC recipe.
Ya'll are funny :0)
Each one of us have our own style & if it works for you then don't change it... It's sort of like which brand of mix is the best some swear by Betty Crocker & others by Duncan Hines :0) I was just stating what has worked for me. (can I add here that I went to culinary school and paid big bucks to become a better baker... while I make my cakes from scratch now, before Pastry Arts I used box.) The OP wanted to know why her cake is too moist... We all agree she has too much oil/egg/liquid in the recipe.. I was just trying to help her find a solution.... She either needs to decrease the liquids/eggs/oils or add dry ingredients. Since it was a box mix I generally add Dream Whip & Pudding mix (cook & serve) because my grandmas did it that way :0)
I needed to smile so I apprecaite all your thoughts on this :0) Thanks :0)
..... because my grandmas did it that way :0)
YES! That's a great example of what I'm talking about! "because gramma said so"
This conversation reminds me of the old story about how to cook a ham. It came down thru the different women in the family and one of the instructions was to "Always (there's that word again!) cut off the end 3 inches before baking." Well one young lady kept asking why. All the women in the family just kept saying, "Because gramma said you ALWAYS cut it off. We've always done it that way."
After lots of almost-geneological research on ham, the young lady found out that the REASON gramma cut off 3" of the ham before baking was because she had a small baking pan and the hams generally were too long to fit in the pan. So she lopped off 3" to get it to fit. As the recipe (and instructions) were passed down, this little tidbit was left out and instead of "cut the ham to fit the pan", it became "you ALWAYS cut off the end of the ham."
There's another story about why 2 men stand next to a cannon when it's being fired. There *HAD* to be a soldier on each side of the cannon. Someone decided to find out why. Turns out cannons used to be pulled on wagons that were pulled by horses. A cannon going off would spook the horses, of course, so 2 men had to stand by the horses to hold them while the cannon was fired. When horses were replaced by vehicles, someone forgot to tell the 2 soldiers they didn't need to stand there anymore.
I conceed that both of these stories may be urban legends but the lesson is still there.
cakemom, thanks for sharing your story!
hahaha Deb, you always have the greatest stories!
I also dont put pudding in my doctored recipes. Makes them too sweet. But I guess it depends on your taste!
OP: Have you tried also lowering your temps and baking longer? When you take it out of the oven, does the cake bounce back up when touched?
:0)Good Morning everyone - In the spirit of debate :0)
I used "cook & serve" yes because my grandmothers did... but not of some urband legend or myth rather out of nastalgia... Simply the recipes they used come from a time before the "instant" was produced (somewhere between the 1930's & 50's). :0)
Using the pudding mixes or dream whip has to do with the emulsifiers/gums/cornstrach in them :0)
Or flavoring to some :0)
Or simply the companies were looking for ways to enhance sales of their products - good 'ol marketing :0)
Please also note I did not say "always" or "never" in my post, I even offered that if it works for you don't change it.
:0) How is summer school Debi?? :0)
cakemom, school is great! Taking an online course right now, which is 'different'!
I'm sure I have some recipes that my grandchildren will make with the "gramma always did it this way" mentality. Hopefully, I am remembering to include the 'why' I do it that way and I am very hopeful they will retain "the story" with the food item.
Part of the requirement for a family member to add a recipe to my Family Cookbook is they have to have a story about it (there's the history teacher in me coming out!). Why it's a favorite, where they got the recipe, have they tweaked it and why, etc. I include the story at the beginning of the page and it's actually part of the recipe's history .... part of our family's history.
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