I'm not trying to open up the debate on scratch vs. box but I conducted a little experiment and have a few questions.

The design I did for my ds's birthday called for two cakes, one football shaped and one half ball shape. So I decided this would be a good time to try a scratch cake and a box cake and see what the diffences were. I made the cream cheese cake (recipe on this site) for the football and doctored a cake mix with cream cheese pudding and flavoring for the round ball. After both had cooled about twenty minutes I wrapped them tightly in plastic wrap and left them on the counter overnight to decorate in the morning. Both had good flavor but the scratch cake was dry, still edible but definately needed a glass of milk to wash it down where as the doctored box was very soft and moist.

So my questions are, did I do something wrong with the scratch cake? Is there any trick to getting a nice moist cake from scratch and would cake flour have made a diffence? I used All purpose as that's what the recipe called for.

I take alot of pride in my baking and would like to learn a little more about making a good scratch cake just for the joy of learning something new. Besides the more you know the more you have to offer.

You know, honestly, Toba Garrett's recipes are the only "scratch" recipes I've tried since starting this; but the ones I made as a kid (like the one from the Betty Crocker cookbook) were always dry and needed milk. Box cakes are definately more "moist" but almost to a fault IMO. It's a different kind of moisture as well. I think scratch cakes are more sensitive to overcooking as well. I've made the yellow cake (Toba's) several times and it's always come out super duper moist except the last time I made it when I overcooked it. Whereas I cooked the heck out of the WASC recipe because I thought it wasn't cooking due to the moisture in it, but it still came out really moist after overcooking. Toba's recipes are great, both of the ones I use frequently call for buttermilk and I think I saw somewhere that that is a contributing factor to moisture. Did any of this make any sense?

The two biggest culprits in dry cake are over mixing and over baking. I always use cake four for a butter cake, even if the recipe calls for AP. It makes for a finer, more velvety crumb, which I like. Also, always be sure to measure flour after sifting if you measure by volume rather than weight. Scooping flour can compact it and cause you to add too much flour.

Even with those tips, scratch cake will never have the same mouth feel as cake mix cakes. I personally find mix cakes kind of plastic-y. If you prefer the mix cake texture, go with it, but you can't get that without the industrial chemicals they put in cake mix.

Well, it's already been mentioned to use cake flour instead of AP flour. That's important. Boxed cakes probably have cake flour in them.

At the creaming stage (1st step-butter/sugar), mix it on a lower speed for a really long time. You want it to get fluffy.

Next, add the eggs one at a time and make sure they mix up really well.

Then, when you are doing the dry ingredients/liquid stage, always start with the dry and end with the dry. Don't over mix it. You just want it all to be incorporated. Any more mixing than that is unnecessary and will toughen the cake.

I like recipes that call for buttermilk, yogurt or sour cream. That always seems to make a moister cake.

hope that helps

LOL Well I'm a dork. I forgot to mark to watch my own topic. I was just looking to give myself a bump, thinking, "wow I know there are some scratch bakers out there." Why it is you have to request to watch a thread you started.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I followed the directions about the eggs and flour first and flour last but when I was doing it the first thing I thought was that's alot of mixing for a cake.

I haven't given up on scratch yet, it's getting to be a personal challenge. I think I'll try another recipe and I will definately get out the cake flour

Thanks again.

I have had similar experiences w/ scratch cake. I made the "strawberry cake from scratch" cake from here on CC, it came out dry and the crumb wasn't fine at all. The only 2 scratch ones that I LOVE when I make them are German Chocolate and Carrot. Soooo good and moist! Thanks for the topic, I'll be watching it closely.

I only scratch bake and I have found that I do not like the texture or lack of moisture in creamed cakes. Rather, I use a chiffon recipe for all my cakes and have yet to have someone NOT love it. The great thing about the chiffon is that as long as you don't overmix, it's foolproof as you are adding baking powder. Additionally, the eggs are separated and the whites are mixed and then folded in giving it a light and heavenly texture. Also, since my cakes are from scratch, I can use a simple syrup to flavor the cakes and give them more depth. I have heard that when using a mix based cake, you really can't do this as it is too sweet. You just have to experiment with recipes until you find one you like.

I just hosted a big party this weekend and had to use boxed cakes for the cakes...for convenience sake.

Here's my input with this topic.

Boxed cakes, as many people have said, are very consistent. My only complain is that it's too soft that it's hard to cut or shape. I haven't read the ingredients for the boxed cakes but I bet there's a lot of terms there that I won't be able to understand.

I'm a "scratch" baker so I'm always all for baking from scratch and fresh ingredients.
The sour cream, buttercream and yogurt are best for chocolate cakes. My chef instructor made sure she pointed this out. She also mentioned to lower the baking temperature for choc cakes.
As for keeping the cake moist, I usually put flavored simple syrup on the cake while assembling it.

that's all!

I can't stress enough that you need to rent or buy Nick Malgieri's Perfect Cakes. Toba actually gives credit to him for his cakes in her book. The recipes are fool proof and I learned alot from this book. Go to chapter 9 "layer cakes". Have fun playing!
Andrea

The "Perfect White Cake" from Martha Stewart (I think it's on her website somewhere, I'll look for a link!) Is a great scratch cake. I'm a scratch baker and I'll readily admit that not all scratch cakes are good ones.

I don't use mixes so I don't know the answer to this question, but did you use a syrup on the cake? I don't know if you use them on mix cakes so it might not be something you have tried but it helps keep them nice and moist. Then again it might be something you already do so forgive me if this sounds silly.

-Michelle

I love Toba Garrett's recipes they are wonderful, for those I have not used syrups. I find them very moist and delicious. I also use Dede Wilson's recipes those are good too. If I do use syrups I do it for extra flavor such as a grand marnier or baileys cake. I completely agree with using cake flour it will make a noticeable difference in the crumb and texture of the cake.
Isawyer to answer your questions; Chiffon cake holds up very well,the bridal shower cake in my photos is a chiffon cake. It is pillared and stacked and it held up for 6 hours. I have done fondant and it held up to that as well, I do roll out my fondant pretty thin so I don't know if that is why it worked. When stacking just make sure you have support from dowels or plates/pillars.

About 90% of the cakes I do are chiffon. They really seem to hold up well considering all the decorations I use on my cakes, including when I use fondant. As long as the cakes are doweled correctly, they really don't give any under the weight. For me, the chiffon is the closest in similarity to a cake made from a mix.

I bake from scratch. I've seen lots of posts with folks saying that scratch cakes are dry and I don't really understand it. My cakes are as moist or moister than any boxed cake. They are very consistent and in my opinion taste better.

I think the secret of a really great scratch cake is a really great recipe. Honestly, I don't ever even try a recipe unless it comes with a fantastic recommendation from someone I trust or lots of really great and detailed reviews.

Unfortunately, that means I don't use too many recipes from CC because they are not reviewed. A rating of a recipe is not enough. You need to read review to see if the folks rating the recipe use the same criteria to judge a recipe as you do and if they made any modifications.

Tammy

It may also be your recipe . . . you have to have a good scratch recipe to have a good scratch cake. Sometimes you have to adjust the temperature and the length of cooking time from the recipe, and because it is mixing from scratch, the freshness/type of ingredients you use can affect the cake more. A cake mix is likely to work the first time you try it - they are designed to be "no fail." Some scratch recipes you have to "know" and play with a bit to get them right and just the way you like them. It is a matter of trying out recipes and playing around with them a bit. I'd guess if the cake was dry, it either means it was cooked a little too long, or it is just not a moist recipe - it could be designed to be a dry cake (kind of like comparing a mud cake to an angel food cake and then saying the mud cake was dense while the angel food cake was so light and not accounting for the fact that the recipes are constructed so they turn out that way).

Cake mixes are very forgiving. They contain a lot of emulsifiers (emulsifiers help to keep fat and water together and doesn't allow them to separate) which keeps the cake mix moist. In scratch cakes all we have for an emulsifier is the egg yolk. Cake mixes also contain several leavening ingredients (we only have access to baking powder & baking soda) which allows the cake to rise high every time and allows us to make mistakes and have our cake come out great.
Now before you guys think I'm pretty smart about all of this, it just so happens I was reading the "The Cake Doctor" book last night which is where I got all of this info from. It was a very interesting read!
I've have had good scratch cakes and recently a bad one. I made the White Chocolate Whisper cake from "The Cake Bible" and was really disappointed. It was very dry! I think the scratch cakes that use sourcream, yogurt or buttermilk might make for a moister cake versus a butter type cake and so my search continues for the "perfect" scratch cake.

Would any of you be willing to share your favorite "scratch" cake recipe?

One of the easiest chocolate cake scratch recipes to make is the Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake. You can find it on the back of the Hershey's cocoa can. It is no fail - tastes great, and works every time. I actually like to doctor that up with a lot of other flavors, and tweak it a bit, but it is wonderful, light, and moist as is. If you are looking to make several tiers, or sculpt, however, I think it is generally too light and moist for that.