Okay ya'll. I just got a call from the mother of the Groom for a cake I did this past weekend. I used the "large white birthday cake" recipe from this site and followed it exactly (just increased it by 4). She said it was like eating sawdust. What the heck did I do wrong and does anybody have any foolproof white cake recipes that are moist?!?!? Thankfully, she's a friend of mine and said she told anybody who asked the cake came from a local bakery that everybody knows isn't very good so at least any potential customers weren't put off. I'm so sad 
Awwww, I'm soooo sorry you had to go through that!!!! I think most decorators who've done many cakes go through some sort of disappointment from a customer one time or another =o(
Sometimes I hate to admit it but I use cake mixes almost exclusively!!! I'll add things to them sometimes and if I put some sort of yummy filling in it, it really makes them tasty. (like lemon or a custard in white cake). You just can't really fail with a mix. At least I've never had any problems or complaints. One of the best parts about mixes are they're so easy to whip up and bake and you don't have many ingredients to add to them either!
HTH!
blessings,
elly
I use a sour cream almond white cake recipe that I got off of recipezaar (I believe) and it is really good. It's a doctored mix. I also made the white cake in the Whimsical Bakehouse book and it was really good. I didn't like it when I first took it out of the oven, but the next day it was great.
If you want the recipes, I can pm them to you.
Cindy
Maybe you were supposed to use a soaking syrup to make it moister? I dunno. 
Its always good practice to try a recipe on yourself before doing it for someone else... I found this out the hard way..
I use Duncan Hines and everyone raves about how moist my cakes are..
a brides grandfather ( a baker ) made a point to tell me how great my cake was and asked if it was a family recipe... I said yes.. my uncle Duncan Hines... he laughed and said well keep using it and don't change a thing... so I don't actually I add a little almond flavoring to my white wedding cakes.
sorry it did not work out.
I'm so sorry to hear of what happened to you. I know you must have been upset and disappointed. I always make sure that I have enough batter left over to make a few cupcakes so that I can make sure of the taste. It saved me on one of my cakes. It was a scratch cake and I'll probably never do another scratch cake again. This is one of the things that I learned here on the forums. Thank goodness, for these forums!!
Thanks for all the encouragement everybody. I've never had this happen before but of course, I've never used a scratch cake for something this big. The problem is I did taste it after it came out of the oven and it tasted great. I don't think I'll ever do a scratch cake again. Has anybody else ever had that problem with a scratch cake vs. a mix? I'm really pretty stumped about why this happened.
I'll second that comment- this is a great learning arena and I'll have to remember this when someone asks me for a white cake (haven't had one yet, which is odd I suppose). But I am sorry to hear that happened to you - at least you learned now rather than further down the road after making a lot more!
On the other hand, I don't think I've ever gotten away with making a cake and NOT sampling from the trimmings after I level. 
I suppose this is why I'm always on a "diet".....is there such thing as a cake diet? LOL
I too doctor my cake mixes. I;m not sure who it was that posted this one, but i use it all the time & it's delicious. dh white cake mix, french vanilla or white chocolate instant pudding mix, i extra egg white, use butter instead of the oil listed on box & milk instead of water, plus a tsp vanilla ext. She said she uses i tsp almond ext also, but I don't.
I use a sour cream almond white cake recipe that I got off of recipezaar (I believe) and it is really good. It's a doctored mix. I also made the white cake in the Whimsical Bakehouse book and it was really good. I didn't like it when I first took it out of the oven, but the next day it was great.
If you want the recipes, I can pm them to you.
Would you post the recipes??? I've been looking for a almond white cake recipe myself. I wanted to fill it with black rasberry filling. Thanks in advance
Cindy
I decrease the baking temp to 325 for the first 20 minutes. then back up to 350. It really helped mine to be alot moister. My Wilton instructor told me about this she works in a bakery.
I certainly understand tasting your cakes before sending them out. Since I freeze before decorating, I took a piece of my chocolate top scrap this past weekend just to be sure my scratch cake was up to pare especially since it looked funny when I pulled it out of the oven. I quickly spitted it out because it tated like vinegar and threw the cakes away. I could not figure what was wrong until halfway through my next batch and I realized I had forgotten the sugar! (I always laughed at my Dear Grandmother when she forgot the peanut butter in the peanut butter cookies - and now I am on the same wave length - LOL)
Babynewyear, do you start the baking time and temp at 350 and then decrease it when you put it in the oven to 325 or do you just preheat to 325? I know (dumb question). Just really questioning everything I've done this past weekend cake-wise and wanted to make sure before I put something else in the oven 
I start off at 325. Then change it to 350. My family thought I started making cakes from scratch when I first started this method. Im going to have to try some of these wonderful ideas everyones giving you they sound yummy. 
I'm really sorry to hear about this. On the other side of things, I'm SO glad that they weren't so upset that they went around bad mouthing you!!! And, you didn't say anything about a wedding cake, so I'm assuming either you didn't make it OR it was good!
Anyway, I use duncan hines ONLY. I get asked ALL OF THE TIME if I make them from scratch, or what do I put in them. I just tell people it's a secret and no one says anything else to me.
Good luck with your next one and it sounds like you have a loyal customer there, so YAY for that!!
I'm thinking about just making them another cake and taking it to her, probably one of my other flavors just as a thank you sort of thing for not being really aggravated about it.
The bad thing is I also made a baby shower cake from this same batter and now I'm worried about that one being yucky too. Should I call them and ask? I don't know them as well and don't know that they'll be so kind. Any suggestions??
I think that's a great idea to make them a cake.
I would definitely call the babyshower people. Just to ask them how the cake was and to get their opinion on it. If they say something was wrong with it, maybe you could give them some type of gift certificate or something.
If this is just now happening to you, Imean if this is the 1st time, then something somewhere apparetnly went wrong and just let them know all of that......that you're aware they're may be a problem.
I'm sorry, I like to blab too much, LOL!
I always make a 6 inch cake first to test it. Mostly, I bake from scratch but if I sense there could be a problem then it is a mix. Most people love cake mix cakes. When I open a cake mix box I seem to get a whiff of some sweet sweet odor that I don't like. The ones from the white mixes seem to be the trickiest. Maybe, this woman just likes to complain;did youever think of that?
I don't think I'll ever do a scratch cake again. Has anybody else ever had that problem with a scratch cake vs. a mix? I'm really pretty stumped about why this happened.
I have and I would advise you not to completely give up on scratch cakes.
Scratch cakes are more temperamental than cake mixes, which rarely fail in the oven, but scratch cakes can be worthwile the effort. When you make scratch cakes, you have to forget the way you mix a cake mix and viceversa.
You've probably heard it before: Don't overmix, don't overbeat, all ingredients MUST be a room temperature, etc..
You also have to be careful how many times you double scratch cake recipe. It doesn't always come out fine if you make too much of it at once. Maybe that's what happened here.
Its like one of Emeril Lagasse's cake recipes that he made on TV once, he said not too double the recipe because it won't come out right. So, maybe that is the case with this recipe.
I have my basic yellow cake recipe if you are interested that is really good. I also have a larger recipe if you want it as well. But let me know before I post it.
Thanks Maria, that would be great! I'm not completely opposed to scratch cakes, I was just EXTREMELY frustrated yesterday. I went home last night and made a Cake doctor white cake with the french vanilla pudding and it turned out okay. It didn't completely bake all the way through but I think that's the fault of the crappy oven I have at my apt. right now. Thankfully in 2 mos, I'm moving into our new house and have a double oven waiting on me
Thanks Maria, that would be great! I'm not completely opposed to scratch cakes, I was just EXTREMELY frustrated yesterday. I went home last night and made a Cake doctor white cake with the french vanilla pudding and it turned out okay. It didn't completely bake all the way through but I think that's the fault of the crappy oven I have at my apt. right now. Thankfully in 2 mos, I'm moving into our new house and have a double oven waiting on me
Yep, a good or bad oven can sure make a big difference!
Here is the baisc yellow cake I make all the time. If you like it enough, you can double it. I like using the simple syrup technique but some people have made the cake just as is and they say they like it without it too. You try it and see what you like best.
This is enough for one 8" x 3" round pan with some batter leftover or two 8" x 3" round pans.
Basic Yellow Cake
(Round 8 x 3 or two 8 x 2)
If making 8 x 3, you will have a little batter left over.
3 cups of self rising flour
2 sticks of butter or margarine
2 cups of granulated sugar
4 large eggs (yolks and whites separated and at room temp)
1 cup of evaporated milk
vanilla and/or almond extract to taste
Procedure:
1. Beat butter and sugar at high speed until it is soft and pale yellow in color.
2. Start adding the yolks one by one until they disappear completely. Add flavors and continue beating.
3. Lower the speed to low and start adding the flour and milk alternating. Begin with flour and end with flour. Turn off mixer.
4. Whip whites to meringue consistency and FOLD into the flour mixture until meringue disappears.
5. Pour into prepared molds and bake for 45 minutes at 350 Farenheit. (I use Wiltons chart on baking times)
Maria, pardon my obtuseness (is that a word) but I didn't see a simple sugar technique in that? Do I just make up a simple syrup and pour on it when it comes out of the oven? Do I poke holes in it and then pour or just pour it on the cake? You're such an angel for all this help!!
Maria, pardon my obtuseness (is that a word) but I didn't see a simple sugar technique in that? Do I just make up a simple syrup and pour on it when it comes out of the oven? Do I poke holes in it and then pour or just pour it on the cake? You're such an angel for all this help!!
No, sorry, I didn't post it with the recipe.
This recipe is enough for the recipe I gave you. You can double it for bigger cakes.
Simple Syrup
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla (or more if you want)
When you want to get fancy:
Optional: 1/8 of cup of Brandy + 2 tablespoons of Amaretto
This combo is GREAT!
Boil water and then add sugar. Let it boil for about 7 minutes, until it gets a little syrupy. Remove from heat. Let it get lukewarm and then add the flavors and liquors if you are adding them as well. Let it cool.
I advise to bake the cake the night before and then soak it the next day. The cake has already set and its better.
This cake absorbs the syrup real good, so you don't have to poke holes. I use a pastry brush and I just dunk in the syrup and then "brush" it onto the cake.
Here is a couple of pics of how I do it.
cakeatty and mscorliss:
To answer the first question, no, it doesn't make the cake soggy. Scratch cakes are pretty good in absorbing liquids without getting too soggy. This recipe I have is very good for soaking with syrup.
The 2nd question about the amount to put in: the basic recipe I posted is enough to cover and 8" x 3" round or two 8" x 2".
If you want to make a bigger cake, double the recipe and go from there. I can find a chart that I posted before from another user where it shows the exact amounts for each size.
let me know if you are interested and I can post here for you.
PS: There are two well known methods for soaking cakes.
1. The paintbrush method
2. Spray bottle method
My cakes are so good for soaking that the brush method works heavenly. But if you have another recipe you find it difficult, then try the spray bottle method.
Fill the bottle with syrup and then spray evenly onto cake.
I have tried the spray bottle and all I make is a mess. But you can find the method that best works for you. 
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