Scratch bakers...Whats you best recipe? - Page 4

I freeze cake bible white velvet cake all the time. I do like to soak mine in a cointreau-valiina bean syrup first though.

Oh, wow. If you don't mind, I'd LOVE the cointreau-vanilla bean syrup recipe! I have never used a simple syrup but that flavor combo may just be a reason to try one!

My best is the" Velvet Underground Cake" from Rosie's Bakery.
It consist's of her famous Chocolate Sour Cream Layer Cake
Hot fudge filling
And Mocha buttercream Icing! It's delicious.

It's from the cookbook, All-Butter.Fresh Cream-Sugar Packed Baking book by Judy Rosenberg. It's one of my favorite cookbooks.

Wow! Love this thread! Hope it continues!

I have been experimenting both with white/yellow (just a staple one of this) without much success. I have my personal favorite--the traditional Puerto Rican cake that is posted here but its more on the denser side, not as sweet side that people in the states are used to. It reminds me of home. For the longest time I have been trying to find THE perfect white or yellow and the perfect chocolate. Well I think that I finally found my chocolate (after trying a bunch from the Cake bible and a couple of recipes from this site that would not satisty my palate) I used Scott Wooleys tweaked recipe from egullet but tweaked it a bit more myself. People adored this cake yesterday. I got an immediate request for chocolate cake from this guy (a guy loving chocolate?! woa) so it is now my staple. I am posting it below w. my changes. Now, for the white, I used Sarah Phillips recipe and found it good in taste but doughy too doughy even for me. This is the second time Ive made it and its the same. Doughy and bland. I have tried the White Velvet from Cake Bible and rembered it being good. Have not tried it again but after last night's fiasco with Sarah's cake I am having a tasting soon at work to find my staple. This thread is awesome.


Chocolate Fudge Cake

combine, cover, and let cool to room temp:
1-1/2 cups cocoa (I used Dutched processed though recipe calls for natural. I preferr Dutch any time I can use it)
1-1/2 cups boiling coffee with a quick pinch or two (maybe 1/2 to 1 tsp of espresso instant coffe---i used turkish coffe finely ground at coffe shop)

Then add:
1 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla

Combine separately and set aside:
3 cups AP flour
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Cream together:
3/4 cup softened butter
2 cups sugar

Add one at a time, beating well:
3 eggs

Add flour mixture altnernating with the cocoa mixture, ending with the flour. Bake at 275-300 degrees for 45-55 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in pan. Unmold and wrap in plastic and freeze immediately to shock the cake into smoothness.

Great thread! I've got to get the Cake Bible!

Someone on another cake site introduced me to the King Arthur's White Cake and it is by far my favorite recipe! I absolutely love it and it is my "go-to" recipe for white cakes. It also does really well with substitutions (the cake calls for a cup of milk, I've substituted a cup of brewed Vanilla Chai Tea and it makes the most delicious Chai Tea Cake. I make this with the WBH House Buttercream which calls for a cup of boiling water and I sub that out for another cup of brewed Vanilla Chai Tea and it's heavenly!!! Of course, when subbing tea into the buttercream, I can only do it for cakes where I'm coloring the icing because with the tea added to the buttercream you won't get a white icing, more of a cream one). Here's the recipe:


King Arthur White Cake

8 tablespoons (1 stick, 4 oz.) butter, softened
1/2 cup (3-1/4 oz.) vegetable shortening
1 tablespoons (1/2 oz.) baking powder
1-3/4 cups (12-1/4 ounces) sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

-- Cream together until light. 5 min. or more.

5 large egg whites (6 to 7 oz.)

-- Add egg whites one at a time and beat well after
each addition.

2-3/4 cups (11 oz.) cake flour
1 cup (8 oz.) milk

-- Stir in flour and milk, alternating between the
two, starting and ending with the flour. (i.e. 1/3
flour, 1/2 milk, 1/3 flour, 1/2 milk, 1/3 flour)

-- Bake at 350. 25-35 minutes or until done.

Nigella Lawsons buttermilk birthday cake. Sandwiched it with choc b/c for a birthday. Turned out fantastic!! I'll type it up some time.

Hands down my favorite yellow cake recipe is The All-American Yellow Downy Cake from "The Cake Bible". So soft and so tasty. I made them into cupcakes the other night and slathered them with the quick buttercream recipe from Williams Sonoma and they were gone the next day! I'm looking forward to trying other recipes from her book.

Great thread- thanks. Someone asked this a couple pages back (sorry, I can't remember the name, Dutcher?) Anyway, I would love to know the answer, too.

yum!!! making me HUNGRY!

I recently purchased her "Wedding Cakes You Can Make" and tried her Essential Yellow Cake (I don't usually bake from scratch so her book was perfect w/all the detailed instructions). I liked the flavor, but found it VERY dry after just 1 day. Now...she suggests using a moistening syrup because of that very reason and I didn't do it...sooooo...that probably would change my opinion...I may try again!

It would have to be the red velvet cake that's been past down in my family (I posted it to the CC recipe section "Sarah's red velvet")...I've never had anything but compliments, it's just so incredibly delicious.

DH tells me that I'm the type that would challenge anyone over whose RVC is better

I recently tried David's Yellow cake from this site. It is my yellow staple now. The flavor was amazing and with all the leftover egg whites I made Meringue cookies (that were a total hit and nothing wasted). I highly suggest this cake. Thanks!

My best is my chocolate cake w/ my "chocolate filling". Really good.