doublecz1103, I am sure you could change a vanilla cake into a WASC cake. I think you could replace the milk with the sour cream and the almond extract could replace the vanilla. You might give it a try. In fact, that sounds pretty good. I may have to attempt that myself.

WASC has an AWFUL texture. It is rubbery and dense and terribly bland with a hint of cake box chemically taste.

Ceshell is giving you fantastic advice in suggesting the Rebecca Rather recipe. The buttermilk in the recipe does what sour cream does in other recipies. Our vanilla cake recipe is very close to Rebecca's. Try making her recipe with whole milk ( not nonfat) buttermilk and double the vanilla. We just had a feature done by a magazine voting our cupcakes the best in the state, and that recipe is very close to ours.

PS- if you can't get whole milk buttermilk, use 2/3 buttermilk and 1/3 sour cream- and I mean buttermilk, not soured regular milk. It makes a difference.

*tiptoeing into this conversation*... first, let's be careful where this thread is going Having said that.... I am primarily a scratch baker, but I am not a snob; I use cake mixes also. I tried the WASC once and filed that recipe away.. But everyone kept raving about it, so I played with it a few times, and came up with a keeper First you have to use a good quality cake mix, preferably a commercial mix (Gold Medal, or GFS brand is good, using half a batch).. I used the white cake mix. Then use cake flour, Softasilk is my choice, and use 8oz for a whole recipe...
Now I like it

Whoa, CakesByLJ! I hope that you're not directing the "snob" comment to anyone who has posted a response on this vanilla cake thread. I looked back through the thread and find no comments that would be considered "snobbish." Some people, such as myself, do actually have sensitivities to the chemicals and preservatives in mixes whether it is a cake mix or something such as Hamburger Helper.


On a much more positive note, I'm in the process of baking my white cake right now, changing the milk to sour cream and the vanilla to almond extract and can't wait to see what happens when it becomes a WASC cake.

That's funny. The tv is blaring the olympics, my mixer is going full blast and I just spent three days comforting my 5-year-old twin grandchildren who both had their tonsils out on Friday so I couldn't tell you were tiptoeing ....After I responded to your comment I thought it might sound a little motherly (in a "pick up your clothes" sort of way) which it wasn't meant to be and is why I did edited my comment. Hmmm, would I rather people think I was a snob than realize I am just a real wimp and am allergic to almost everything?

I have treid the WASC recipe and is the only one that I do. You can change the flavor just by changing the flavor of cake mix that you add to it. I always get great comments on them but I am going to try the Rebacca Rather recipe. Thanks for sharing!

I like Sylvia Weinstock's Classic Yellow Cake recipe. It's a vanilla butter cake and it has great flavor and texture and it holds up well to carving and stacking and anything I can throw at it. It is easily adapted into other cake flavors as well.. spice cake, lemon cake, chai tea, even banana.

I can't post it since it's a published recipe, but a quick google search should bring it right up. It's also in her book if you can find it at the library.

I tried one of Slyvia Winestock's recipes and I did not like the cake. I took it to work for people to try and they didn't like it either. lol

I notice the White on White buttermilk cake is listed on a Cooking Light thread. Is it supposed to be light? That kind of concerns me about the taste.

I wonder in the long run if scratch cakes or doctored mixes are cheaper. Anybody done a price comparison?

It really depends on the recipe.. if you use premium ingredients scratch will be more costly every time. Real vanilla as opposed to immitation.. real vanilla pods rather than extracts.. imported chocolate rather than Hershey's..

It costs me about $1/serving to make my recipes (including fillings). Some are more and some are a tiny bit less, but $1/serving is about average for a cake without a premium finish like ganache or fondant.

Which recipe SW did you try? The only one of her's that I have tried is the Classic Yellow Cake and I find it to be quite good provided you make it right. Improper mixing and overbaking can ruin the texture and flavor. My customers enjoy it very much.

I have tried the WASC recipe and I don't care for it.. it's not horrid by any means, but it's a mix cake and has all of the qualities of a mix which I don't care for.. mostly the texture. I have a great love for baking though so I enjoy the process of scratch baking. I figure if I'm going to measure and add a bunch of stuff I might as well measure the flour and sugar and leaveners too.. LOL.

Chef Toba Garrett offers her recipe for Moist Yellow Cake through epicurious.com. I have tasted this cake when she baked it for class, I have made this cake at home, and I must say it is the best yellow cake I have ever tasted. I will not say others are not good, as I have not tried them. I stick with this cake - it is literally fool-proof.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/MOIST-YELLOW-CAKE-109358

Theresa

I haven't tried that one yet. I read somewhere when searching for the recipe that there is a typo in the book (I don't have the book.. I looked at it in the library so I can't check) regarding the baking powder.. it should be 1 TBSP and it said 3 TBSP. I'll have to look when I go back to the library.

Anyway.. the yellow cake is quite good and definitely sweet. I leave out some of the sugar and it's still plenty sweet. I don't tend to care for white cakes as I like the flavor and texture that the fat from the yolks impart on a cake.

You are definitely right about it's what you are used to. My kiddos love scratch cakes and meringue based buttercreams.. but it is what they have grown up with. The won't eat grocery store cakes.. my son will eat a little of the cake, but won't touch the frosting and my daughter just has ice cream at parties. Maybe I am raising cake snobs.. . My daughter prefers dark chocolate to milk chocolate and she's only 7.

I think most people don't know enough to care about where the cake came from and if pressed they probably wouldn't be able to tell if it was a doctored mix or a scratch cake. I can tell a mix when I taste one and I don't care for them. I give my customers what I love and so far.. they have all loved it too. If you make a great mix cake (doctored or not) and your customers/family loves it.. that's what matters.

Sorry to babble.. I am severely sleep deprived.. I got back from vacation on Friday (the 15th) and had a wedding cake complete with gumpaste flowers due today.. never again.

I don't care for Toba's yellow cake.. it's been a long time since I tried it, but I found it to be bland. I may have to try it again.

Some answers and comments to your ?s & comments

......WASC has an AWFUL texture. It is rubbery and dense and terribly bland with a hint of cake box chemically taste......

I don't understand what you could be doing wrong This recipe has *NEVER* had a rubbery texture. Dense.....yes! It's ment to be a cross between a 'regular' cake and a pound cake. Chemical taste.........everyone taste buds are different. Taste is what you 'grew up with' Maybe you are from a different generation.

......is that 1 cup sifted, or 1 cup flour then sift?......
I never sift. In today's techknowledge flour dosen't need to be sifted.

What's wrong w/water? YaH, from time to time I have used milk and other times heavy cream. Just a very slight difference in taste (richer).

.....Is this cake really white? Seems like with the egg yolks it would technically be a yellow cake.......
Yes, it is white. The yolks make a stronger cake that will stand up to stacking. I have made 100s of wedding cakes w/this recipe when I had my shop.

???? You do need to sift.. especially if you are baking from scratch. I have found too many odd things in flour and powdered sugar to not sift. If you measure heavily packed flour you will have more than a cup by weight and change the texture of, or ruin, your cake. Recipes will assume that you have aerated your flour before you scoop and level in your measuring cup. You don't need to sift and then measure, but you should run a whisk through it. You can pack a lot more than what is considered 1 cup of flour into a 1 cup measuring cup.

Cindy.. I have never had an issue with the yellow cake from Sylvia Weinstock's book.. well once, but it was because I was rushing and didn't cream the butter and sugar enough.. lesson learned.. It's interesting how we all have different experiences with the same recipes.

edited for a typo

Yeah, the whole sifting thing throws me for a loop. I sift everything..even cake mixes. When I was in college and took a Nutrition class, we were taught to sift flour before measuring, but I have noticed if I do this with my sugar cookie recipe they are too soft. I'm not sure there is a general consensus on this subject.

So not much of a difference in taste between water and milk? I'm going to try this recipe tonight and I will post my opinion!