Thanks for all the suggestions on how to perfect the NEW SW recipe. I'll try them when I do decide to make the cake. However, I agree with cakesweetiecake...I don't think that the new SW recipe is going to be my GO-TO recipe because is seems to be too finicky 
. I consider my self a pretty good baker but I don't like finicky recipes. The original recipe, however, will DEFINATELY go into my recipe box.
As far as the rules of the "Scratch-Off", they were compiled from suggestions by those who were involved in the early planning process. I didn't make them up by myself. I don't care if people alter the original recipe to get a good result but I think that it should be stated in their critique, as people have been doing. It may make judging a little difficult but we'll figure something out on how to fairly judge all the recipes...including the altered ones.
I've just frosted my SW cake based on the old recipe. I really liked the texture, I'll be posting pictures soon.
I also want to try the new version but I was wondering if anybody tried to mix the milk and sour cream together and just add that with the flour mixture. Would it make a difference?
sorry didn't get to post the pics of the SW cake yet... I too had problems with it...but only because I made half the recipe...so I really didn't have enough eggwhites to fold it in. That's where I thought it made the cake sank. Adding the milk made it curdle too, even tho the milk I use is Parmalat brand which doesn't require refrigeration until opened, so I know that it's not the milk. Every ingredient was at room temperature. Is the amount of cake flour enough for the liquid that we are putting in?
The top of the cake was fine, but the bottom was just a flop. But I didn't throw it out even tho I knew it was a flop. In fact it tasted good...I'll try to make it again someday.
OMG I just completed the pages posted so far, I am in training I have learn so much from cake central. Oh whoa you guys has a great thread here. Hope you guys do not mind me putting my two cents in. My first baking experience was scratch. Since joining cake central I am gaining a new prospective about cake and learning a great deal of knowledge. I love scratch baking, Ah, I just love baking period. 
I have made the Whimical Bakehouse and Toba Garrett's recipe before. I liked Toba Garrett's recipe, I cannot wait to try Sylvia W's old and new verison tomorrow. I will take in consideration all the information been posted about SW new version.
When I begin the flour/sour cream additions I turn the KA down to a 2 and very slowly add flour scraping down the sides, then sour cream scraping down the sides until all is added.
I was rereading your post (and taking notes) so I could try the recipe again tonight (before I realized I didn't have enough sour cream). When I tried the Serious Cakes recipe from youtube (haven't posted results yet), towards the end of the video (on her last step of mixing the liquid and flour in) she mentions something along the lines of 'I do the last mixing of flour by hand because I don't want to overbeat'. So my impression of the whole adding of liquid and flour to recipes was that it was supposed to just be until the substance was mixed in. I'm thinking I did it for less than 30 seconds. Do you think I need to increase the time I am mixing between adding the flour or milk. For instance, tonight, I did Lita's cake and I mixed in 1/5 of the flour, beat for 1 minute, scraped down the bowl, added 1/4 of the milk, beat for 1 minute, added in some flour, beat for 1 minute, scraped down bowl, repeated and ended with flour. Sorry for what must seem like a stupid question to you. I'm obviously new. But I can already tell now that one of my problems with scratch cakes (specifically yellow cakes) was that I wasn't doing the initial creaming right. I'm now wondering if I am mixing too little or too long for as I add in the flour/milk.
I think the most important step in this cake is the addition of the whipped egg whites. You want them to be soft peaks but not too soft, yet not stiff and dry either. They need to be well incorporated right down to the bottom of your bowl. Gently folding so as not to deflate them.
ummm... I totally missed this part when I read your post the first few times. I think I got the soft peaks part right, but when I added them I think they deflated. Just how mixed in do they need to be. I was worried that the "streaks" of egg white in my mix (which was really, really yellow) meant that the eggs weren't getting incorporated into the mix. So, should I just gently fold them in to get them to the bottom with a couple of swipes and then call it quits and let the streaks stay? Sorry again for another question that must seem ridiculously silly to you! Your information was soooo helpful in your first answer. Thanks again for everything.
Notapro...NO question is a dumb question. We are all here to learn from each other . As far as my cake goes (Lita's), I cream the butter and sugar for about 2 min or until light and fluffy. I, also, put in 1/4th combined dry, 1/3 of milk...and so on, ending with the dry...mixing until incorporated after each addition. (I should have clarified it in the instructions...sorry about that 
).
For SW original recipe, I whipped the egg whites until soft peaks form (you'll know that the peaks are soft if they have turned from clear to white and when you lift the beaters, they fold down on themselves...stiff peaks stay perky). During blending, I added about 1/3 of the whites to the batter and gently but completely folded them in. I repeated the process 2 more times. I didn't leave any white streaks but I did fold VERY gently.
I hope this helps
Okay for everyone who has tested Sylviaâs New yellow cake and considered it too moist and mushy listen up. I did a taste test today and got some surprising results.
I baked the New Sylvia cake yesterday and considered it a flop. Too moist. Too mushy. I threw it all in the trash, or thought I did. This morning I found the second layer of the cake still wrapped up and sitting on the counter. I decided to take it to the party to see what others thought of it.
I was astonished to find that about half the guests considered it an awesome tasting cake!!!! They thought it was moist and tender and tasted divine. You could have knocked me down with a feather. The other half of the guest gave it very low marks. They thought (like me) that it was too moist and gummy.
So this is one of those cakes that elicit strong reactions. You either love it or hate it.
WoW Buttermilk Cake
OK.....I would still call this a white cake, despite the three sticks of butter. But since we have it here in our yellow cake off, I will report in.
I made this tonight on the strength of Maryjsgirl's review in the original bake-off post. It is to die for!! Yum!!!
1. Flavor .......really wonderful.....sweet, buttery, scent of vanilla....yum
2. Texture/Crumb .....it is very light and fluffy. My camera has no batteries, so I could not take a pic, but there was a pic in the original bake-off post from Maryjsgirl. I did not have the air pockets in mine, that were evident in that picture. Otherwise it looks the same.
The cake's biggest downfall is in this category, though. I think at room temp it is a little too delicate. I wanted to make it the middle layer of a 3 tier cake and I am second guessing that idea now.
3. Moistness......nicely moist. Crumbs stick together with no hint of greasiness.
4. Ease of Recipe.....very easy. No extra steps. Cream butter and sugar. Mix together dry ingredients. Add dry to creamed mixture, alternatively with buttermilk. Scratch bakers could do this in our sleep, right?
5. Cost of Recipe .....average, 3 sticks of butter is the most expensive ingredient
6. Ability to convert into cupcakes .....Didn't try. Although two people on the original post both said it's a no go.
My husband and I both loved this cake. That is saying something, as my husband is usually a "choc cake only" kind of guy and he was going on and on about the taste and texture of this. Unfortunately, I think it is not a really sturdy cake at room temp. Would be fine as a stand alone cake, but I am concerned about stacking it. I would give it about an 8 overall....if it was sturdier, I would rate it higher.
When I begin the flour/sour cream additions I turn the KA down to a 2 and very slowly add flour scraping down the sides, then sour cream scraping down the sides until all is added.
I was rereading your post (and taking notes) so I could try the recipe again tonight (before I realized I didn't have enough sour cream). When I tried the Serious Cakes recipe from youtube (haven't posted results yet), towards the end of the video (on her last step of mixing the liquid and flour in) she mentions something along the lines of 'I do the last mixing of flour by hand because I don't want to overbeat'. So my impression of the whole adding of liquid and flour to recipes was that it was supposed to just be until the substance was mixed in. I'm thinking I did it for less than 30 seconds. Do you think I need to increase the time I am mixing between adding the flour or milk. For instance, tonight, I did Lita's cake and I mixed in 1/5 of the flour, beat for 1 minute, scraped down the bowl, added 1/4 of the milk, beat for 1 minute, added in some flour, beat for 1 minute, scraped down bowl, repeated and ended with flour. Sorry for what must seem like a stupid question to you. I'm obviously new. But I can already tell now that one of my problems with scratch cakes (specifically yellow cakes) was that I wasn't doing the initial creaming right. I'm now wondering if I am mixing too little or too long for as I add in the flour/milk.
I think the most important step in this cake is the addition of the whipped egg whites. You want them to be soft peaks but not too soft, yet not stiff and dry either. They need to be well incorporated right down to the bottom of your bowl. Gently folding so as not to deflate them.
ummm... I totally missed this part when I read your post the first few times. I think I got the soft peaks part right, but when I added them I think they deflated. Just how mixed in do they need to be. I was worried that the "streaks" of egg white in my mix (which was really, really yellow) meant that the eggs weren't getting incorporated into the mix. So, should I just gently fold them in to get them to the bottom with a couple of swipes and then call it quits and let the streaks stay? Sorry again for another question that must seem ridiculously silly to you!
Your information was soooo helpful in your first answer. Thanks again for everything.
Hi notapro,
Your questions are definitely not silly. You are correct that the flour shouldn't be over mixed it could make your cake tough. It sounds like you're doing this step fine. Mix on a lower speed, alternating the flour and sour cream, scraping down the bowl after each addition.
Now for the egg whites, lita's advice is perfect. You want them well incorporated into the batter, so be sure the white streaks are mixed in completely. I use a very large rubber spatula to do this step.
How did you like the cake?
morecakePlz, that cake looks beautiful! Seriously! I bet I would love it. it looks very moist and tender, just the way I like my cakes.
WoW Buttermilk Cake
OK.....I would still call this a white cake, despite the three sticks of butter. But since we have it here in our yellow cake off, I will report in.
I made this tonight on the strength of Maryjsgirl's review in the original bake-off post. It is to die for!! Yum!!!
1. Flavor .......really wonderful.....sweet, buttery, scent of vanilla....yum
2. Texture/Crumb .....it is very light and fluffy. My camera has no batteries, so I could not take a pic, but there was a pic in the original bake-off post from Maryjsgirl. I did not have the air pockets in mine, that were evident in that picture. Otherwise it looks the same.
The cake's biggest downfall is in this category, though. I think at room temp it is a little too delicate. I wanted to make it the middle layer of a 3 tier cake and I am second guessing that idea now.
3. Moistness......nicely moist. Crumbs stick together with no hint of greasiness.
4. Ease of Recipe.....very easy. No extra steps. Cream butter and sugar. Mix together dry ingredients. Add dry to creamed mixture, alternatively with buttermilk. Scratch bakers could do this in our sleep, right?
5. Cost of Recipe .....average, 3 sticks of butter is the most expensive ingredient
6. Ability to convert into cupcakes .....Didn't try. Although two people on the original post both said it's a no go.
My husband and I both loved this cake. That is saying something, as my husband is usually a "choc cake only" kind of guy and he was going on and on about the taste and texture of this. Unfortunately, I think it is not a really sturdy cake at room temp. Would be fine as a stand alone cake, but I am concerned about stacking it. I would give it about an 8 overall....if it was sturdier, I would rate it higher.
I am thinking if I don't find a yellow cake that I like better I will play around subbing whole eggs.
Did you set some aside to test in a couple of days? I was amazed at how moist it still was after sitting for two days!
I am almost tempted to try the SW *new* cake just to see if I can get it to come out. It seems almost like a challenge now, lol. I only have one baseball game tomorrow so I am hoping to get into the kitchen. Although I already have cookie dough cheesecake leftovers...doh.
mlwideman..........one time I tried K8's method of adding the eggs together without whipping the whites. For me it was more dense and I prefer the extra step of whipping the whites and folding them in, it makes for a lighter cake.
I've never made it by separately whipping the eggs* so I can't compare but I'm curious, did you use four egg yolks like Sylvia's original formula or two like in my mutation of her formula with the extra quarter cup of flour? But I'm pretty sure doing your way would make a lighter cake, but how many egg yolks didja use?
Mine comes out like WASC--and I wonder if I cut back on the flour if that would lighten it up.
And I know you did not like wasc--but I think if you used self rising flour you'd get a better result but it is a workhorse cake--not necessarily super light--serves lovely--no crumbling--great for tier cake I think. I use splash and real thick layers of filling so it works for me.
*I start thinking about cakes I've had where I can taste the egg white and I get nervous about mixing so much it deflates and not mixing enough so I can taste it--it's like when my husband tried to teach me how to drive a stick with the emergency brake inadvertently left on--it just ain't happening. Worlds collide.
Geez I gotta lotta luggage huh. 
PS. How do you spell Debbie? Debi? Debbi?
Hi K8,
When I tried the SW version adding the entire eggs at once, I used your directions so I guess it would be SWK8 
I did use cake flour though, so that could be the culprit......hmmm, now I want to try it with self rising flour!
I know what you mean about the egg white thing. I hate when they're not well incorporated because you can definitely detect that "eggy" taste, or even little hard gooey pieces in the cake. I really have to watch myself so I don't rush that part.
Oh, I spell it Debbie, although everyone calls me Deb....'cept when I'm in trouble then it's DEBRA!!
Well, I did not register to test any recipes, so I hope it's okay that I post anyways. I've been wanting to try White on White cake for quite some time now, but haven't had the chance until my little boy wanted some cupcakes to take to school this morning. You may disregard this as I did not try it as a cake but rather as cupcakes and did not register for testing-not sure how strict are the rules 
White on White
1. Flavor - impressive, really buttery with a hint of vanila, just the right amount of sweetness, defnitely can tell it's a scratch cake, the flavor seems even more wonderful the next day. The cupcakes turned out white with a beautiful light yellow on top, sides, and bottom. I would not have called this a yellow cake though.
2. Texture/Crumb -light and fluffy, reminds me of boxed cake in texture, melts in your mouth, never goes gummy or wet when chewing. Cupcakes seemed really fragile when warm, but this morning they are firm, sliced nicely. Right after baked, they had a thin sugary crust, a little crunchy. This morning the tops are a tad sticky
3. Moistness- perfectly moist, not wet, not greasy
4. Ease of Recipe - easy enough, cream, mix, alternate-nothing unusual
5. Cost of Recipe - little higher than I'm used to due to the butter, but definitely not cost prohibitive
6. Ability to convert into cupcakes --probably not the best for the cupcakes. The taste and texture are wonderful, but the look is what gives. It took me couple of trys to figure out amount of batter in each cup. The batter rises during baking quite a bit, and then falls once out of the oven. I had to size it just right so the batter does not rize much pass the edge of the liners, otherwise sugary edges stick to the top of the liners while the rest of the cupcake falls. Cupcake also separates from the liner. In my case it worked okay though: I used double liners (foil and paper) and sized batter just right to avoid crusty edge on the top liners and then simply put swirled icing all the way to the edge. But of course, no perfectly domed cupcakes here.
Honestly, I loved the taste and texture, definitely will be trying it as a cake next time. I do not like cake, especially white cake, and I ate 3 cupcakes even before the icing went on it. Definitely a keeper! I'm giving it 9 out of 10 just on off chance there is something out there better than this one. Otherwise, I was quite impressed with this one.
P
I am ready to become tabulator, but someone will have to tell me what to do! I'm pretty lacking in the computer skills department, but I'm sure that if someone tells me what to do, I'll be able to do it. Ofcourse, if anyone else wants to, they are welcome to do this instead.
Well, I did not register to test any recipes, so I hope it's okay that I post anyways. I've been wanting to try White on White cake for quite some time now, but haven't had the chance until my little boy wanted some cupcakes to take to school this morning. You may disregard this as I did not try it as a cake but rather as cupcakes and did not register for testing-not sure how strict are the rules
White on White
1. Flavor - impressive, really buttery with a hint of vanila, just the right amount of sweetness, defnitely can tell it's a scratch cake, the flavor seems even more wonderful the next day. The cupcakes turned out white with a beautiful light yellow on top, sides, and bottom. I would not have called this a yellow cake though.
2. Texture/Crumb -light and fluffy, reminds me of boxed cake in texture, melts in your mouth, never goes gummy or wet when chewing. Cupcakes seemed really fragile when warm, but this morning they are firm, sliced nicely. Right after baked, they had a thin sugary crust, a little crunchy. This morning the tops are a tad sticky
3. Moistness- perfectly moist, not wet, not greasy
4. Ease of Recipe - easy enough, cream, mix, alternate-nothing unusual
5. Cost of Recipe - little higher than I'm used to due to the butter, but definitely not cost prohibitive
6. Ability to convert into cupcakes --probably not the best for the cupcakes. The taste and texture are wonderful, but the look is what gives. It took me couple of trys to figure out amount of batter in each cup. The batter rises during baking quite a bit, and then falls once out of the oven. I had to size it just right so the batter does not rize much pass the edge of the liners, otherwise sugary edges stick to the top of the liners while the rest of the cupcake falls. Cupcake also separates from the liner. In my case it worked okay though: I used double liners (foil and paper) and sized batter just right to avoid crusty edge on the top liners and then simply put swirled icing all the way to the edge. But of course, no perfectly domed cupcakes here.
Honestly, I loved the taste and texture, definitely will be trying it as a cake next time. I do not like cake, especially white cake, and I ate 3 cupcakes even before the icing went on it. Definitely a keeper! I'm giving it 9 out of 10 just on off chance there is something out there better than this one. Otherwise, I was quite impressed with this one.
P
Pebbles those look delicious..........is the recipe here in this thread or if you have the link handy could you post it please?
Thanks,
Deb
Thanks for your critique, Pebbles. And thank you, lostbaker for volunteering to be tabulator . I guess you could build a spread sheet (to make it easier for you to compare recipes) then take all the numerical values given to each cake and get an average for that cake. I guess the cake with the highest average wins? These are just suggestions...I can't think of any other way it can be done right now. You might think of a better way.
I need suggestions for the judging criteria for next month's scratch-off....Cheesecakes. I'll do the same as I did for this month, post a new tread on July 1st. Right now, I can think of:
1. Texture
2. Flavor
3. Firmness
4. East of preparation
5. Cost
Can anyone think of anything else that the cheesecakes can be judged on? Also, are there any rules of the scratch-off that should be changed for next month?
Pebbles those look delicious..........is the recipe here in this thread or if you have the link handy could you post it please?
Can anyone think of anything else that the cheesecakes can be judged on?
Crust
I was hoping that I would have baked and posted results already. Unfortunately not.... I had the longest week in my life this week. I had so much to do. I slept like a baby last night.
I will do the baking during the week and post results by week-end. Thanks for understanding.
TrinaR
Hi all, I did K8Memphis' Golden Cake;
Crumb: Light, medium density. not course.
Flavor: Buttery, but DH and son thought too lemony, I couldn't even taste the lemon!
Ease or Preparation: Easy
Cost: Average
Note: I baked my cakes on Monday, cooled them to warm to touch, wrapped them 2x in cling wrap then foil and froze them. Took out Thursday to fill & frost ate the cake Friday night. The cake looked great, it sprang back slowly and felt moist but, I thought the cake was dry! When you ate it it seemed flaky. I am pretty sure I didn't over bake. I baked at 325 for 60 minutes, was not pulled away from pans, tooth pick came out with a couple of crumbs, not wet.
I also made Serious_Cakes recipe only I used cake flour instead of AP flour. It was GREAT, light and airy moist, nice vanilla flavor. I really enjoyed it!
Sorry I couldn't take pictures, my camera broke so I am living off my phone cam.
Hi K8,
When I tried the SW version adding the entire eggs at once, I used your directions so I guess it would be SWK8
I did use cake flour though, so that could be the culprit......hmmm, now I want to try it with self rising flour!I know what you mean about the egg white thing. I hate when they're not well incorporated because you can definitely detect that "eggy" taste, or even little hard gooey pieces in the cake. I really have to watch myself so I don't rush that part.
Oh, I spell it Debbie, although everyone calls me Deb....'cept when I'm in trouble then it's DEBRA!!
>>>Ok wait-- I ditch two egg yolks in the SW and add a quarter cup flour--add eggs one at a time.
>>>I use self rising flour in the wasc that for me is actually wvsc due to that poor unfortunate soul hurling it at that one bridal show 'cause of the almond-- oopsy much? The v is for vanilla.
>>>But if I incorporate them (whipped egg whites) well they will deflate--I just can't do it --self defeating --how do you keep them puffy when they're all mixed in???
Oh OK I was confusing the self rising flour with the SW recipe....gotcha now. So you use self rising in your wvsc (lol.....not a fan of almond either).
I don't know that there's really anything different that I do with the folding of the egg whites. What I've discovered over time is to really spend a lot of time creaming up the butter/sugar until it's double in volume.
I don't worry too much about deflating the whites since the batter is already pretty light and airy.
So i dont know why but i NEVER get notices on this thread...
I made 3 cakes...Sylvia weinstocks, toba garetts & serious cakes... I made about 12 people try ll 3 cakes and decide...
Weinstock
1. Flavor ....... Very nice vanilla flavor although maybe a tad too sweet, tasted to me like a sugar cookie which i really liked
2. Texture/Crumb ..... It was a denser cake very thick and full. Would be a good cake to carve.
3. Moistness...... Was very moist, even on the 3rd day
4. Ease of Recipe..... beating egg whites is always a pita but for a good cake i dont mind.
5. Cost of Recipe ..... I dont keep sour cream on hand nor cake flour so it was a little more expensive for me
6. Ability to convert into cupcakes .....Didn't try
Rating 8 out of 10
This was the top pick for everyone that tasted the cakes (besides 1 person) I will most likely make this one again esp if i need to carve...
Toba
1. Flavor ....... Lacking tasted like nothing to me
2. Texture/Crumb ..... nice texture
3. Moistness...... was very dry... even, duh more so on day 3
4. Ease of Recipe..... easy peasy
5. Cost of Recipe ..... i dont keep buttermilk on hand other than that fine cost
6. Ability to convert into cupcakes .....Didn't try
Rating a 2 out of 10
No one that tasted the cakes liked this at all I will never make this again
Serious
1. Flavor ....... Nice flavor not to strong idk why but tasted a bit like anise to me??
2. Texture/Crumb ..... Nice texture small crumb
3. Moistness...... was alright not as moist as I would like... got alittle dry on day 3
4. Ease of Recipe..... Very easy
5. Cost of Recipe ..... Normal... everything i stock and shortening is el chepo!
6. Ability to convert into cupcakes .....Didn't try
I rate a 6 out of 10
some one did like this better the weinstocks and was a runner up and close call in general but I wouldnt use this ever again
All in all I will be sticking with my recipe.... Very very moist.... Might try to tweak weinstocks a bit and see what happens...
GEEEZZZ! I just figured out why my SW Yellow Cake failed me. I knew I did something wrong... anyway, I mistakenly added a whole cup of milk to the 1/2 recipe that I was doing... As I said, it tasted good even tho it came out dense.
I'll try it again sometime.
I wonder if using butter Crisco would give Serious Cakes' recipe a better flavor?
I was astonished to find that about half the guests considered it an awesome tasting cake!!!! They thought it was moist and tender and tasted divine. You could have knocked me down with a feather. The other half of the guest gave it very low marks. They thought (like me) that it was too moist and gummy.
So this is one of those cakes that elicit strong reactions. You either love it or hate it.
This wasn't a 'love it' or 'hate it' situation for me. It was a total fail. It wasn't just too moist or gummy. There was a definite line between the top inch and the bottom inch of the cake, like they were two different cakes. The top looked fine. The bottom looked like wet fudge. There's no way anyone could have loved mine.
Then again, I did substitute the buttermilk for the sour cream. So it is impossible for me to judge the recipe itself. At any rate...SW part deux is in the oven, following ALL of dkelly's advice...and using sour cream.
The batter came out much better this time and after 35 minutes in the oven so far, the cake is a good 3/4" over the top of my 8 x 2" rounds. So I'm optimistic!!
Thanks for all you attention to our dilemma with this cake, dkelly! I'll report back with results.
You're very very welcome! I love this cake so much that I want all of you to have the same success and love it too!
Keeping my fingers crossed for ya artscallion, but it sounds like this one's gonna be a winner since it's rising so much already.
Can't wait for the report!
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