The Great Scratch-Off...Yellow Cakes - Page 20

so you mix all your batters the day before baking?

i did not know this was possible

I can hear cakes failing all over the world...

IMPORTANT NOTE: It should be noted that this DOES NOT WORK for all cakes! This, specifically WILL NOT WORK for cakes that use baking soda alone, as opposed to the ones mentioned here that use baking powder.

Baking powder uses heat to activate its leavening actions. So it can generally be prepared ahead without fear. One caveat is that most baking powder available today is 'double acting'. This means that in addition to the leavening that is activated by heat, it also contains a leavening element that is activated by liquid. So as soon as it is mixed with liquid, leavening happens.

So with double acting baking powder, it will only give you the benefits of single acting baking powder if you make it ahead of time and don't bake it right away. Your cake will rise, but not as much as it would have if you had baked it right away.

If you normally use single acting baking powder anyway, delayed baking will change nothing.

Baking soda, on the other hand, ONLY reacts when mixed with a liquid. It must be baked right away or all the leavening will happen before baking, causing bubbles to form and rise to the top of the batter where they escape into the air. No second leavening will happen when heating occurs.

Baking soda alone is generally found in recipes where another acidic ingredient is present, such as chocolate, cocoa (non-dutch processed) buttermilk, etc

wow, thanks artscallion for the chemistry lesson, i wondered the difference between using baking soda/powder. cool info!

That's exactly what I was thinking -- as soon as the liquid hits the leavening you have to bake it immediately or risk ruining the cake. I confess I'm still leary of the waiting until tomorrow and freezing the batter techniques...

My second attempt at the new SW recipe is in the oven right now. I thought it was looking good until I added the whipped egg whites. I think regardless of whether it turns out well this time or not, this recipe is not for me. Way to unpredictable (for me anyway).

EDITED to add: Just got it out of the oven and cooled. I cut one layer and I got the same result as last time. Yuck! I am going to wait to cut the second layer until tomorrow morning to see if that makes a difference. The layer I cut today still had the two distinctive layers within it with the top of the cake being light and the bottom being a mushy mess.

OK I did a bad thing. I baked two recipes. But not the ones I signed up for! I was making cakes for my daughters teachers and wanted to use a TNT recipe so I made the Rebecca Rather/WOW Buttermilk. At the last minute I decided to make cupcakes for the rest of the staff so I thought it would be a good chance to try the SW recipe since everyone was raving about it. I DO still plan to bake the two I signed up for! But that wont be til the end of this week or early next.

SoI figured I might as well add my reviews to the mix.

I signed up for Photobucket so that I could post photos. I just have far too many to post in this thread. http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv321/ceshell/Cake%20Central%20Yellow%20Scratch-Off/ I'll attach the two cuppies side by side though, here in the thread, for easy reference.

Sylvia Weinstock's Classic Yellow Cake
Flavor: I dont know what it is about this cake, but I have to agree, it really has a delicious flavor. I think its the sour cream. I know it is billed as a buttery cake but thats not what Im gettingI just get yummy.
Texture: This is an area where I dont really know how to describe cake! I want to call this dense but light. Is that a texture? It didnt have big fluffy air pockets, yet it didnt feel heavy in the mouth. VelvetyI agree with whoever used that term for this cake.
Moistness: Moist; great mouth-feel. Moist but not wet. Melts in your mouth.
Cost: Moderate. More $ than normal due to the cake flour and entire container of sour cream.
Ease: Moderate. I used to fear folded-egg-white recipes but I have since learned that you dont have to be quite so precious about getting the ew in. The extra step is surely a pain in the butt but it doesnt ruin my day.

Cupcake Potential: I ONLY baked cupcakes, and they came out fine! They were a little fragile coming out of the oven and a few wrappers separated, but mostly due to user error. I did not use any cupcake baking techniques to attempt to get domed tops. Mine cooled to flat. I think I overfilled the tins (even though I got 27 cc's out of the recipe) as the edges stuck to the cupcake tin during the rising part of baking...so that created unsightly edges. I did turn them onto a cooling rack but I uprighted them immediately. Although it imprinted them, they remained sturdy.

A very, very tasty cake. As I mentioned, I cant put my finger on it; on the one hand its missing something for me, which I think is the vanilla-y, buttery flavor. On the other hand, it has its own richness and delectable taste, that I found myself craving more. I planned to freeze at least one to use to compare when I bake my other two cakesbut I couldnt help myself, I ate them all . I give it an 8.5 out of 10

Rebecca Rathers White on White Buttermilk Cake
Flavor: I just LOVE the flavor of this cake. The buttermilk zing and vanilla-y goodness makes this one of my favorite cakes ever.
Texture: Remember, I dont know how to describe the crumb. How embarrassing. I would call this light andoh I give up. It is not velvety and melty like the SW cake. Its just light and cakey. I need a lesson in cake evaluation.
***BTW I dont find this cake fragile at all, once its cooled. I have torted and stacked it numerous times. Do not fear this cake!***
Moistness: Moderate. Not even remotely dry, but not super-moist like a box cake. Its just kind of normal and just right for me.
Cost: Moderate. Uses cake flour. However, egg whites-only mean you can get more value if you have a custard or lemon curd on the menu.
Ease: Easy. The hardest thing about this recipe is not eating all of the batter with a spoon
Cupcake Potential: NO. I have tried this recipe as cupcakes numerous times, and they always fail. Although I describe the moistness factor as moderate, I am describing kind of the mouth-feel. In actuality though, they bake up so moist that the wrappers always, and I do mean ALWAYS separate. I have that in my Photobucket stream. Also they flatten up something fierce, even to the point of caving in just a little. If you need flat cupcakes with no wrappers though, go for it .

I just love this taste. To me it has a sophisticated flavor. I agree with MJGs earlier review where she said it tasted kind of like a butter cookie. Thats a good thing in my book! 9 out of 10.

For what its worth, I did not have any problems with the SW cake. I dont know if baking cupcakes had anything to do with it, but they all baked up evenly with none of that gummy bottom layer people are complaining about.

I only had one taster, which was my dh. He had no idea which recipes Id baked, and he voted for the RR/WOW cake. I love them both, but for different reasons.

Please remember to view the pics here!! http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv321/ceshell/Cake%20Central%20Yellow%20Scratch-Off/ . Click on the first picture so that you can read my comments under each pic. I've never used photobucket so I hope I did that right.

great reviews ceshell. Did you use the original SW recipe or the updated one that has the additional cup of milk in it? The updated one is the one we're having trouble with. The original recipe seems to get the same good results for everybody that you got.

Did you use an entire 16oz. container of sour cream? or 8oz? It only calls for 1 cup, so I'm curious if you used double the sourcream and it still came out good, you may be onto something.

ceshell: great pics on the photobucket site. i noticed that you peeled the top of the WoW cake off. is this something you normally do as i have never seen or heard of this being done. is there a specific reason to do this? just curious

Hi everyone! To answer your questions:
1-I made the original SW cake. Oops, I thought that a few people experienced problems with that recipe. If all of the gummy problems are with the newer recipe, that totally makes sense about the extra milk. I used to have the same problem with ALL my white/yellow cakes before I weighed my flour, as I was WAY undermeasuring the flour. I can't even imagine that the recipe can tolerate that much extra liquid
2-Sour cream, no it was an 8oz container
3-I always peel off the top of the wow cake. I don't know why; it just seems to make sense. I figure, if it wants to come off, who am I to argue with it? I first started doing it when I had problems w/the recipe due to the flour issue I just mentioned (the top was actually gummy). Then when I fixed that problem it was already a habit. I know some people trim their tops; this cake doesn't dome but peeling off the crust is analagous to trimming it I think!

ceshell, when you peel off the top part of the cake, does the exposed part get dry quickly? i have problems with cakes having sticky tops and i figured doing that might help. it's so difficult to handle them