OK - I have on in the oven now. I went by the original recipie - shortening and 2.5 cups milk, and followed the directions exactly as written. The completed batter was almost soupy, not thick like the altered box cakes I usually make.
Those of you that tried the original version - does this sound right, or should I run to the store to get more ingredients?
TIA
i think most of have reduced the milk in the original recipe to 1 cup because 2 1/2 was too much.
how did your cake turn out?
i think most of have reduced the milk in the original recipe to 1 cup because 2 1/2 was too much.
how did your cake turn out?[/quote]
I actually used a little less than a cup, and it came out beautifully. I baked another one today, and again had excellant results... 
Update: Hubby left cake here instead of taking it to work, so I ate some cake with my coffee. Previously, I had only tried the cupcakes.
The cake was AWESOME. I've never such a great crumb in a cake. Almost like angel food cake but much more flavorful and denser/more sturdy.
To the question of how could those who use more milk/less milk have just as nice results - my guess is the results are different but still pleasing. I want to try this recipe again and use 2 cups (since butter has water, I don't think you could use 2.5 cups with that change) and see how it differs. I could be wrong but I'd guess it would be slightly less dense, which is not necessarily better, but could be equally good depending on what you are looking for. My results with 1 cup of milk yielded a cake that would be perfect for carving. With more milk it might be lighter and fluffier, which is always good, but more suited to other purposes.
Now what will I do with another cake when I experiment again this weekend? I already have a whole one to eat! 
ETA: Would everyone mind posting what mixing technique they use also? The recipe is mostly a "dump it all at once" kind, but I did mine different and I know others have creamed butter and sugar first, etc. That would be another interesting experiment... what the different mixing techniques produce.
How can those who use 1 cup come out as nice as those who used 2 1/2 cups?
GrandmaG... I don't think anyone here has tried the full 2 1/2 cups the recipe called for; if so, please let us know. It is the opinion that if using butter instead of shortening, you need less liquid.
Larkin... I used the creaming method; butter/sugar, then eggs, one at a time (I used all egg whites), then flavorings, then sour cream, then alternating sifted dry ingredients (I used cake flour, sugar bp, and the 1/2 tsp bs, and salt) and the 3/4 cup milk. Baked at 335.. hth
larkin
i sifted the dry ingredients together in one bowl.
liquid, flavorings in another.
beat the egg whites s in a third bowl until they were frothy.
in the mixer i creamed butter and sugar, then added the liquids and dry ingredients alternately. i beat these for a couple of minutes, added the whites and beat 2 more minutes.
my cake is rather dense and easy to carve but the taste is light like angel food.
i'm going to increase the milk next time and see what happens.
I have made it twice. Both times I mixed like the recipe said (dumping everything/adding eggs last) and both times I have used 2 1/2 cups milk. I didn't find that it was too liquidy.
1st time - exacltly how the recipe was written
2nd time - I used butter instead of shortening, pumpkin instead of sour cream, & 1 cup pumpkin spice creamer + 1/1/2 cups milk.
Both times it came out wonderful. Very moist, tasty, and a great texture.Today I'm going to try lemon by using lemon extract and yellow by using whole eggs and vanilla.
Larkin... I used the creaming method; butter/sugar, then eggs, one at a time (I used all egg whites), then flavorings, then sour cream, then alternating sifted dry ingredients (I used cake flour, sugar bp, and the 1/2 tsp bs, and salt) and the 3/4 cup milk. Baked at 335.. hth
[/i]
This is how I mixed also...except 1 cup milk
YeeHawwww~! I am happy to say that I entered this cake in a contest held by our City newspaper this morning; An annual event for Holiday recipes. I won the dessert catagory.. 
I paired the cake with a Lime Curd mousse filling, and an Almond Buttercream icing.. The chosen semi-finalists were notified a week ago, and had to prepare our recipes and bring them in this morning... There were 8 different catagories, and while the judges did their scoring, we were all treated to a catered luncheon. It was a fabulous experience... especially since I won...
WOW that's great....Congratulations! I knew as soon as I made this it was a winner!
So, what did you win?
Me too... this is a great recipe~! Gift bags, and bragging rights, Also pictures of my cake with recipes in a special publication in the newspapaer.. I am happy with bragging rights..
WOW that's great....Congratulations! I knew as soon as I made this it was a winner!
So, what did you win?
Me too... this is a great recipe~! Gift bags, and bragging rights,
Also pictures of my cake with recipes in a special publication in the newspapaer.. I am happy with bragging rights..
congrats!!!!
lime curd sounds really good!
I'm sorry if I missed this, but is everyone using whole milk?
i've used either coffee creamer or skim milk with excellent results!
ETA: Would everyone mind posting what mixing technique they use also? The recipe is mostly a "dump it all at once" kind, but I did mine different and I know others have creamed butter and sugar first, etc. That would be another interesting experiment... what the different mixing techniques produce.
I made it twice. The first time I creamed the shortening and sugar together and then added eggs and then dry ingredients alternating with liquids. Second time I just followed the directions and basically dumped it all at once. I could tell no difference in the results.
I'm sorry if I missed this, but is everyone using whole milk?
I always use whole milk in anything that I bake. Don't know if that's good, bad, or indifferent but it seems to work okay. Plus I have little kids so we always have it on hand!
Whole milk, technically, is what is meant by milk in a recipe unless otherwise stated. You can use 2% fine, and sometimes 1% depending on how forgiving the recipe is.
What I did was mix the flour and butter first until fine like sand, then all the wet in for 2 minutes. I learned that way from another recipe and last night found an amazing blog post on the science of that technique. It said you can use it on any recipe at all... it produces the most tender cake of all the mixing styles, but you give up some height. Creaming, on the other hand, gives you the lightest cake that rises highest but without as tender as a crumb. All depends what you are looking for!
Now, if I have the time someday, I'd like to try this recipe with 3 different mixing styles just to see the difference!
i do wonder ,the original recipie said mix all dry inngredient and liquid,but it dosnt said if you beat the egg white or just dump them in the mix,i want to try it but i dont want to waste my time and money,can anybody tell me 
CakesbyLJ- Congrats on your win! That is soo awesome.
As for the previous question about how to incorporate the egg whites- I have always used the oh-so-unsophisticated method of just dumping them in without any pre-whisking or anything.
CakesbyLJ- Congrats on your win! That is soo awesome.
As for the previous question about how to incorporate the egg whites- I have always used the oh-so-unsophisticated method of just dumping them in without any pre-whisking or anything.
Thank you LorienSkye for sharing this gem with us, and edencakes for posting the original... I want to try the pumpkin spice this week, it might be my choice for Thanksgiving this year..
i had tried the pumpkin recipe with butter and 3/4 cup pumpkin spice creamer
today i tried increasing the creamer to 1 1/2 and it was fluffier. it's a keeper!
i'm still working on the lemon. today i used 1 1/2 cups liquid (half lemon juice and half skim milk) and the resulting cupcake was tart but the texture was gummy. i don't know if i underbaked or used too much liquid.
crazydoglady, do you add any canned pumpkin in place of sour cream in your pumpkin spice version? I'm wondering how that would work....
That is what I did plus the cinnamon and the nutmeg, recipe is in this thread. It is delicious, I iced with caramel buttercream, very yummy!
Did you just sub out the pumpkin for the sour cream (same measurements)? yes i used canned pumpkin (16 oz).
i've made this a few times with variations on the liquid but have always used canned pumpkin, cinammon and nutmeg. i'm loving the 1 1/2 cup milk or creamer.
i also like the pumpkin spice coffee creamer.
i just made regular butter cream with cinammon and nutmeg. i love the caramel buttercream idea!
this recipe is a big hit, i love it!!!
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