Today's $64 question is this---How many mistakes can a novice decorator make on one simple football cake?

The short answer is: TOO MANY! Wrong cake mix, wrong BC recipe, the worst disaster I have had to date. I know, I probably should try to make my own cake, rather than relying on box mixes, but this was supposed to be just a whimsical gift to friends who invited me to their football party.

I've always relied on Pillsbury cake mixes for my cakes and have never had any true issues. This time, however, my local grocery had DH on sale and I thought, "DH, gotta be good."

Oh was I so wrong. The batter was closer to cookie dough than cake batter. I have never seen such a thick mess. Then, it took almost an hour for the dang thing to bake. Once it was completely baked, it had a crisp crust.

Then, silly me, I decided since I had it in front of me, I would use Wilton's BC recipe. I'm not sure if that was mistake one or one hundred and one. LOL It wouldn't crust and no matter what I attempted, I couldn't smooth the surface to save me.

Needless to say, I went to the party without the cake. I have a cake planned for a Thanksgiving dinner and I'm now beginning to question my ability to produce anything worth having.

Any suggestions?

TIA

DH is usually a very sturdy reliable cake mix as is Betty Crocker or Pillsbury.Some days we have problems from start to finish...Sorry about your football cake!

I'm sorry this happened to yo. Have you ever tried using a cake mix extender? I always use one with my cake mixes and it makes a nice sturdy cake that is moist. I have a great cake extender recipe in my recipes. I use all types of cake mixes and never have any issues with the extended recipe. HTH & better luck next time!

I love DH!! But I'm more into scratch cakes now.

Lilscakes: What's an extender?

I'm sorry this happened to you. You should NOT give up. this is the thing you will discover about baking and decorating, what works for you will not always work for someone else and visa versa. It's the beauty of our craft, your always learning.

Not sure what was causing your problems, but I've never had issues with DH cake mix. I use it almost exclusively, but I also use the WASC recipe for just about every cake I make and just alter the flavors.

The Wilton BC recipe is not much different from other crusting BC recipes, but if you were using crisco that was probably why it wouldn't crust for you, if you weren't adding meringue powder. I don't touch Crisco unless I have meringue powder to help it crust. It just isn't the same now that they've made it trans fat free.

I've found that Target brand shortening has trans fats still, so I usually go out of my way to buy it from there. Most other store brands (like Walmart) are trans fat free, but if I remember correctly, Food Lion's brand still has the trans fats.

Sorry you didn't get to take a cake to your party. I'm sure they would have loved it even if the icing wasn't perfectly smooth though. We're our own worst critics.

I also had a rough day today making a cake. I forgot the oil and started all over. UGH.
How does that saying go? Somedays your the bug and somedays your the windshield.

I also use DH almost exclusively, without any problem. In fact, I would use DH before Pillsbury any day. Maybe you had a bad batch of eggs or something. You ought to try indydebi's crusting buttercream (awesome).

I'm not about to give up. As a matter of fact, I have a cake on the agenda today for a party tomorrow. I think my disaster was just one of those things. I just printed out Indydebi's BC recipe. Can't wait to try it. Many thanks to all of you.

The Thanksgiving cake was a huge success! Pics are up. Still need some practice, but I'm getting there. Thanks again everyone for your tips and suggestions.

Sounds like you just had a bad cake day - we all have em'!

I'm thinking you mixed it wrong??? I LOVE DH....

Jen

I figure it was just a bad day all around. As cakesrock said, we all have 'em. Currently looking at past Christmas cakes here on CC to find inspiration for a office party cake. Life goes on.

I really like using cake mix, depending on the project. If I need something sturdy, like a tiered cake, I definately prefer scratch. If youre having trouble with box I have had the most success with using the cake doctor book to "fix them up". She gives really great solutions to take DH, betty crocker or pillsbury and make them taste and feel like scratch.