I made a Coconut cake.. Using D/Hines coconut cake mix.. followed directions except I used Coffee mate Coconut flavored cream for 1/2 of the liquid called for on the box.. I used water for the rest. eggs and oil as called for in the recipe Oh I added 1 box of Coconut pudding mix to it as well.. (Im thinking that is where i went wrong.. Cake took forever to bake I made a 8" and 12" and it came out crispy on edges and sunk in the middle.. and knife came out clean so it was done..
Would love anyones opinion on what I did wrong.. Thanks

If you use creamer instead of water in a cake mix, you have to use an extra egg. That's what I do, and I never have a problem with it sinking or the edges getting burnt. I hope this helps, and maybe someone else has some advice, too!

It might not have baked for long enough. Some of those heavy batters take an eternity to bake! I bake at 325 for about 80 min or so for a 8 in cake. I don't even touch the oven door for at least an hour. That usually helps bunches. I use pudding mixes and creamers all the time. I like to add an extra egg too like Starkie suggested. Good luck and don't give up on it

Ok sounds like I was ok with the ingredients huh? I will add another egg and I think I will use flower nails when baking as well couldn't hurt... and I will have another go at it.. Thanks for the help..

When I make a coconut cake, instead of adding all of the extra stuff, I make my standard yellow cake, adding a tsp of coconut extract. Then, when I take the cake out of the oven, while it is still in the pan, I poke holes all through it with a skewer and then pour on a can (approx 16 oz) of coconut milk/cream. Soooo good!

Coffee-Mate and pudding mix both contain significant amounts of sugar which in excess can cause a cake failure.*
Adding an egg as has been suggested might offset (stabilize) some of the "extra" ingredients.

Handy cake troubleshooting charts:

http://tinyurl.com/2p5bdu

http://tinyurl.com/32goqe

http://tinyurl.com/6c745g

http://tinyurl.com/6lpjww

Coconut Creme Coffee-Mate:
*http://www.coffee-mate.com/products/CoconutCremeLiquid.aspx?t=liquid

Jello coconut cream pudding:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000E1FXM0/?tag=cakecentral-20

HTH

P.S. It also seems to me that when some members say a cake recipe is "moist and dense" they're referring to an almost fudge brownie type consistency. (Which is okay for brownies, but which I don't care for in cake.)

Thanks JanH for the troubleshooting sites. I made a Strawberry Cake from scratch a few weeks ago for a friend that came out horrible. Even though I followed the directions to the letter, this cake was a disaster of epic proportions. The edges got crispy and shrunk away from the sides while the middle was still an oozy, liquid mess.... YUCK! In the end, I broke down and just bought a mix. My friend didn't mind and the mix disappeared the same day.