Help Scratch Bakers!! Dede Wilson Cake Was All Wrong!!

Baking By DebbyJG Updated 29 May 2012 , 2:54pm by ladyonzlake

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DebbyJG Posted 31 May 2010 , 4:09pm
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I've been making Dede Wilson's yellow and white cakes for months now, and I thought they were turning out fine. A little dry as written, but I've been adding a scoop of sour cream before measuring out the whole milk, then adding a couple tablespoons of veg oil as my last step before pouring out into pans. I've had great success with her recipes, modified as I stated, but I realized this weekend that the only ones I've tasted myself of the yellow and white cakes have been up to only about an 8 inch cake. But I've made plenty of BIGGER cakes with the same recipes.

Since I usually drop off the cakes, I'm not there for the cake cutting so I've just assumed the big cakes tasted as good as the smaller ones I've had. This weekend I made a 10 inch square for a birthday cake for my aunt. I was mortified when the cake was cut and served, because it was SO INCREDIBLY DRY I couldn't even take it. (And I'm used to scratch cake, not the overly moist mouth feel of mix cakes.) And all the buttercreme I'd put on the cake, which was a considerably thicker layer than I usually put for being under a layer of fondant, since I know my family are all frosting nuts, had all but disappeared -- I think it must have soaked into the crazy dryness of the cake, but so the end result was a dry yellow cake, with barely any frosting to make it palatable. I was so embarrassed -- and this was for my whole extended family who has been hearing for months all about my scratch cakes. They were all excited to try it themselves.

For this bigger cake, I dropped the temp down to 325 (and used flower nails, as usual). Other than the temp lowering, I did everything the exact same as when I've made the smaller, and successful, cakes. I'm so upset about this because now I'm afraid all the bigger cakes I've made and dropped off have been equally as dry and uneatable, and no one has told me.

Anyone have any other ideas what I need to do differently for bigger cakes, or if you know of a really good scratch recipe that sn't as dense as pound cake like I've found the scratch wasc to be? I like that Dede Wilson's recipe is relatively light and fluffy, and with my modifcations, has actually been moist even wthout adding a syrup to the top. That is, at least it was for the SMALLER cakes I've had. What did I do wrong??? I have another wedding cake to do this weekend, so I'm feeling all the more nervous that I've been making dry cakes for months and never knew it... icon_sad.gif

53 replies
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Aimomo26 Posted 31 May 2010 , 4:43pm
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Is it possible you are just over cooking it? If its the same recipe it should come out the same. I would just check it sooner and/or do a test run.

Bigger cakes continue cooking after you take them out of the oven - because it takes them longer to cool off. That might be part of your problem there. I would recommend taking it out of the oven sooner than you would for a smaller cake and let it cool. When you test it with a toothpick you want some crumbs to come off with it. (obviously not globs just crumbs)


Thats what works for me! Good luck!

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DebbyJG Posted 31 May 2010 , 4:59pm
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Yeah, I tested it at the time I would have expected it to be done, but it came back still wet and gloopy in the middle. So I let it cook for 4 minutes more before testing it again. This time it came back with just a few crumbs. Nothing seemed amiss... Maybe I let it sit too long in the pan before turning it out? I wonder how much it continues to cook in the pan... my pan directions said to let cool in the pan for 12 minutes, which is what I did.

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Aimomo26 Posted 31 May 2010 , 5:11pm
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[quote="DebbyJG"]Yeah, I tested it at the time I would have expected it to be done, but it came back still wet and gloopy in the middle. So I let it cook for 4 minutes more before testing it again. This time it came back with just a few crumbs. Nothing seemed amiss... Maybe I let it sit too long in the pan before turning it out? I wonder how much it continues to cook in the pan... my pan directions said to let cool in the pan for 12 minutes, which is what I did.[/quote]

That is strange - maybe turn your oven off when its still gloppy? And let it sit - or turn your oven down a little bit when you are cooking it and keep a thermometer handy there to keep an eye on the temperature. You might have to experiment to get it right, bigger cakes are trickier.

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LindaF144a Posted 31 May 2010 , 9:05pm
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I just read on another website forum where the person called Dede's recipe a pound cake like recipe. Can you post the ingredients and the amounts? I have made up an excel spreadsheet where I can figure out the proportions to the flour and the total percentage in the cake.

Me personally, I would start trying other recipes in other books. I don't have Dede's book here to look at the recipe. I can get it from my local library though. As far as other yellow cakes, I wouldn't try Cake Love, they are also pound cake like cakes. Maybe you might try The Cake Bible because she also has a chart in the back that helps you when you make cakes of various sizes. I haven't personally tried to make other yellow cakes. But there are a ton of them out there that are all yellow cakes but have different amounts of ingredients and different ways of mixing the cake to make it moister. I would recommend a trip to your local library and start there. I have a list of yellow butter cakes I want to try. It's just that we are a little caked out here, so I'm taking a baking break for a couple of weeks.

Good luck. I would love to hear what you decided to do.

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(And I'm used to scratch cake, not the overly moist mouth feel of mix cakes.)




My scratch cakes are just as moist as a mix. I have to tell people when I make a mix or scratch as they can never tell the difference. The last batch of vanilla cupcakes I made - from The Cake Bible - went over so well that people were eating 2 to 3 instead of one. So I'm not quite getting what you mean by the overly dry for scratch. In fact my MIL, when she used to make cakes, made them from a mix. They were so dry that I always made sure to bring a half gallon of ice cream to serve with it as a "surprise" for everybody. Actually it was so I get through eating the very dry cake.

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DebbyJG Posted 31 May 2010 , 10:32pm
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Wow, thanks for the info. I'd always heard that the cakes from The Cake Bible were dry as sandpaper, so I never even ventured to try them.

What I mean by the overly moist box cakes, is the high reliance on hydrogenated oil and a ton of vegetable oil and other ingredients that make it so moist. I don't know if you are from the U.S. or not, but most people are born and bred on box cakes, so it's what people are used to tasting, and when they taste scratch cakes it's a totally different experience. Not that it really ISN'T moist -- but it's a different mouth feel with box cakes. I'll have to try out the cake bible recipe.
And yes, I'll post my ingredients here in a moment...

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DebbyJG Posted 31 May 2010 , 10:41pm
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Okay, here's what I used for my 2- 10 inch square layers last weekend. I've noted an asterisk next to the modifications that I've made to Dede Wilson's recipe:

3 3/4 cup cake flour
1 TBS plus 1 3/4 tsp baking powder (I use non-aluminum kind)
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 tsp real vanilla extract
5 large eggs, room temp
1 1/4 cups whole milk, room temp *

*I add a few tablespoons of full-fat sour cream prior to measuring out the milk, so the milks in total equal the amount needed.
*4 TBS vegetable oil (added at the end, stirring in gently after milks and dry ingredients have been alternatly added in..I just add this for the aforementioned "mouth feel" that people like. Usually I do 2 T for 2 9 inch layers...maybe I needed more than 4 to make my 10 inches?)

I use the method of creaming the butter and sugar together and beat it until it's almost white, then I slow the mixer and gently add in the alternate milks and sifted dry ingredients.

I'd love ANY suggestions on where I've gone wrong! Like I said, I've had GREAT success with the smaller cakes...I know, I've sampled many of them (haha). But this was the first time I'd actually eaten one of the larger cakes using the recipe.

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prterrell Posted 31 May 2010 , 11:30pm
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The first thing I notice, is that that recipe has WAY too much baking powder in it. You only need 1 tsp per cup of flour. That's also a LOT of eggs.

I suggest you develop your own recipe to your own liking.

Start with the basic 1-2-3-4 cake and adjust from there:

1-2-3-4 cake
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups granulated sugar
3 cups sifted cake flour (this means sift the flour, then measure!)
4 large eggs, room temp
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp almond
1 cup milk

http://www.prestoflour.com/Portals/TheArtOfBaking/portal.aspx?tabid=14&rid=507

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cheatize Posted 1 Jun 2010 , 2:46am
post #9 of 54

When a recipe says sifted flour, you sift, then measure? I've wondered about this the last few times I've used sifted flour.

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DetailsByDawn Posted 1 Jun 2010 , 3:01am
post #10 of 54

If you're not ready to give up on this recipe, I would just suggest that you start torting. Torting is just one more way that you can make absolutley sure that your cake is the texture you desire, all the way through. If you're still finding them dry, then you can start adjusting from there. I also add sour cream to my scratch cakes, but I add about 1/4 cup per batch, after the milk.

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DebbyJG Posted 1 Jun 2010 , 3:48am
post #11 of 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheatize

When a recipe says sifted flour, you sift, then measure? I've wondered about this the last few times I've used sifted flour.




I've been doing it as I read about in Dede Wilson's book, which is sift it, then scoop and level.

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DebbyJG Posted 1 Jun 2010 , 3:55am
post #12 of 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by prterrell

The first thing I notice, is that that recipe has WAY too much baking powder in it. You only need 1 tsp per cup of flour. That's also a LOT of eggs.

http://www.prestoflour.com/Portals/TheArtOfBaking/portal.aspx?tabid=14&rid=507




Wouldn't too many eggs just make it too moist or maybe denser/heavier? In fact that was one of my suspicions -- I get my eggs from a local farmer, and thinking back on it, I think the most recent batch of eggs I got from her were smaller than normal. They would still be considered "large" by grocery store standards, but usually the eggs I get from her are pretty jumbo, and I've noticed with organic/free range eggs, the yolks are bigger usually. This last time, they looked more like standard grocery store eggs. So one of my theories was that this time, even though I put the same number of eggs in, I didn't quite have the same AMOUNT of eggs -- I usually have MORE, in other words. How does having too much eggs effect your balance?

My other thought/question is, I only use non-aluminum standard baking soda, not the "double acting". So knowing that, am I still using too much baking powder?
Maybe I should post my ingredient list for one of my smaller, such as an 8 inch, cakes, since I *know* those turn out right, so we can compare and see if the larger cake ingredient list is off!! icon_smile.gif

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DebbyJG Posted 1 Jun 2010 , 3:59am
post #13 of 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by DetailsByDawn

If you're not ready to give up on this recipe, I would just suggest that you start torting. Torting is just one more way that you can make absolutley sure that your cake is the texture you desire, all the way through. If you're still finding them dry, then you can start adjusting from there. I also add sour cream to my scratch cakes, but I add about 1/4 cup per batch, after the milk.




Yeah, I've been meaning to get that Agabay....once I can afford it! The last time I tried torting with my Wilton it was a disaster, and I just can't seem to get the knack of the knife and toothpick method. icon_smile.gif

So do you add the same amount of sour cream no matter how large your cake? And when you say after the milk, do you mean you add it in to the batter that has already incorporated the milk and the dry ingredients?

Thanks so much everyone, for all your tips. I really appreciate this. thumbs_up.gif

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DetailsByDawn Posted 1 Jun 2010 , 4:19am
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Yeah, I've been meaning to get that Agabay....once I can afford it! The last time I tried torting with my Wilton it was a disaster, and I just can't seem to get the knack of the knife and toothpick method. icon_smile.gif

So do you add the same amount of sour cream no matter how large your cake? And when you say after the milk, do you mean you add it in to the batter that has already incorporated the milk and the dry ingredients?




Hi Debbie,
Oooh, I can't afford the Agbay either! I just use my Wilton large leveler and it's okay. I don't bother to return the torted levels to their original location, since I can just use the filling to make sure it's level. I have occasionally caught a cake a bit on the dryer side (sidetracked with the kiddos and overcooked icon_redface.gif ), but I added some simple syrup or fruit juice and "fixed" it!

I add 1/4 cup of sour cream to one batch, which is about half the recipe you posted, as mine include 2 cups flour. I don't add it to the milk to make up the amount of milk I need. I add it separately after, along with the rest of the wet ingredients. It works in pretty much any recipe I do use, including bananna or carrot or chocolate - it just adds some moisture and density.. Hope this helps!!

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LindaF144a Posted 1 Jun 2010 , 1:30pm
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1. I agree with PTerrell - way too much baking powder. While sometimes leavening is put into a cake to tenderize it, it's not needed in this cake because it has not acidic ingredients in it.

2. Speaking of acidic. You are adding sour cream which is acidic without any baking soda. That may contribute to the dryness. I did a science experiment of sorts this past week where I tweaked baking soda in a cake and I shouldn't have. The cake was dry, dry, dry. You need 1/4 tsp of baking soda for each cup of flour and 1 tsp of baking powder for each cup of flour. The cake I failed was a chocolate cake so it needed lots of baking soda. Your cake could probably use 1/2 tsp of baking soda to start, with another 1 3/4 tsp of baking powder to equal the amount of flour. HOWEVER, you may need to "over leaven" in order tenderize, so I think you could co up to 1 tsp of baking soda and 1 tsp of baking powder. You can try this if you are willing to experiment.

3. The Cake Bible - I cant vouch for all her cakes, only the one I made which was the sour cream cake (I think it's called that). I added milk to it on the second batch. On the first batch it was okay. It felt like we were eating slightly sweetened bread. I loved the crumb, just not enough moisture. And I have found much moister and sweeter cake recipes out there then those. I don't understand sometimes the accolades the cakes get. Someday I'll try again, but not right now.

4. Definitely way more eggs than I see in most recipes - try 4 eggs instead.

5. If I look at this from the Baker's Formula point of view, the sugar is not equal to or more than the flour in weight. Using 4 ounces for cake flour and 7 ounces for sugar, the sugar is far below what is needed. The eggs are close enough in weight to the fat, but I see lots of recipes where this part of the equation is off, so that is okay. Your liquid is way over the weight of the sugar, so that means you should have a nice moist cake. But egg whites are a drying agent too. I would add the vegetable oil sooner than the end, maybe mix it in with the milk. In fact, I would mix the milk, sour cream and oil together as best as I can.

6. With adding the sour cream and oil, you are throwing off the balance of the fat in the recipe, not just adding more liquid. Still it should give you a moist cake. When do you add the eggs and do you weigh them? Getting them from a local farm may mean that you are adding more than the weight suggested for the recipe. Large egg yolks are a good thing too, they add richness to the cake.

7. I have been doing what you have been doing - clinging on to a recipe in hopes that I can "fix" it to get what I want. I finally said scr** it. There are enough recipes out there that I'm just going to keep trying them til I find what I like. There are so many bakeries out there that have published recipes that I'm just going through and trying them til I get the moist cake I want. One of the most interesting books is Baking Illustrated put out by the people at Cooks Illustrated. They make a ton of cakes before they give you the one recipe that works. There is a yellow cake in the book that you might want to try. I got a copy from my local library before I bought my own. They go into great detail on each recipe and what the results were of the failed recipes too. If anything it is interesting to read their experience without having to go through it yourself.

Good luck and keep me posted on what you find. I find this part of baking from scratch extremely fascinating.

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LindaF144a Posted 1 Jun 2010 , 1:44pm
post #16 of 54

I just plugged this into the excel spreadsheet I made. Your liquid is 185% of the sugar which means you should be getting a very tender cake.

Take this with a grain of salt and not the end all be all. But because I like to tinker and test, I would try these things with this recipe.

2.5 cups of sugar (puts the weight at 17.5 ounces and 117% of flour0
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp baking powder (some recipes have more of these 2 ingredients. It would help to check those. Again this is to tenderize a cake. But too much bs and you get a soapy taste. I don't know how much is too much. My last chocolate cake had 2 tsp of baking soda and it tasted fine. BUT chocolate cocoa is a toughener and that much BS was needed to tenderize and moisturize the cake. This not being a chocolate cake I doubt you need 2 tsp. But hey you never know)
4 eggs instead of 5 and weigh them if you can. Taking a 5th egg out will lower the liquid content, but you are at 185% of the flour so one egg will not make a difference.)
Leave out the oil and sour cream for the first test to see if you get the moisture back by doing the other tweaks first.

Also in checking my notes someone posted on here that if you put in 1/2 tsp of glycerin for each egg you get a moister cake. I have NOT tried this myself yet to see if it actually works.

If you tired of tweaking, take said recipe, rip to shreds, throw it in the garbage and find another one. It is not the only one out there and we are lucky for that! thumbs_up.gif

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LindaF144a Posted 1 Jun 2010 , 1:55pm
post #17 of 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by DebbyJG

Quote:
Originally Posted by cheatize

When a recipe says sifted flour, you sift, then measure? I've wondered about this the last few times I've used sifted flour.



I've been doing it as I read about in Dede Wilson's book, which is sift it, then scoop and level.




Ooops.. I didn't see this. I believe the weight of sifted then measured cake flour is 3.5 ounces. The flour would weight 13.125. The sugar is still not equal, so you could go up to only 2 cups of sugar instead of 2.5.

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DebbyJG Posted 1 Jun 2010 , 4:18pm
post #18 of 54

Wow. Thanks for all the information. I feel like I've been listening to Alton Brown. I'm really math and chemistry challenged (hey, I was an English major in college - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!) so therefore I'm pretty strict about keeping to the recipe....um...with the couple tweaks I made in my quest for more moistness. Apparently not so perfectly tweaked. icon_smile.gif
That's the major reason why I bought the Dede Wilson book, too -- it has a section where it lists out how much of every ingredient for several different size cakes - from 6 inches all the way up to 14 inches for both the yellow and white cakes. I found that SO helpful so I didn't have to do the guesswork... I mean, the "math".

I will keep you updated. I'm going to figure this out!!

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Jayde Posted 1 Jun 2010 , 4:38pm
post #19 of 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by DetailsByDawn

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Yeah, I've been meaning to get that Agabay....once I can afford it! The last time I tried torting with my Wilton it was a disaster, and I just can't seem to get the knack of the knife and toothpick method. icon_smile.gif




Hi Debbie,
Oooh, I can't afford the Agbay either!
Quote:
Quote:





I read a post a little while ago about taking a Wilton leveller and adding a new blade from Home Depot or Lowes. It is supposed to make the Wilton level a million times better.

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LindaF144a Posted 1 Jun 2010 , 6:41pm
post #20 of 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by DebbyJG

Wow. Thanks for all the information. I feel like I've been listening to Alton Brown. I'm really math and chemistry challenged (hey, I was an English major in college - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!) so therefore I'm pretty strict about keeping to the recipe....um...with the couple tweaks I made in my quest for more moistness. Apparently not so perfectly tweaked. icon_smile.gif
That's the major reason why I bought the Dede Wilson book, too -- it has a section where it lists out how much of every ingredient for several different size cakes - from 6 inches all the way up to 14 inches for both the yellow and white cakes. I found that SO helpful so I didn't have to do the guesswork... I mean, the "math".

I will keep you updated. I'm going to figure this out!!




Good luck. One of the wierd things I have discovered is that adding more liquid does not necessarily make it a moister cake. icon_razz.gif But sugar and baking soda are tenderizers. And strangely a tender cake equates to a moister cake. Or at least it tastes that way. So quite possibly what you are getting is not a dry cake, but a tough cake. So by adding more sugar and some baking soda with the sour cream, you may get the moisture taste that you are looking for.

On my aforementioned cake gone wrong because of the baking soda, when I made it the second time and added the right amount of baking soda, it tasted much more moister than the first one. And don't forget to add 1/3 cup milk for each cup of sour cream, that will help with the moisture too.

Can't wait to hear about your results. It is always a great feeling when we get to triumph over the written word of the recipe!

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JohnnyCakes1966 Posted 1 Jun 2010 , 7:44pm
post #21 of 54

Linda, I agree about the sugar making a cake taste more moist. Some people have suggested reducing the sugar by 1/4 cup or so if you find a cake too sweet or want to reduce the calories, so I tried it, but the cake came out dry tasting. I added the sugar back in and the cake was much better.

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DebbyJG Posted 2 Jun 2010 , 1:40am
post #22 of 54

Just wanted to update: I had a wedding tasting this afternoon so I made a little 5 inch sample cake. I "tweaked" my recipe via some of these suggestions; first, I added the sour cream on top of the measured amount of milk instead of putting it in first and then measuring in the milk to the needed level. Secondly, I mixed up and added the oil along with the milks instead of at the end, and finally, I added 1/4 tsp of baking soda. (This was a small 5 inch cake, remember.) I didn't adjust the eggs yet, and these are still the same "batch" that I used last week of the smaller size eggs.

Now, I've had pretty good results with ALL my smaller cakes, so this is not the best way to compare to last weekend's disaster, but THIS CAKE WAS INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!! I mean, it was the best tasting, most moist, perfect crumb cake that I've ever made.

Here's the ingredients for my smaller cake today. I've starred my tweaks from Dede Wilson's recipe. Math people, please let me know if the measurements for the 10 inch cake that I had posted previously are proportionate to this:

1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda **
Pinch salt
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp real vanilla
2 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk + about 1 T sour cream **
1 T veg oil, mixed with milks **

Cooked for 26 minutes at 350.

This cake was CRAZY good. Now to just replicate it larger...

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prterrell Posted 2 Jun 2010 , 1:45am
post #23 of 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheatize

When a recipe says sifted flour, you sift, then measure? I've wondered about this the last few times I've used sifted flour.




If a recipe says "sifted flour" then you sift first and measure second.
If a recipe says "flour, sifted" then you measure first and sift second.

OP - the baking powder I have always used is also aluminum-free (you said soda once in your post and then powder, so I'm assuming you meant powder both times), you still only need 1 tsp per cup. Too much baking powder can actually cause a cake to fall and come out heavy and too dense.

Too much egg can result in an overly dense cake with an eggy taste, especially if they have larger than normal yolks. This is one of the reasons recipes with weights instead of measurements are more accurate.

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DetailsByDawn Posted 2 Jun 2010 , 2:13am
post #24 of 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by DebbyJG


Now, I've had pretty good results with ALL my smaller cakes, so this is not the best way to compare to last weekend's disaster, but THIS CAKE WAS INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!! I mean, it was the best tasting, most moist, perfect crumb cake that I've ever made.

This cake was CRAZY good. Now to just replicate it larger...




YAY!

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cupcake_cutie Posted 2 Jun 2010 , 2:19am
post #25 of 54

Wow, Prterrell and LindaF144, you both are very knowledgeable and I have learned a lot from this forum. Thank you both for answering the OP's questions and also some of mine. I've been wanting to go from doing mostly boxed cakes to all scratch cakes, but it seems like the majority of my customers are so accustomed to the mixes. Now, I can tweak and try different recipes from what I learned here today. I really appreciate this. I love this site! LOL!

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Joyfull4444 Posted 2 Jun 2010 , 2:36am
post #26 of 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by DebbyJG

Okay, here's what I used for my 2- 10 inch square layers last weekend. I've noted an asterisk next to the modifications that I've made to Dede Wilson's recipe:

3 3/4 cup cake flour
1 TBS plus 1 3/4 tsp baking powder (I use non-aluminum kind)
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 tsp real vanilla extract
5 large eggs, room temp
1 1/4 cups whole milk, room temp *

*I add a few tablespoons of full-fat sour cream prior to measuring out the milk, so the milks in total equal the amount needed.
*4 TBS vegetable oil (added at the end, stirring in gently after milks and dry ingredients have been alternatly added in..I just add this for the aforementioned "mouth feel" that people like. Usually I do 2 T for 2 9 inch layers...maybe I needed more than 4 to make my 10 inches?)

I use the method of creaming the butter and sugar together and beat it until it's almost white, then I slow the mixer and gently add in the alternate milks and sifted dry ingredients.

I'd love ANY suggestions on where I've gone wrong! Like I said, I've had GREAT success with the smaller cakes...I know, I've sampled many of them (haha). But this was the first time I'd actually eaten one of the larger cakes using the recipe.




I have Dede Wilsons book. You say you added an asterisk next to your modifictions. But, it seems you've modified most of the ingredients when comparing your measurments to Ms Wilson's.


Dede Wilsons yellow cake

Flour is - 3 cups sifted cake flour.
The baking powder is 1 Tablespoon.
Salt 1/4 teaspoon
Butter 2 sticks unsalted
Sugar is 1 1/2 cups
Vanilla 1 teaspoon
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk.

Ingredients for Dede Wilson's quick and easy yellow cake

3 Cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to warm
1 teaspoon vanilla

My thoughts only but I think you've modified the ingredients a bit to much and thats why your cake is not baking up nicely.

I also think it was a bit unfair to slam Dede Wilson the way you did in the title of your post. There's nicer ways of finding out what went wrong with a recipe.

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JohnnyCakes1966 Posted 2 Jun 2010 , 2:37am
post #27 of 54

DebbyJG - Glad the 5" turned out so delicious!! Would that recipe hold up to carving?

I made a cake a few days ago...playing around with my grandma's amazing pound cake recipe....trying to give it a lighter crumb and tweak it for cupcakes. It was THE BEST tasting cake I've ever tasted....but it totally broke apart on me when I turned it out. icon_lol.gificon_rolleyes.gif I'm hoping I just turned it out too soon because it was SO good and would definitely become my go-to yellow cake!! Anyway, I saved it and had some friends over. They were literally grabbing chunks of it and shoving it into their mouths! It wasn't even frosted! thumbs_up.gif Come to think of it, there's a little bit left in the kitchen.... icon_razz.gifthumbs_up.gif

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JohnnyCakes1966 Posted 2 Jun 2010 , 2:46am
post #28 of 54

What book is Dede's yellow cake recipe in? Now that I have the ingredients, I'd like to know the method suggested for mixing it. Have any of you tried her recipe as written, and do you recommend it for taste/texture? Carving? Thanks.

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LindaF144a Posted 2 Jun 2010 , 3:20am
post #29 of 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joyfull4444

Quote:
Originally Posted by DebbyJG

Okay, here's what I used for my 2- 10 inch square layers last weekend. I've noted an asterisk next to the modifications that I've made to Dede Wilson's recipe:

3 3/4 cup cake flour
1 TBS plus 1 3/4 tsp baking powder (I use non-aluminum kind)
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 tsp real vanilla extract
5 large eggs, room temp
1 1/4 cups whole milk, room temp *

*I add a few tablespoons of full-fat sour cream prior to measuring out the milk, so the milks in total equal the amount needed.
*4 TBS vegetable oil (added at the end, stirring in gently after milks and dry ingredients have been alternatly added in..I just add this for the aforementioned "mouth feel" that people like. Usually I do 2 T for 2 9 inch layers...maybe I needed more than 4 to make my 10 inches?)

I use the method of creaming the butter and sugar together and beat it until it's almost white, then I slow the mixer and gently add in the alternate milks and sifted dry ingredients.

I'd love ANY suggestions on where I've gone wrong! Like I said, I've had GREAT success with the smaller cakes...I know, I've sampled many of them (haha). But this was the first time I'd actually eaten one of the larger cakes using the recipe.



I have Dede Wilsons book. You say you added an asterisk next to your modifictions. But, it seems you've modified most of the ingredients when comparing your measurments to Ms Wilson's.


Dede Wilsons yellow cake

Flour is - 3 cups sifted cake flour.
The baking powder is 1 Tablespoon.
Salt 1/4 teaspoon
Butter 2 sticks unsalted
Sugar is 1 1/2 cups
Vanilla 1 teaspoon
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk.

Ingredients for Dede Wilson's quick and easy yellow cake

3 Cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to warm
1 teaspoon vanilla

My thoughts only but I think you've modified the ingredients a bit to much and thats why your cake is not baking up nicely.

I also think it was a bit unfair to slam Dede Wilson the way you did in the title of your post. There's nicer ways of finding out what went wrong with a recipe.




I didn't read her title as a slam to Dede Wilson, but rather it didn't work for her. What will work for one person, won't work for another. There are those out there that love the cakes from The Cake Bible, but I have tried twice and have obviously done something wrong. And I think this is what is happening with this OP also. But we all have our own way of interpreting the written word. I didn't see it as that, I'm just trying to help this person. Obviously the cake recipe works, otherwise there would have been adjustments or other comments made a long time before this.

I'm confused - are the amounts you put in here for the exact size that the OP was talking about - 10"? Or is this the original recipe and then there are tweaks for the different size pans. Your flour amount is different than the original and makes the recipe back into balance with the formula. But the ingredients are posted twice so I'm a little confused as to what I should be looking at for comparison.

prterrell Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
prterrell Posted 2 Jun 2010 , 3:26am
post #30 of 54
Quote:
Originally Posted by cupcake_cutie

Wow, Prterrell and LindaF144, you both are very knowledgeable and I have learned a lot from this forum. Thank you both for answering the OP's questions and also some of mine. I've been wanting to go from doing mostly boxed cakes to all scratch cakes, but it seems like the majority of my customers are so accustomed to the mixes. Now, I can tweak and try different recipes from what I learned here today. I really appreciate this. I love this site! LOL!




You're welcome. Remember, scratch baking is 1/4 recipe, 1/4 quality of ingredients, and 1/2 using the right technique/procedure!

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