So I'm using this recipe from this site:

http://cakecentral.com/recipes/1972/durable-cake-for-3d-and-wedding-cakes

Everyone LOVES this cake, but my problem is that, while it is decently firm, it is not firm enough. (Letting it cool for 1 hour on a wire rack)

I watch some cake shows on TV, and they are taking rectangle shaped cakes that have been edged off, and picking them up and flopping them down, and everyone still raves about the cake tasting good! This is the firmness I'm trying to achieve.

I'm still trying to practice for my daughters 1st birthday, because I want to make her a cake myself to say it was from dad.

Can anyone give me any pointers to make this cake more firm without ruining the taste? I made a 12" square cake with this recipe, and there would be no way I could take this cake and flip it and flop it down. I have to be careful when I move it. The corners usually sag a bit as well, making me lose the integrity of the square edges.

Surely there is something I can add for firmness. I'll be adding fondant on it and all that jazz instead of using icing on top.

Any suggestions would be must appreciated!!

I cut the oil down to 1/4 cup or omit it. Less oil will make a firmer cake. The WASC recipe that I use has 1 cup of sour cream and no oil and it's awesome.

Are you trying to flip them right from the cooling racks? Those cakes on TV are chilled to a fare-thee-well, not at room temperature.
(Also the cakes on the challenges are over-baked on purpose to make them more sturdy.)
to CC
More ladies and gents will be by soon, I am sure.

I watch cake boss and just started DVR'ing another show. Both shows are making cakes for people to eat, and not competing.

I will see them put the cake in the freezer after they buttercream them, but I haven't seen an episode yet where they say they bake the cake and put it in the freezer before the buttercream. So I assumed it is the recipe that is holding the cake together like it does.

I'll try my next one with no oil mamawrobin and see how that does.

Any advice on the edges drooping, or this just due to not preparing the pan well before I stick it in the oven?

I think my wife is getting aggravated with all my "attempts" and different recipe I'm trying. But I'm trying to get through to her that it may take some more to get it right. I just have zero cooking knowledge, so it's not like I can figure it out real quick.

so , mamarobin, what is the exact recipe you use, if you will share. I use cake mix extenders. wasc(all ways) and bake from scratch also. will you post your awesome cake recipe. tia

I know what you mean. Buddy picks up those cakes by the edges to positions them....they can't possibly be moist, right???

Less oil helps a lot. I've been told by other CCers that they stack and carve cake mixes without adjustments, but this just doesn't work for me at all. NO WAY. NO HOW. I have to use cake mix extenders or cut down the oil or both. And this is true of my scratch recipes, also!

I would try scratch, but I can't find cake flour in our walmarts. All they have is self rising and all purpose. And I'm not pro enough to go ordering offline for fondants and ingredients.

I guess that's why I am only working with marshmellow fondant instead of other recipes, because I can't find Glycerine and Unflavored Gelatin. We have a Micheal's, but it doesn't have any of this either.

WASC cake recipe with no oil is as firm as it gets unless you use a pound cake, which is pretty much what buddy uses all the time. He aslo DOES refrigerate or freeze his cakes, they bring them right from the frig when he slaps them down.. there is no way a large cake shop like his dont freeze there cakes.

The Swan's Down cake flour generally is on the lowest shelf and near the cake mixes in a Wal-Mart. And, that is in every one I have ever been in looking for it. Further, in the grocery stores, I believe it is in the same place. For whatever reason they don't put it with the flours. I guess because it comes in a red box (with white writing on it) instead of a "bag" like most flours do....HTH

I changed the way I mix my cakes a few weeks ago, I didn't tell my daughter, and she said right away that she could tell something was different because the cake was firmer than it used to be and much easier to move around.

I use the following:

Pillsbury Moist Supreme White cake mix
1 cup of milk
3 eggs
1/3 cup of oil
1 small pkg of vanilla pudding

If it seems to be a little thick when I am mixing it I will add extra milk.
However it takes longer than 30 - 35 minutes to cook, it takes around 40 - 45 minutes at 350
I don't know if the milk and pudding make it take longer or what.

In the end the cake comes out moist and firm.

usmdesigner: I haven't ever used just egg whites because with adding vanilla pudding to the cake mix, the mix is no longer completely white, so for me it doesn't matter that the yolk changes the "white" cake mix to "light yellow". I don't really know if using the whole egg will make a difference but it would be worth a try on your next cake.


mpetty: I use whole milk (Vitamin D). I cool my smaller cakes for 10 minutes before I remove them from the pan and 15 minutes for bigger cakes. I put parchment paper on top of the cake and turn it over then turn it back over on another piece of parcement paper so it is sitting on the flat bottom. I got that tip from my cousin who used to make wedding cakes.

Use the entire egg, not just the whites.

Unflavored gelatin is sold in every grocery store in the USA. Ask for KNOX Gelatin. (Google KNOX gelatin to get a photo of the box)

For my WASC, I use the recipe you wrote at the beginning of this thread. I don't use milk or unflavored gelatin in my WASC.

Here is an excellent doctored cake mix recipe that tastes fabulous from Janette Pohlman's site for "pound cake" (uses cream cheese):

Cream cheese pound cake
1 pkg (18.25 ounce) fudge or white cake mix
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Cooking Instructions

http://www.pohlmanscakes.com/recipe.php?name=Cream+cheese+pound+cake&id=15

usmdesigner, the Unflavored Gelatin I use is the brand name of Knox. It's in an orange and white box. If you can't find it near the jello, try checking by the pectins they sell for preserving, I've seen it in that area before too. I've also read here on CC that you can substitute light corn syrup for the glycerine in the fondant recipes. Hope this helps, good luck!

Cake Boss and Sponge Cake:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-659447-.html

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-662235-.html
(This thread has recipes.)

HTH

I watch Cake Boss everyday and I also think that the cakes he uses are partially frozen. There's no way you could handles such large sheets of cakes like that without them falling apart. In one episode he complains about cakes layers that weren't taken out of the freezer on time. Also if you watch him trim the cakes you can see the effort he puts in which kinda suggests that the cake layers are frozen. I also trim my cakes partially frozen so that it doesn't fall apart at the edges. It also makes the cake moist somehow. I never decorate a cake after it's cooled from the oven I always bake and freeze a week in advanced or at least 24 hours. I do this because I like a more softer delicate cake rather than a dense cake. If you want to carve the cake then use a cake made with butter since those cakes are more sturdier than cakes made with oil. It will also help to carve the cake while it is partially frozen. I learned that the hard way.

I got my glycerine from the pharmacy at Walmart...try that!