I baked a four tier cake yesterday for my church picnic. I wound up remaking the 12' tier twice because the bottoms came out rubbery. The problem with the first 12" cake I attributed to the fact that I tried a new variation to my standard high-ratio yellow cake recipe for the first time by making that tier a Funfetti cake. The sprinkles sank to the bottom so I assumed that caused the problem. Also, the bottom looked a bit oily so I rebaked, without sprinkles, and this time, did not grease the parchment paper, just the cake pan. The second tier came out slightly less gummy, but gummy nonetheless. Also, a few hours later, I noticed while crumb coating that my 14" tier had the same problem. It was too late to rebake so I had to shave the bottoms.

The only other variable was the pan grease I used (equal parts AP flour, canola oil and Earth Balance vegetable shortening). This was the first time I ever tried it. I had to run to the store to buy more eggs and butter to make another 12", so I picked up Pam for Baking spray, which is what I used in the past. The third attempt at at a 12" tier and the 8" and 10" tiers turned out fine with the Pam spray

Anyone else have this problem? I'd like to use the pan grease again because it's cheaper and I like making as much as possible from scratch when I bake.

I ve had this problem w a wedding cake. Rubbery from top to bottom and leaking. It was a disaster. It never happened to me before. Someone told me it may be because I messed w the recipe s ratios since I used a cupcake recipe to turn it into a cake recipe. It was horrible.

A gummy cake is usually caused by either incorrectly measuring out ingredients, or over mixing the cake batter.

Good to know!

I'd ditch the Earth Balance for this and use Crisco.

Thanks Leah, I think I will try that.

I don't think over mixing or incorrectly measuring ingredients was the problem. I am hyper vigilant about mixing in flour and buttermilk, in parts, just until incorporated and the chances of me making the exact same mistake in measuring an ingredient in three out of five batches are virtually nil since its my standby recipe and the top 1 and 3/4 inch of cake came out the same as always.

The only thing different was the pan grease, and the rubbery-ness was only on the bottom, so I do think the pan grease was the problem. but I am not sure why. I will try the pan grease recipe again with Crisco.