Sadness in the Keetchen

[Krystil]

Here goes, my first post on baking debauchery and whatnot. I label it "debauchery" because I seem to have issues with baking no matter how precisely I follow instructions. I've always wanted to use cake flour so I bought some a couple weeks ago then found that most recipes call for all purpose (until it's one I really like then it calls for what I DON'T have, grrr!) Anyways! So my cake was supposed to be a basic vanilla layer cake using cake flour, eggs, vanilla and almond extract, sugar, butter and buttermilk..which I didn't have so I read that u can substitute with sour cream and some lemon juice. I put so much effort into this real cake..yunno, like from scratch even though sometimes I'd add extra stuff into boxed mixes n even those turned out somewhat better..le sigh.. but this time for my first home made cake it was kind of a disaster..or maybe i'm exaggerating but that's where I need help! It took forever in the oven so it could be all kinds of issues. Well, I followed instructions but I did add some ground up vanilla bean (since it was too dry to scrape and read I could do that no prob) and some baking emulsion stuff that seems to help keep it moist. So anyways let me stop rambling on and get to the point. It took foreeeeeveeeerrr to bake and after about 50+ mins it was a bit crumbly on the toothpick i stuck in AND even had to adjust the oven from 325 to 350 the last 20 mins cuz apparently the ovens a bamboozler and doesnt cook as it says..FALSE ADVERTISEMENT I SAY! I'll see you in court, STOVE! all this just made me wana give up there's so much to maintain or modify oh the agony its just too much! Ehem..ok im better now...so my cake has white spots on the top..its a tad moist under the crunchy top layer, it sunk in the middle on both sides of a peak that cracked open in the middle...what a shame..it tastes a little floury but all together it has a decent vanilla taste. If anyone could make it through this entire description could you please give some tips or tell me if i'm even worthy of attempting again...I was so excited n now I feel exhausted and sort of hopeless..it was s'posed to be BASIIIIIC! Booo hooo hoooooooo!! By the way, I constantly exaggerate everything mostly to entertain myself..i'll get the hang of this "forum" stuff and learn to write normal threads eventually..or we can only hope BaHA!

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum Krystil!

Sorry to hear you've been having troubles in the kitchen... if there were white spots on the cake then perhaps it wasn't mixed well enough? The way I approach most cakes is to cream together the butter and sugar first until it's light and fluffy (the butter must be room temperature - in fact all ingredients should be room temperature), and then add the other ingredients apart from the flour. Add the flour last and mix it gently until it is well combined - you don't want to overmix at this stage if you can help it, because it makes the cake heavy. Pop it in a pre-heated oven and resist the urge to open the oven until it is 80% through the total cooking time - otherwise it can collapse in the middle.

Hope this helps! Don't give up, baking is so rewarding (literally... you work hard and get cake)

 

[mdavidson7616]

My first homemade cake was a disaster too. It was super thin and extremely dense. The good thing was it was a special occassion, so I just tossed and looked up some different recipes. The internet can be an amazing tool or a bad one. Most of the recipes I have found are great, but every once in awhile you get one that is just awful.

 

[NThomas]

No worries, you have gotten your fist mess up out of the way now you are free to try again with out fear.This has happened to everyone.

 

[JennyHeart]

You've heard the saying,'Practice makes perfect haven't you,'? I eat gluten free due to a health condition, and, learning to bake gluten free cookies, and, cakes was not always as good as it is for me now. I tried different brands, and, found some that worked better than others. Make sure you read the directions carefully, and, not in a hurry. I've been half way through a recipe before, to only find out I forgot to mix things separately, or, missed an ingredien . If I was in a hurry these things would happen, so i learned to slow down, and, tried to bake when I had the time if possible.Keep trying, never give up, and, know you will be pleased with your baking in the future.

 

[Tina Nord]

Practice will make you a better baker, don't give up now! I agree with @Becky, room temperature ingredients do make a huge difference. Also try mixing in your flour gradually (not dumping it into the wet ingredients all at one) this should help you out. Really dense cakes usually means that there is too much egg in the mix, are you using jumbo eggs for your baking?

 

[JennyHeart]

I agree with Becky when she commented that your cake may have needed to bake long and also make sure while doing the preparations for the cake, that all the ingredients are mix together very well. I've experienced that from time to time when I was in a hurry and didn't get all the ingredients mixed up together properly to insure a great turnout for my cake success.

 

[Ellyn]

First, stove problems can be a major problem. I had a friend who liked baking cakes enough to turn it into a business during the holidays, and they mostly turned out well, except that I remember one time this vanilla cake cooked all along the outside into a sort of biscuit--and remained a raw and runny cake dough inside. The stove didn't keep its heat up consistently.

You might also want to double-check the "baking emulsion stuff" that keeps it soft, because some of those might accidentally keep it liquid...

Apparently, cake flour can be used as a substitute for all-purpose flour, if you just remove a couple of tablespoons.

Otherwise, just practice, just keep trying, and soon you'll find that it's basically not that difficult. Good luck! Here's an article that might give some vicarious schadenfreude when it comes to baking cakes. I mean, it could be worse.

Although it really is impossible with a patchy oven.

 

[evelynmcgregor]

When I first started baking, one of the first things I invested in was an oven thermometer. Cakes, muffins and brownies are so picky about oven temperature. Cookies can be a bit more forgiving. Always make sure your butter and eggs are beaten until fluffy because this does help make the cake less dense. And that all ingredients are at room temp. Follow the order in which the ingredients are listed and mix your dry ingredients together until well mixed. Then add the dry to the wet in batches, not all at once. This ensures that the ingredients are well mixed.