I don't know if this is the right area, but I will post it here...

I tried the cake extender recipe from this site yesterday and it just doesn't seem to have turned out right. I used fat free yogurt so maybe that was the problem..... The cake never seemed to rise at all and seemed too moist. What do you think could have gone wrong? It baked for over an hour, so it's definitely done (8" round, 3" deep pan). Any suggestions/help greatly appreciated.

TIA

Jen

I TRIED IT ALSO AND IT MADE MY CAKE TOO LIGHT , NO BODY TO IT , I DID ADD 1 1/2 TABLESPOONS OF FLOUR BECAUSE EVEN THE BATTER SEEMED A LITTLE LIGHT.

I USE THIS ONE WHEN I USE A BOX MIX ...
1/2 C BUTTER
1 C SUGAR
2 EGGS
1 1/2 FLOUR ( NOT CAKE FLOUR) PLUS 2 TABLESPOONS
1 TEASPOON BAKING POWDER
1/2 TEASPOON SALT
1 TEASPOON VANILLA
1/2 TEASPOON ALMOND FLAVOR
1 BOX YELLOW CAKE MIX ACCORDING TO DIRECTIONS

AND THE CAKE TASTES GREAT AND IS MOIST...LET ME KNOW HOW YOU LIKE IT.

there is something I don't understand, if you are going to add all this ingredients to a cake mix, whyi not bake from scratch?

Hmmmmm, I am not sure what to tell you other than maybe your oven is not baking properly?.? The reason I say this is because I (being new to cc-only 1 month old) have used this CC extender with every single cake I have made this last month and have had wonderful success with it. I do use the sour cream and the flavor is nothing short of excellent and requested!! It only takes 30 to 35 minutes for the cakes to be done at 325 degrees. It should not take an hour. Also, the cakes rise so nicely that I have to use the leveler to cut the tops off and make them nice and stackable.
Maybe you should have your oven checked and possibly recalibrated? Or could it be a bad cake mix you started with? I am not sure but hope this can help you out in some way.


Lea

Thanks for the replies. I guess I will wait to try it again until I move to my new house with my new oven (in the summer). I will probably stick to the usual box mix until then.... If I get brave enough, I may try it with the sour cream instead of the yogurt and see if that is any better. Even my little cupcakes that I made took forever to cook and didn't rise. The taste is ok, but the texture is not the best. It was almost mushy like, but the toothpick cake clean when I tested it for readiness. Hmmmm.. Maybe it was a bad box to start off with.

Jen

Make it easy on yourself. Use the Jiffy cake mix. It's quick and easy and no fuss. Comes out great every time. Make it according to the directions on the box and throw it in with the mix you already have. " Piece of Cake"

When I use yogurt instead of sour cream, it takes alot longer to bake. Also, chocolate cakes take even longer. My yellow/white cakes take close to 1 hour, and the chocolate cakes take over an hour to bake. To enhance the flavor of the extender, I also throw in a packet of instant pudding.

to make my cakes taller and taste alot better I throw in a package of vanilla cook and serve pudding (dry mix) and also a package of dream whip (dry mix). I do this with a duncan hines cake mix and mix that up just as it says on the back on the box. Makes them taste alot better I get so many compliments on my cakes about how moist they are. I love to see them rise that much higher as well!

I just used the cake extender again, with the DH Classic White mix and once again it came out fabulous. Just wanted to let you know this should be an excellent extender for you. I will post pictures of my cake after class tonight as this cake was made for my Wilton Course 1 final.

In case I did not mention it in my earlier post, I use sour cream, not yogurt.

Thanks so much for all the replies. I wonder if it was because I used fat free yogurt that it didn't rise at all. I will try it again with sour cream and see if I can get better results. Thanks again for the replies and tips.

Jen

Jen, I had the same problem with both a yellow cake mix and a chocolate cake mix. Neither rose and they seemed raw to me. I actually threw the yellow one out. I used low fat yogurt, so maybe that is the problem. When I asked my family, they agreed, although my husband liked it because he said it was like eating cake batter...not sure if that is a good thing though!

Fat free and lowfat yogurts normally are not recommended for baking. They do not have the solidity that comes from regular fat. The fat free one usually includes Splenda or nutrasweet as well and while people do back with those sweeteners, they leave you with a whole new texture.

I would try the regular yogurt to see if it makes a difference-but I guess that negates the "light" you are trying to keep it. I have used lowfat sour cream (Fat free does NOT work) and if you check the ingredients, making sure you use a brand that contains gelatin, it seems to hold up better.

Good luck!