This May Sound Dumb, But Cake Problems..
Decorating By mediamaster92 Updated 12 Jul 2008 , 10:47pm by fiddlesticks
so i've been watching ace of cakes alot, among other cake things on the food network, and it seems that the actual cake (without icing or anything) seems much stiffer and easier to work with. when i buy the mixes at a store, they come out very moist and soft, and mostly break when i try to remove it from the pan. any suggestions? please help!
i have this problem too... and the next cake i'm going to do is going to be a modified cake mix cake. it's supposed to be firm and easy to carve. i've also heard that the WASC -white almond sour cream- cake is one of the best and tastiest cakes to carve. pound cake is also good to work with when carving because of the density.
Any of the modified boxes, adding sour cream, extra eggs, or pudding makes it more dense, and better for this.
Also, be sure you grease pans well, and buy parchment paper to cover the bottom- a real life saver!
mediamaster92,
A tip I once got (and have used several times for shaped cakes) is to combine a box cake mix with a box of pound cake mix.
I've always thought too about those cakes...I may have to try the WASC mix, but I've carved a few of mine and they are moist and it still worked out.
NEVER TRY TO CARVE A CAKE MIX CAKE!!!!! I happen to love those cakes cuz that's what I grew up on, love the moist fluffiness, but no good for carving and some kinds of decorating
DO try the white almond sour cream cake, its sooooo good, and everyone that's had it, loves it. it's my #1 requested cake flavor (usually made with just vanilla instead of almond flavoring)
the cakes on the food network, look totally dry and dense they look like they're good for decorating and not eating
I use WASC and all its variations to carve. Very dense and moist, all the flavor variations get rave reviews.
Below are the two "Durable" recipes that are great for carving.
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-1972-0-Durable-Cake-for-3D-and-Wedding-Cakes.html
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-6093-93-Durable-Cake-for-3D-in-Chocolate.html
I have carved the WASC cake for simple shapes with great results. It is a wonderful cake to stand up to the abuse we dish out with the decorating that we do...lol It is best to let the cake "settle" before decorating... I freeze mine, some put them in the frig, others just let them sit for several hours. To me, this cake tastes better a couple of days after it is baked.
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2322-White-Almond-Sour-Cream-Cake.html
Good luck,
Pat
To me, this cake tastes better a couple of days after it is baked.
It totally does! most of my scratch recipes taste stale sooooo fast, but not the WASC, I have a few loyal customers who make sure to order a cake bigger than what they need so they can keep leftovers in the frige to munch on
so i've been watching ace of cakes alot, among other cake things on the food network, and it seems that the actual cake (without icing or anything) seems much stiffer and easier to work with.
I always assumed they were frozen or partially frozen. When I'm working with cakes that are partially/frozen, they are that easy to handle.
My goodness, if they are that "stiff" and it's a completely thawed ready-to-eat cake, I can't imagine actually cutting into it with a fork and eating it!
They way they handle them, I think they are very well chilled. It definitely makes them much easier to handle.
The cakes are made completely from scratch and is more of a pound cake. Have you noticed they usually pile up sheet cakes, ice them and then put them in the fridge? I bet they are carved nice and cold!
i just watched that challenge with the mikey character and was completely floored when they just piled cake after cake on top (and unless there was editing for time where were the supports? am i missing something?) like it was bits of concrete. of course i think after handling and decorating cakes at that level for that many years i'm sure you've learned a trick or two (from cc maybe?lol) then again, look what happened to mikey...
I find it so weird that everyone loves WASC so much. I grew up almost exclusively on scratch cakes and have never made anything but so when I made the WASC recipe I was expecting so much more - it seemed so light and fluffy and the taste seemed so artificial. Ill try it again but I definitely think its an American type of thing that really doesn't suite Australian palettes.
I find it so weird that everyone loves WASC so much. I grew up almost exclusively on scratch cakes and have never made anything but so when I made the WASC recipe I was expecting so much more - it seemed so light and fluffy and the taste seemed so artificial. Ill try it again but I definitely think its an American type of thing that really doesn't suite Australian palettes.
You hit the nail on the head. The US grew up on box everything..boxed cake, boxed mac and cheese, boxed hamburgers. They don't like the real thing. They think scratch cakes are too dry and not sweet enough. They don't like real mac and cheese, they like velveeta instead of chedar...I think a lot of it is geared towards sugar. I personally think box cake is WAY too sweet and too soft, but I find when I make the WASC recipe, people love it more. I think it is how we have trained our pallates.
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