I have been baking the doctored cake mixes for awhile now. Everyone loves the taste and texture - I think so many people are used to the box mix texture and that's why they like them. My problem is they are still too soft to carve - I always have problems. Tonite I tried to put buttercream on the cake after I trimmed away the edges and the cake kept falling apart. Am I doing something wrong? What do all you pros out there do?
Thanks for your help.

most people use a pound cake (which i think you can get in a cake mix)or dense buttercake for cakes that are going to be carved . But one sugestion is freezig the cake or letting it chill over night before carving. it may also help to do a crumb coat with a softened icing, you can add some simple syrup to your icing and it may help. My last sugestion is to crumb ice the cake upside down if your trying a whimsical cake that way the angle is easier to ice, then let the crumb coat sit back in the fridge for a while then re ice the sides and flip it over and ice the top. hope this helps
Laura

When you're putting on your crumb coat after carving, try piping the icing on instead of using your spatula to apply it. Use a big basketweave tip (or whatever flat tip fits in the space you have to coat) and press the icing onto the cake as you pipe it, as you would when using the big icer tip. Then you can do some smoothing with your spatula once the icing is on.

HTH,
Deanna

Thanks for your responses. I always freeze my cakes and let them defrost inthe fridge and they still seem too fluffy. I did eventually get the BC on the cake after thinning it quite a bit. I think I am going to try a pound cake type consistency next time.

Thanks for your responses. I always freeze my cakes and let them defrost inthe fridge and they still seem too fluffy. I did eventually get the BC on the cake after thinning it quite a bit. I think I am going to try a pound cake type consistency next time.