I baked a from-scratch cake this evening just to eat. I've used this recipe before with success but tonight it was hideous.

The top felt really springy and the bottom of the cake felt like pound cake. I cut it right down the middle and saw the line of separation, horizontally, through the cake where the bottom half was dense and the top half was a little spongy and light. The cake is supposed to have a finer crumb to it.

What did you think I did wrong? The middle of the cake was also sinking in during baking but rose a bit at the end to where there was just a slight pit in the middle of the cake.

Oh.. and I used powdered buttermilk instead of the real deal. My dog thought his piece tasted fine

Well, if the only difference was the use of powdered rather than fresh buttermilk, guess that was it.

Otherwise, I'd suspect incorrect mixing.

Handy cake troubleshooting charts:

http://tinyurl.com/2p5bdu

http://tinyurl.com/32goqe

http://tinyurl.com/6c745g

http://tinyurl.com/6lpjww

HTH