Watching Sharon Z's dvd's and she's icing, cutting, and decorating and there are no crumbs flying off her cakes. I've tried recipe after recipe trying to find a cake like that and I can't. I saw a couple recipes on her blogs, and while there was one that came pretty close, it kinda sank in the middle and didn't really rise enough to make a good looking cake. Anyone know the trick?

I honestly don't think it's the cake recipe, it's the experience decorating. I was a cake decorator in a grocery store for years cranking out round and sheet cake and you just get the hang of working with cake. The cakes I make now are doctored cake mixes & I have no problems with crumbs. HTH & good luck.

Haven't seen Sharon's DVD's, but....

If your buttercream is too thick, you will pick up crumbs when you lift the spatula...

So the trick is to use a medium or thin icing to crumb coat - and never lift the spatula:

http://www.wilton.com/blog/index.php/start-with-a-crumb-coat-for-a-smooth-cake-finish

Chilling your cakes or even freezing briefly will also help keep the cake intact.

HTH

I find that now that I use a spray (Baker's Joy or something like it) on my pans, my cakes come out super clean. That might be something to try if you haven't already!

here is a link to the 2 recipes I use:

http://sugaredblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/few-of-my-favorite-things.html

I find the WASC with duncan hines or fruit flavored mixes to be more crumbly.

The durable with betty crocker is the firmest and least crumbly.

HTH!

Thanks. I watched the Topsy Turvy DVD last night and was impressed with the way that cake worked with no crumbs. I've made both recipes and the durable cake recipe (while it tasted great) seemed to sink in the middle. I'll keep working with it. Thanks!

Dave...keep in mind that no one watching is tasting. Her cakes may look perfect (and may taste great...no disrespect toward Sharon) but they may be baked to used as a prop.

I'm wondering if I should double the recipe, even for 2 8inch cakes. With the WASC recipe and the added sugar and flour, of course it makes more batter. The more dense recipe didn't rise even to the top of the cake pans. I'll try doubling it, and using a nail or heating core.

PS.... and to prove the above, the new baking DVD shows me making the batter and baking the recipes I have mentioned, in real time, torting , filling and icing them.... no prop cakes for us.

Betty Crocker it is then. I'm not sure which mix I used, but my wife said it was the best chocolate cake she'd ever had. I'm also looking forward to the new DVD. I'll keep working with it, thanks so much!

keep me posted, Dave. We will keep trying till you have success!

Thank you for the recipes. I use Betty Crocker devils food cake mix and get tons of crumbs (even with a crumb coat) so I'm hoping with those additions to it I won't have the crumb problem anymore.

Can I also use this recipe for cupcakes? Do I bake them according to the directions on the boxes (with maybe a few extra minutes added to them)?

chocolate cake will always be more crumby than white, but oddly, I find when I carve the durable chocolate, it carves very cleanly with few crumbs and tearing....

I made the cake over the weekend using the durable recipe. White cake w/coconut flavoring, coconut buttercream with coconut and almonds in the filling and chocolate ganache. (almond joy cake) I even made cake balls from the scraps and it all turned out very nice. The cake was very moist and easy to work with, and everyone loved it.

glad to hear u had success Dave. Was it what you wanted this time as far as crumb etc?

I had just a couple crumbs when I was icing it, but I was real happy with the way it turned out. The last time I tried the durable cake recipe, it was chocolate, and this time with the white mix. I also didn't add the pudding since it had it in the mix. My plan was to use coconut buttercream icing, which I did and then pour chocolate ganache over the top. My ganache was a little thin, so I ended up icing it with the buttercream, then covering it entirely in the ganache. Everyone loved it. More importantly, I've found my "go to" cake recipe. Thanks.

great!

Sharon,
What do you do with the egg yolks for your durable cake recipe? Do you buy just pasteurized egg whites? I wonder if it's still durable if I added both the whites and the yolks......what do you think?

i throw them away.... I have not tried it with all whole eggs but if I did i would use one less egg. I bet it will work fine.

Sharon - Do you still you Betty Crocker since they have made their product smaller. Do you still add the 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of suagr, etc even though the mix is less? Was wondering if this affected the results. Thanks

i have not made a cake since they changed the amount! LOL

so i am not sure yet! I am going to try it the same as always and see what happens.

Marking for the links to recipes