I'm a beginner baker and have been trying to use the creaming method for certain cakes. If I use the muffin method (mix dry, mix wet, then add together), my cakes come out perfect every time. But when I try recipes that use the creaming method, I always have problems. The recipe that I've made probably 30 times is Sarah's RV cake. The recipe mixes very well, no problems there. The problems arise when cooking.

I've tried 325 & 350 and cooked anywhere from 30min to 45min in 2 8x2 pans. These are the problems I'm having:

1) at the 30 min mark, a toothpick comes out *clean* and the cake has pulled away from the sides, but touching it lightly leaves indentations all over. Is the cake done at this point? What takes precedence, a clean toothpick or a cake that springs back? 

2) at around 45min, the cake begins to spring back but is absolutely dry and tough.

Do cakes made from the creaming method not spring back as easily as cakes made from the muffin method? Also, every time I use the creaming method, the cakes stick terribly. I've tried pam, baker's joy, homemade cake release, and parchment paper. If I use parchment paper, the cakes stick to parchment paper and when I pull the parchment paper off, a big chunk of the cake comes off with it. This happens at both 30min & 45min. But with the muffin method, I've never had cakes to stick.

I'm trying so hard to achieve perfection on this cake because the taste is out-of-this-world. If anybody has any suggestions for me, I'd be very thankful :)

does it recommed to use 2 eight inch pans? often these cake recipes say 3 nine inch pans* -- that might be too much batter in there -- and it can screw up the bake --

when my cake pulls away from the side of the pan -- it's done -- 

not all doneness methods work for each and every recipe -- what takes precedence is what the recipe advises --

* 3 nine inch pans for the effect too so it looks pretty when it's cut & served

with some recipes it doesn't matter so much how much batter you put in a pan and some recipes it's crucial -- here's a chart to show you the usual amounts for the size pan -- it really sounds like your recipe might need a lower amount of batter to succeed -- i have a choco recipe like this -- just will not bake properly otherwise --

http://www.wilton.com/wedding/wedding-cakes/wedding-cake-data.cfm

Thanks for your input :) And the link, too :)

Most of the recipes I've tried make only 6 cups of batter. In fact, all red velvet cake recipes (from scratch) that I've seen yield approximately 6 cups of batter. 6 cups of batter equates to 2 8-inch pans. A lot of batter would be needed to do 3 9-inch pans (16 cups of batter), which means I would have to almost triple this recipe. Of course there would be no harm in dividing the original batter among 3 9-inch pans, the layers would be very thin. I've tried this recipe before in 3 8-inch pans, but I thought the layers were too thin.

try it with 2.5 cups per 8" pan maybe do some cupcakes -- and i mean what about 35/37 minutes -- if 30 minutes is not enough and 45 is too much split the difference of course --

i've looked for that recipe and it's written different everywhere i look -- the poster that says she originally put it out there also posted that she had it removed because everyone was making revisions and then asking her why it didn't work -- idk - can't find it --

i don't know why you would make it 30 times without it working for you either -- i do not have that kind of patience nor loyalty --

http://www.joyofbaking.com/RedVelvetCake.html i've never made this one but i trust the joy of baking site -- they are using 2 nine inch pans that they then split to make four layers -- similar to your recipe in quantity -- it could handily be made into three layers and not be split --