No Matter What My Cakes Taste A Little Heavy....
Decorating By sugarnspice Updated 26 Feb 2006 , 8:47pm by vicky
I would like to know if there is a special skill to get my cakes fluffy and moist. Help..... I love decorating more than baking but cannot have beautiful cakes that dont match up in taste.
Well, when I use the box mix it comes out good. But lately I've been experimenting with stratch recipes. I have never used cake flour though could that be the reason? 
Well, when I use the box mix it comes out good. But lately I've been experimenting with stratch recipes. I have never used cake flour though could that be the reason?
Cake flour is very fine and it makes cake that are featherlight.
Um, if you want, I can share my cake recipe with you. I use self-rising flour in all my recipes unless I use a different recipe from my book.
I ALWAYS use a simple soaking syrup recipe to add and keep the cake moist for days.
Let me know and I can PM it to you.
Also, scratch cakes can be a little "temperamental" 
and not very forigiving. I do them all the time and it takes some practice to get to know what to do and not to do when mixing them.
cake flour would help, it gives the cake a nice silky texture and doesn't seem to make it as tough as if you were to use all-purpose.
But then most scratch cakes I have made do come out very dense. I usually just go with a doctored mix if I am looking for something more fluffy and light.
Don't feel bad - there are lots of us who have issues with making a cake from scratch. They are very temeramental. Humidity in the air, loud noises in the kitchen - lots of things cause them to fail.
One thing that was pointed out by Squirrelly Cakes is that if you are used to the texture and crumb of a boxed mix cake - that the scratch cakes are not going to be like that. They are different...most of them are a heavier dense cake, that is the nature of them. A lot of the folks that make them pour some flavored simple syrups on them to help moisten them up, or they will put them in the freezer - that is supposed to help add moisture to them too.
Another good piece of advice is to use a recipe that someone else has tried and had good results with other than just trying one blind that you find somewhere yourself.
I personally prefer the cake mix doctoring myself. They are consistent everytime.
Good luck!
Well, when I use the box mix it comes out good. But lately I've been experimenting with stratch recipes. I have never used cake flour though could that be the reason?
That could be the reason if the recipe actually calls for cake flour and you are substituting all-purpose flour. You really need to use the flour the recipe calls for and not substitute. If you substitute, there is an adjustment that needs to be made to the amount of flour you use But even that will not be enough to get the exact results because the other ingredients are also geared to the type of flour called for in the recipe. It could also be your recipes. Also, if you are using a commercial style recipe and it calls for 8 ounces of flour, it means by weight, not by dry measure. If a recipe calls for milk it means whole milk unless otherwise specified. If it states to whip your egg whites separately until stiff peaks form and then to fold into the batter you must do this and you must fold by hand.
If it calls for creaming your butter and sugar until light and fluffy you must do this. The most common mistake as stated, is to overmix a cake batter. Never substitute one fat for another, use what is called for or your texture will be altered.
Hugs Squirrelly
Hi I am so happy with all the advice that you guys have given. I am going to try it out. Maybe the cake flour is what makes the difference. Most of my friends and family being West Indian are not to keen on the cake mix and love scratch cakes. 
I guess experience is what will ultimately make a difference in my case. 
I will definitely let you guys know how it works out for me.
Thanks
Happy Baking to all.
MariaLovesCakes
I would love your recipe!!!!!!!!! Thanks
Christy
Lately, my cakes have been lighter and a finer texture. I've been substituting whites for whole eggs. I use two whites where it says one egg. I'm getting quite a collection of yolks in the freezer!
What do you use the yolks for? How do they turn out once they are defrosted and how long do they keep? 
Vicky
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