Hi I would like to introduce myself. My name is Elsa and I am new at baking. I have enjoyed viewing all of the beautiful cakes all of you make. I would like to ask a few questions. This Sunday I wll be baking a Father's Day cake on a 9x13 pan. I want my cake to be tall and moist what recommendations would you give me? Thanks for your help

welcome to CC-


by tall- do you mean just making it 2 layers? what kind of cake flavor did you have in mind?

Even when I have tried making a box cake, it seems flat. If I were to make a double layer cake, I would like each to be as tall as possible. How could I do that? Thanks for your help.

I've had success with adding a box of instant vanilla pudding and an extra egg to Duncan Hines mixes before and they get pretty tall. You would want to follow the recipe on the side of the box for water and oil quantities. Two layers of this would give you a pretty high cake I'm sure.

Welcome to CC! You're gonna love it here!!!
elly

Welcome! You can bake two cakes & level them off & fill them with frosting. That would give you al tall cake.

Welcome Elsa. I am also fairly new here. Everyone has been awesome. They have helped me so much. I am just starting to cake decorate too.

Maybe you should make a 3 layer cake if you want it to be tall. That would be about 6 inches tall if you need 3 layers. I don't think you would want it tall them that.

Someone told me to take a cake mix like Duncan Hines, etc. and instead of adding the water, add milk instead. Add an extra egg, so if it asks for 3 eggs, add 4 instead and then add a small box of instant pudding. You don't make the instant pudding up. You just add the box to the cake mix. I did this and the cake came out sooooo moist. I served it to 4 potential customers and they couldn't believe it when I told them how I made it. They thought I made it from scratch. Try it, you'll like it.
sunflowerfreak

All of you have given me great ideas. As I said before I am just beginning as a baker and I need some guidence. Thanks to all of you.

Welcome to CC Elsa!

I started baking and decorating last fall. I went through trial and error with my 9x13 cakes. It may depend on your pan, I use the wilton performance pan, but I use 8 cups of batter (instead of the 7 it asks for and don't have overflow) and line the pan with parchment paper (learned from the article of collaring your pan, although I don't make the collar that high), on both the bottom and sides. Then I wrap aluminum foil around the pan and use a flower nail as a heating core for even baking. It makes a higher cake with just one layer. Then if you make 2 and layered them it would be extra high.

As for the moistness, the pudding, egg addition that others have stated with the Duncan Hines mixes really does make a moist cake.

I feel silly asking another question. Have have a small hand blender that I use, what would you recommend as a better mixer that is not too expensive since I am just begining?

I started making fondant last week and found that my hand mixer can't do the job. So I came on to the forum and asked what they would suggest for a mixer. Everyone was saying Kitchen Aid the stand on the counter one. I know they are like $200-$300 dollars. So I guess if you are going to go into the cake decorating business it would be a good thing to get. I'm not sure yet if I will be doing cakes on a continual basis or not. I have to see how my first wedding cake comes out.

Thanks for the tip I was already thinking of a KitchenAid stand mixer. I might purchase the one that is about $200 to start off. When are you doing your first wedding cake?

My first wedding cake is for the 24th. I just got the order 3 days ago. She waited till the last minute. And she's changed her mind 3 times already on what she wants.

Welcome, Elsa!

You're going to love it here.

Please allow me to also suggest a Sunbeam MixMaster Mixer. Of course, it does not work quite as quickly as the KitchenAid does, but at Wal-Mart they run $60-100.

Some Wal-Marts also carry the 4 quart KitchenAid for around $170. That's how I got my first KA. I put it on lay-away. Now I have two, my original white one, and the 5 Qt. Professional, which we lovingly call the Red Rocket! I bought flame decals and added them to the front (ala Alton Brown), and it looks pretty cool.

Theresa

tTeresa thank you very much for the idea . I will be visitinf the forum often. Thanks to everyone for welcoming me

Hi Elsa,
Welcome to CC...you will love it here!

Hi Elsa,
Welcome and as everyone said you are going to love it here! I'm just a beginner as well and have learned tons on here!

Sunflowerfreak is right on with duncan hines mix with the additions of pudding and an extra egg, and substituting water for milk. I had my own little taste testing too with about 10 people and that is what won by far...

And as sweetcreation said if you add extra batter to your pans then tend to come out higher and nicer in shape all together. I usually add the batter until about 3/4 full and then only bake it at 325 instead of 350. I hope this helps. If you have any other questions just post them and you will have answers within minutes! Good luck!! Let us know how it turns out!-Alison

Hi, Elsa - I'm new here, too. I will add one idea that one of my Wilton instructors told me. She adds about a tablespoon of powdered egg white (Wilton markets this as Meringue Powder) to her cake mixes. She brought in a sample cake to show us how to apply fondant and passed out samples. It was very tall and had a nice fine texture more like a pound cake - very tasty, too. I haven't tried it yet, but she always adds it to any mix she uses.

Thanks everyone for all of the great tips

Hi Elsa,
Welcome to CC. You will learn sooooo much from so many wonderful bakers on this site. It has really opened up a whole new world for me and I hope it will for you also. There is not much to say that hasn't already been posted so I won't repeat it all. But we're glad to have you!

Welcome to CC Elsa and ibmoser