Ok, I tried Cook's Illustrated Yellow Cake because it seems alot of folks like it and I had some issues. First off, when adding the pieces of butter to the flour mix it started off pebbly but by the time I add the final pieces, it had started to clump together like a giant ball of dough. I add the other ingredients and batter looked fine. I let it bake, take it out of the oven and my layers seemed thin. Could it be because I didn't use whole milk (all I have is 2%). It just ticks me off because it seems like the only cake recipe I can do is Sarah's UBL and Wilton's Golden Layer cake (I use the latter for cupcakes). Ugh and I sometimes wonder why I decided that I wanted to bake cakes.
I am not familiar with this recipe, but it sounds a lot like a pastry (pie crust) method. I would guess that either your butter was to soft to begin with or you added it too slowly and the heat/friction from the mixing started to melt the butter. Part of the leavening in this type of cake comes from the steam that is released from the butter as it melts when it is baking. If the butter is somewhat melted to begin with, you won't get that extra boost.
Don't give up! There are a lot of REALLY good scratch recipes out there- just keep trying. I often come across recipes that I don't like or that don't work for me, but I just move on to the next one and it's usually a keeper!
Amber
Hey there,
There is a great recipe in the Home and Garden cookbook(the red, white and black checkered cookbook). The yellow cake recipe in there is great. I can't stay out of it when I make it. It's really easy too. If you don't have that cookbook pm me and I will send it to you if you want.
I second the yellow cake recipe in the BH&G cookbook! 
I've been baking that recipe for years!
I am not familiar with this recipe, but it sounds a lot like a pastry (pie crust) method. I would guess that either your butter was to soft to begin with or you added it too slowly and the heat/friction from the mixing started to melt the butter. Part of the leavening in this type of cake comes from the steam that is released from the butter as it melts when it is baking. If the butter is somewhat melted to begin with, you won't get that extra boost.
Don't give up! There are a lot of REALLY good scratch recipes out there- just keep trying. I often come across recipes that I don't like or that don't work for me, but I just move on to the next one and it's usually a keeper!
Amber
That's probably it because I was adding it slowly. My butter was soft but still cool to the touch but I imagine that by adding the butter pieces slowly the friction from the paddle softened it too much.
Sweetpeeps, I sent you a pm. I miss that cookbook. I used to cook other recipes out of it but never the cake ones. Baking cakes from is new to me in many ways, I guess. I mean I used help my mom, grandma, great-grandmother and aunt all the time. The first book I learned how to read basically was a cookbook! I know I can use DH as a backup but I want to do scratch because in my opinion, they taste better. I shouldn't complain though. I do like the UBL but I want a few more recipes under my belt.
Thank goodness for this site! You guys rock 
Would you please post the recipe as it is written? If I am reading correctly, they have you creaming the Flour into the butter? I have never, ever heard of creaming flour into butter for Any recipe except when making roux. Normally it is the sugar that is creamed into the butter, to aerate it. I would think that flour would absorb the butter and become pasty.
Thanks -
Theresa
Here's the link......
http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg00269.html
have never, ever heard of creaming flour into butter for Any recipe except when making roux.
Actually it's mixing butter into flour, not the other way around. RLB uses this method in the Cake Bible, and it's been in a lot of more recent recipes for cakes with chemical leavening. The thinking is that what we've learned is wrong and creaming the butter separately isn't always necessary.
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