I would like to have a bake off of sorts, and i think some people here will be interested!! Here's how i prepose it works... A month time is given... in that time 2-3 similar recipes are choosen (white/yellow/chocolate what ever we choose) then in that months time everyone bakes the choosen recipes and tries it and hopefully lets as many people as possible try it. then we rate based on a series of things (flavor, moisture, next day dryness again whatever we decide. Then hopefully we find the best... or it could be done one recipe a month, the next month the next preposed...

Please let me know if you are interested and how you think is should work!

i'm interested i think i've seen this in another forum before.

They were done on www.egullet.com
Here's the link to the chocolate cake off - Very informative - http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=41144

The index will take you to many more such bake-offs
HTH,
Avanika

I would be interested. I think people should take up close photos of the crumb too if possible.

OMG someone else has seen that chocolate cake-off on egullet!! That thread is my bible for chocolate cakes; that's the reason I use the Fudge Brownie Cake (with egullet revisions) for chocolate cake. I never noticed that there were other bakeoffs; thanks for that lostbaker.

It would be so fun to do something similar here, to get a different set of opinions. I like maryjsgirl's suggestion that all participants take pics...not just of the crumb though, but also maybe how the batter rises in the pan?

cupcakeshoppe, are you referring to another scratch bake off? You might also be remembering the cupcake club CCC monthly threads...they all agreed on a single cupcake recipe per month, baked it and reported back on their results...likes, dislikes, etc.

YAY! I love this idea!!

ceshell, i think that's the same forum I meant. But they were talking about yellow cake... I think.

Ok I am about to get this party started, lol. I have been wanting to try Rebecca Rather's white on white buttermilk cake forever from "The Pastry Queen". I am not going to post the recipe due to copywrite laws, but if you google you will find it.

Two things attracted me to this recipe.

1. THREE sticks of butter!
2. Buttermilk

About the recipe- This is a typical creaming, add eggs, then alternate liquid with dry type of recipe. The plus side? No whipping of the egg whites! It doesn't call for sifting either, but I did. My cake flour looked real lumpy so I thought it would be for the best.


The batter- Yum! I could taste butter, vanilla, and the tang of the buttermilk. The batter itself is thick, but really light. I had to spoon and smooth it into the cake pans.

The look- The recipe called to bake the cake at 350, but I baked mine at 325. Do not wait for the top of this cake to be springy. I took mine out while there was a slight "mush" to the top. I checked with a skewer and it came out clean. The cakes baked up absolutely flat! I made a few cupcakes to see how they would bake up. Now the cupcakes I had issues with, but I it was user error due to over filling them and baking them at 325. They actually did dome slightly, but it's hard to judge how they would have came out if I hadn't messed up. So I will say using this as a cupcake recipe is still up in the air. The cakes didn't rise very much. I baked them in a 9 in (2 in deep) and filled them a little less than half full. They baked up about an eighth inch short of the rim of the pan.


The taste- Lol, I gave a cupcake to my four year old. His response? "mom it taste a little bit like walnuts". To me it tastes like one of those puffy, buttermilk sugar cookies.


The texture- It is very tender and light. I read that the cake wasn't sturdy enough for carving etc. A couple of hours in the fridge and it was fine for torting and carving for me. When at room temperature it did get slightly more delicate, but nothing a serated knife couldn't handle. On a moisture scale of 1-10 I would give it a seven.


Negatives- Pockets in the baked cake. I think this was my fault though. I didn't do anything to knock out the air pockets.


Overall I would give the cake an eight out of ten for a white/butter cake.

Here is a picture of the cake sliced...


Here is a photo of the cake sliced and then I took the slice and torted it.

Thanks for posting that mjg! That is my favorite white cake. Just looking at it makes me want to trim the top and chomp it up. You should try it with IMBC and nutella -omg! Heaven! I agree that it is not as fragile at ALL once it's been chilled (I often freeze it). Also you do not have to bake it in 3 pans as per the directions; I always make it in two. I do knock out the air pockets though and I agree, it's a little iffy for cupcakes. Mine actually were so moist they peeled out of the wrappers, and they also domed a bit but then deflated.

Your son is funny: walnuts?! I wonder where he tastes that?! Cute : )

ceshell - No problem. I used the same chocolate cake recipe, after meticulously going through near 30 pages of the thread. I haven't gone through any other bake-off, but I plan to soon, when I'll have a many hours free at a stretch.

So how is the bake off going to be conducted? In the same way as egullet? I'd love to be a part of this.

Update

I had wrapped a layer up to let sit and try later. Two days later I just had some and it is still moist and good. Just in case anyone wanted to know how well it held up.

This sounds like a great way to try out new recipes...yeah

Sounds like a great idea . I'm interested. Its a great way of finding that perfect go-to recipe.

I am interested too.

This sounds like so much fun! I'm always trying to find the best cake recipes, especially for vanilla cakes because they usually come out drier than chocoatle ones.

This would be great!!!! I am happy with my recipes for yellow cake and carrot cake, but when it comes to chocolate cake I have not found "the one." All the recipes I have tried are not moist enough or are dense. I am looking for a scratch cake that is chocolately and moist sort of like a cake mix cake but made from scratch and with real butter!!! no oil.

Thanks,
Naty

PS. A recipe for a moist strawberry cake made with real strawberries (no gelatin) would also be wonderful!

Count me in!!!!!!!!!!

So what's going on with this topic? Is it happening?

I hope so. I would also like a recipe for a good scratch strawberry cake. How about we all go into our recipe boxes, on and off of CC, and get our our current go-to recipes. We can then post them in this tread and then vote on which ones will be selected to to test for that month.

I'd like to propose we start and on June 1st. That gives us a weeks time to select our recipes and post them. We can then vote on June 1st and let the baking begin.

How does this sound?

BTW: I am not trying to take the lead on this because it is CakeandDazzle's idea. I'm just trying to make a suggestion to get things started

here you go............

These are my tried-and-true. Please post yours as well.

Butter Pecan Cake

6 oz. white chocolate, chopped (I used Baker's White Choc.)
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, separated
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
3 cups sifted cake flour

Place chocolate in a bowl. Pour boiling water over chocolate; stir until smooth. Set aside, and let cool.

Grease three 9-inch round cake pans; line with wax paper. Grease and flour wax paper set aside.

Beat butter at med. speed of an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in white chocolate mixture and vanilla.

Combine buttermilk and soda. Add flour to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Mix at low speed after each addition until blended.

Beat egg whites at high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into batter. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 mins., and cool completely on wire racks.

Frost with Butter Pecan frosting.
BUTTER PECAN FROSTING
2 tbs. unsalted butter, softened
1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 box (16oz) confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Melt 2 tbsp. butter in a skillet, add pecans and cook over med. heat 10 minutes stirring constantly until pecans are toasted. Set aside and let cool completely.

In bowl cream 1/2 cup butter till creamy, add cream cheeses, continue beating. Add sifted sugar. Fold in cooled pecans and add vanilla extract.

Note: This recipe is for 9-inch cake layers. I had leftover frosting because my cake was 8-inches.

Butter Pecan Frosting Recipe from: Christmas with Southern Living, 1996

Note: I baked it in a 8x3 pan at 325 degrees for 50 - 55 minutes.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the ONLY Yellow Cake recipe I use:

Great American Cakes
by Barbara Kafka
Gourmet December 1987

Yellow Cake Layers
This is probably America's favorite layer for any kind of cake; it is what the cake-mix people try to imitate and never get right.

Makes two 8-inch layers

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Into a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter, add sugar gradually, beating, and beat the mixture until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the flour mixture and the milk alternately in batches, beginning and ending with dry ingredients, add the vanilla, and beat the batter until it is smooth.

Divide the batter between 2 lightly greased and floured 8x1 1/2-inch round cake pans, smoothing the top, rap each pan on a hard surface twice to expel any air bubbles.

Bake the layers in the middle of a preheated 350-degree F oven for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a tester inserted in center comes out clean and the layers pull away slightly from the sides of the pans. Let the layers cool in the pans on a rack for 8 minutes, run a thin knife around the edge of each pan, and invert the layers onto the racks. Let the layers cool completely.


This recipe is very good and most important easy. It's the only Cheesecake my husband will eat. Here it is:

Cheesecake

4 pkgs. cream cheese (8 oz. each), softened and cubed
6 large eggs
3 Tbs. flour
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract (or vanilla extract, if desired)
*Graham cracker crust for 10-inch springform pan, or a ready-made 9" graham cracker pie shell

In blender, blend the eggs, then add the cubed cream cheese. Add sugar, whipping cream, and extract. Blend till smooth. Pour in springform pan or pie shell. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes then lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until set (insert knife to see if it comes out clean). Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack to room temperature. Then, Chill at least 4 hours or overnight.
Enjoy!!

*Note: The Graham cracker crust can be made by: melting 1/2 stick (1/4 c.) butter or margarine, then adding 1 cup graham cracker crumbs. Mix to form a paste and press on sides and bottom of springform pan.

If using the ready-made 9-inch graham cracker pie shell, you will have extra cheesecake batter left over. You can make cupcakes.

Naty

Thanks, Naty, for the rapid response. Its a little late but I will post in the morning. For a quick reference until tomorrow morning, I submitted my yellow cake recipe, the Deluxe Chocolate Cake recipe, the lemon cream cheese pound, and the moist dense butter pound recipe in the recipe tab (I am not sure if it was added to the recipe section yet.). I will rewrite them in this thread in the am, along with my cheesecake recipe

Ya'll have a great night

I hope I'm not overstepping here, but I kinda thought that we would select one type of cake, then everyone could post their favourite recipes for that cake.
I mean, isnt there already a thread where everyone posts their favorite scratch recipes. What do you guys think?
No offense to anyone.

Avanika

LostBaker...you aren't overstepping at all. No question is a bad question .

How about since Naty was nice enough to post her recipes so rapidly, we post our favs for Yellow for the month of June, Cheesecakes for July, A specialty recipe...like her Butter Pecan Cake, Strawberry Cakes..ect for Aug, Chocolate Cake recipe for Sept.

This is just a guided time line so that we can have an idea of what to sample for the upcoming months. We don't have to do those specific cakes in those months, its just a proposal how things could work.

What do you think, ladies and gents?

Oooh Lita that sounds great
So if everyone's agreed, we're doing Yellow Cake for the next month. Naty posted her recipe, once everyone posts theirs, we'll pick favorites, bake them, and post our results.
This thread is awesomme..

Here is my Yellow Cake Recipe:

2 1/4 C flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 C butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 3/4 C sugar
3 lg eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 C whole milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2-8 or 9" pans. Sift dry ingredients and set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla and mix. Add dry ingredients, alternating with the milk, mixing well after each addition...beginning and ending with the dry. Bake layers 30-40 min.

Enjoy!!

It's an excellent idea. Starting with the yellow cake makes me very happy as I have tried 3-4 I'm not happy with & am searching for a good one.

It needs to be set up where it's easy to find. Sometimes there are too many cakes that need baking & icing to spend all evening on cakecentral.com

I do love the idea.

That's a good idea,moving the post to a place everyone can see it. I see what you're saying.

I don't know how to go about doing that. Does anyone know how?

I think you can pm a moderator, ask if it can be moved to the General forum. Not a lot of people browse this forum (although anyone who comes to CC regularly and always views the "view most recent posts since my last visit" link will surely see it.)

As for my yellow cake, I have a weird entry but I'm telling you, it works. It's actually the Lemon Cake from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook. I made this cake a few months ago, intending to make a lemon cake. Quite honestly, it didn't taste very lemony (um, or, at ALL lemony) to me, but rather it tasted exactly like my favorite yellow cake from a bakery I used to frequent. I mean, I was like "Holy cow I just figured out their recipe!!!!" My guess is that the lemon juice used in the batter basically acts the way any other lemon juice does when you are doing DIY buttermilk. I can't account for why the zest doesn't lemonize the cake (to me) but I'd be interested to see if anyone else shares my opinion. For myself, I paired it with chocolate icing for the most tasty yellow cake I've eaten lately...moist and light. For the people I made it for, I felt the need to add lemon curd and lemon buttercream in order to make it taste like a lemony dessert, so that's why I am trying to reiterate that I don't consider it to be a lemon cake any more than any other milk+lemon juice recipe.

I thought it had a much yummier flavor than the Toba Garrett yellow cake that is popular, or the "Ultimate Yellow Cake".

The link to the recipe is here http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopic-31699-0.html

Thanks a bunch, ceshell...will do.