I was in a hurry last night trying to make a cake to take to a church potluck and nothing was going right. I made a Duncan Hines French Vanilla mix. Instead of putting it in 2 pans I put it in my 8 inch round springform pan. I cooked 30 minutes and went to check. Still jiggly! Another 15 minutes and it was still REALLY gooey so I put it back in for another 15 minutes. I tried to cool it really quickly...I put it in the freezer for 10 minutes (all the time I could spare...we were already running late) and tried to frost. Disaster! The frosting kept melting off! I was trying to smooth the top and it was turning into a puddle. The sides were a little better, but I still couldn't get them smooth. I ended up piping very primitive daisies on top to cover the melted frosting. To top it all off, it tasted kind of dense and dry when I had some. Not sure why. Ideas? Maybe it just wasn't enough frosting (couldn't get it to stay on!).

Here are the pictures. Did I mention how much of a rush I was in? Or the fact I haven't taken classes yet (start next week)? I can decide if this is discouraging me from taking the class or reaffirming that I NEED to take them! IMO, you can't see how bad the frosting is in these pics.

I have never made a one-layer cake like this before, so I can only guess, but I would think that a cake that thick would need a heating core to bake properly. The edges may have overcooked while the center was cooking and that's why it got dry. It probably also took longer to cool because of the thickness.
It really doesn't look like a disaster to me, though! Don't let this discourage you, you are off to a great start!

Sounds like you just put too much batter in the pan. It didn't have enough room to rise properly, which would explain the denseness. And it took an extra long time to cook it all the way through, which would explain the dryness.

In any event, it's a very cute cake and I'm sure it was enjoyed by all!

Ahhhh...heating core. Never thought of that. Did read here that you can use your flower nail for that too? would you just put it in the cake with the flat side at the bottom of the pan?

Hmmm....I think it had enough room to rise. I did put a whole cake mix in it, but the pan was 2.5-3 inches thick. It was only about 2/3 full. I think you're right...it just took so long to cook that it dried it out.

Thanks for the kind words. Hopefully I can figure this all out!

Yes, you can use the flower nail...just grease it with whatever you grease the pan with, and put it flat side down in the pan before you pour the batter in. You can even use two or three, evenly spaced. Good luck!

I thought of something else...I had put my batter into one pan (larger) but discovered that I didn't have enough batter for that one so I transfered it to another pan. Could the fact that all the crisco from the first pan mixed into the batter have made it more dense? I'm new at this, so I don't know if that would have any affect or not.

It DID have quite a bit on it. It wasn't an inch thick or anything, but it had quite a bit. Like I said, I didn't know if it would make a difference or not. Just trying to figure it out for next time.

If anything I would think a little extra Crisco would just act as more fat in the recipe, maybe actually make it more moist if anything? Not sure.