Okay this was only for practice so I wasn't too upset about it -but I can't figure out why this happened.... maybe b/c I left out one egg white??? I added pudding to my cake mix but forgot the extra egg white (it was a white cake so all egg whites). The end result of my 2 6 inch and my 4 inch cakes were that they got "waists". Is this from pushing down to get them level? Like when you take them out of the oven and push down on them so that you don't have to level them later? I just thought this was funny at the same time but don't want it to happen in the future - so if anyone has any idea what went wrong.... I'd like to avoid doing it again!

Also - do any of you scratch bakers get a "crust" on the top and sides sometimes of your cakes? I baked scratch cakes and they seemed to get that crust - just a bit harder on the top and sometimes on the sides. I cut it off and the rest of the cake was fine.... and I didn't overbake it b/c the cake was REALLY moist - not dry at all.... so I wasn't sure if it was normal to geta crust on scratch cakes or not.

Anyway here's a picture of the cake "waist" See how it goes "in" in the middle??

I get this often and to tell you the truth, I end up cutting off so much cake that I dont even see it afterwards. I would like to know why this happens so here's ....

When you pushed your cake down to make it level, was it still in the pan? LOL, thats kind of strage to see it go in like that in the middle. I like how you call it a waist, hehe...at least your cake's waist goes in, rather than out, like mine!

LOL I like the "it goes in instead of out like mine"..... too funny! It was still in the pan when I pushed on it... so it's not like it would "bulge" b/c I was "mushing it" around when it was hot outside of the pan..... I've had it happen a couple of times.... oh did I mention I use the magic bake strips?? I can't remember if I did on this cake or not.... oh wait this was the 4 inch, so no - but I've done it before where it came out like this.... Maybe it's b/c of too much batter? I put in the amount that Wilton tells you for the correct size pan.... but sometimes it "domes" over the top of the cake pan.... wonder if it has something to do w/ the "doming".....

If I may This is hillarous! A cake with a waist!

It reminds me of the worst cake thread. Maybe it shoule go there

I have NOT idea why this would happen. I have been " pushing down my cakes" Insead of leveling & Have never had this happen. hummm

I would be intrested to see what others have said.

I am glad it was ust for pratice

Good luck!

I'm glad it's bringing some laughter! Technically I don't think it would go in "worst cakes" b/c it did end up pretty good (See "Jim's Cake" in my photos). I was just so shocked that it came out that deformed..... and the other ones did too.... but my mom and I are pretty convinced her oven is evil and changes temperatures and does other weird things so that things take 10 times longer to cook or they cook 10 times faster than normal.....etc....... hmm maybe we could BOTH ask for a new oven for Christmas???? (I bake at my parent's house - my kitchen's too tiny!)

Your amazing! the finished cake looks perfect. Please tell me how you corrected the "waist"



WOW! I would have to bake the cake over again..

LOL no not amazing - just lucked out! I just cut it in half (i.e. torted) at the waist part.... then filled and frosted... I prob. put a lot of frosting on the sides to make up for the little indent.... although after I torted it - it wasn't so bad..... As for the 6 in "waist" cakes..... they turned out to be the "18th birthday cake" in my photos.

I was REALLY angry earlier b/c someone who has NEVER posted before and who has no pictures on this site (i.e. I couldn't respond to them) wrote as a response to my picture "that is the ugliest cake I have ever seen the colors are hideous"....... now granted, it's not the prettiest cake in the world - but it was for free, I got the call a little last minute as I was trying to put together my first wedding cake....... (second tiered but first tiered that way), and I really don't think it turned out that bad... same thing - just torted in the middle.... so I ended up deleting the picture (and that nasty person's comments) and added it back. Anyway -The worst part of that 6 in cake was the ugly orange streak next to the "18"..... one of the little balls was still wet and rolled there and I couldn't get it off - if I'd had photo editing software here at work I would have gotten rid of that mark so at least the pic. didn't look so bad.... but I heard it tasted great and I think that's the most important part! Who wants a pretty cake that tastes awful compared to an ugly cake that tastes amazing? I mean after all - you are going to eat it right???

the NERVE of some people.

I tell you what! That was just plan rude!

I thought you did an amazing job to fix it. I would not even have thought about torting it like you said.

You did a FANTASTIC job!

Oh my gosh...how funny!! I thought that was was 2 cakes stacked on top of each other! But I realized that was one cake!! Sometimes we think we do everything right and then....waalaahhh! We get a surprise!

As far as that rude comment...obviously they are too cowardly to post their pics. They must be better at criticizing than baking!!

u know what? It might be 2 cakes stacked on top of one another..... I was so stressed out over the wedding cake I can't remember right now - but I think it is - I just torted both layers at their "waist"

Sweetart - what did you do when you found your oven was going all crazy like that? Did someone come in and calibrate it or something? Where did you get the oven thermometer so you could see what was going on?

As for the rude comment - thank you guys. I don't know who that person was or why they decided to attack me, but for some reason I really got upset yesterday - not sure why I let it affect me that much but I guess I was kinda shocked - constructive criticism is fine - although maybe it's more appropriate in a Private Message than leaving a nasty post on someone's picture - heck I believe in the "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!" (Note - this doesn't mean any cakes I haven't commented on I don't like - can't get to them all! I'm just saying if I see one I don't like I don't attack the person who posted - I just leave it be).

The oven wasn't mine, so I don't know what they did with it. The thermometer can be bought at many stores in the kitchen section. It's pretty common. I highly recommend it if you ever need to cook in an unfamiliar oven. Good luck.

Oh my gosh,, i couldn't believe it when i saw this pic,, i baked one day before yesterday for my husband to take to work,,, it did the exact same thing,,, it looked like it had been sliced in two and put back together,, I've never had a cake to do that,, I added a box of white chocolate pudding mix and an extra egg to the batter,, I also thought i had overcooked it maybe,, but hubby said it was great,,, I wonder what caused this,,, It was a pillsbury yellow cake mix,,

imartsy, I looked at both cakes and I have to tell you, the teal and purple one doesn't exactly float my boat, but I wouldn't call it hideous! I happen to like teal and purple, just not together. That being said, if the person you made the cake for liked it, who cares what I or anyone else thinks about it?

As a decorator you will run into people who don't like your stuff, but don't take it personal. While we all would like to be complimented ALL of the time, sometime a bit of CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is good for the soul. Who ever pm'd you should hide their head in shame. I've looked at all of your cakes and except for the one, well, I am copmpletely impressed by your ability. You are good at what you do and you don't have to make cakes to please all of the masses, just the one you are making them for.

Thanks debsuewoo,

I certainly understand the color scheme not being to everyone's taste.... and of course, if the person who wrote that comment had said, "cute cake but I'm not into the color scheme - is that what the client asked for?" - I wouldn't have been so offended. I mean, how does she know the client DIDN'T ask for that? Okay so they didn't - but how would that person leaving the comment know? And why not come up with something helpful then? Like "I love the teal color - but have you tried putting the color ______ with it? I find it's a much more pleasing color scheme - but cute cake!" -

I just feel this site is to build each other up, help each other out - constructive criticism is good - but criticism just for the sake of it? Well you know it makes me want to say something nasty back......

Oh and debilou68,

I used a white Duncan Hines mix and added the pudding but left out the egg (oops) - I thought maybe that was it..... but you said it happened to you w/ the extra egg in so can't be that! Do you use the magi-cake strips too? I thought that would make them back more evenly - I didn't use it on this particular one b/c it was only a 4 in. cake - it was baked in a springform pan - but it was just so bizarre - at least I could laugh about it b/c I wasn't a cake for sale - just practice! Maybe my cake was trying to tell me something? Like - "look your waist SHOULD look like this... so stop eating so much cake & icing!"

imartsy, that's exactly what this site is about.... helping each other acheive better abilities. Anyone who feels the need to tear people apart should not be on this site, honestly!

I was thinking about the cake in question... I think if the teal were a bit more on the green side and the colors were deeper, it would be fantastic. I know it's hard to get deep rich colors, but it's doable.

Keep up the great decorating!

no i didn't use the bake strips,, i've never really needed them,, maybe i cooked it too long,, it also shrank away from the pan a good bit too,, very strange,, oh and you're cakes look great.. that was probably somebody just trying to get something stirred up.. shame on them.

That comment was just RUDE! Your cakes all look good. Besides that, posted pictures don't necessarily show true colors.

Cakes with a waist...hmmm... this could become a new fashion if properly done, don't you think?

You say you used a mix with pudding, which in my experience produces a very moist soft cake. The cakes I've made with this type of recipe almost always crown very high in the oven but level out most of the way on their own as they cool (especially rich chocolate flavors). When the cake is still hot a lot of warm air is holding up the structure of the cake, but the hot air will escape and the air cells compact as they cool. Maybe pushing down while the cake was still too hot over-did the natural compacting that would have happened anyway with such a soft, moist batter.

The sugar in the batter gets concentrated at the "crust" and causes this part to brown (carmelize) more than the inside of the cake. Baking at a lower temperature and using a parchment paper lining in my pans has helped my cakes to bake more evenly with less of a crust.

BTW: I think teal and purple look great together! More saturated colors, like what you can get using gel/paste (Americolor) would have made them look better I think.

AND of course a tasty cake beats a "perfect" cake any day in my opinion!

Thank you guys for being so sweet - that's what I come here for...... just the good nature of most people Again, constructive criticism is fine - but criticism for it's own sake is not! I love you guys and I love CC! I must have just been having a weird day emotionally yesterday or something to get so hurt by such a stupid comment..... thank God (And CC creators) that we can delete pictures so that I could delete that comment and re-upload my pic!

I looked at your cooked cake and think that maybe it rose too quickly initially and then sunk back down either towards the end of cooking or after you'd taken it out. Maybe the temperature of your oven is a bit too hot? Do you line your pans with paper?

The person who left that comment on your cake was just mean. I reckon they're one of these people who signs up to forums just to post contentious things, and enjoys seeing the havoc and upset they cause. Good on you for ignoring them and deleting their post. This forum is wonderful as everyone is so supportive and un-nasty. We shouldn't give posters like this the time of day.

I line my pans w/ parchment paper on the bottom - I usually don't do the sides - I think that's hard and a pain! But I do the bottoms - and I use the Wilton Cake Release product....

I think it's gotta be the oven.... anyone know where I can get a good oven thermometer? One you could read from the outside of the oven? ('cause the temperature will change slightly if you leave it in the oven and then open it - of course, if it was in hte oven it might melt too if I bought the wrong kind!) I have a meat thermometer I was thinking about using - the temperature is on a digital thing on the outside and then you stick a metal "stick" into your meat...... I'm just not sure if it will read accurately if I just stick the "stick" part in the oven and not into something......but I don't want to know the temperature of meat - I want to know the temperature of the oven!

I know this is old, it was linked to so I finally found it. Oven thermometers can be found at Walmart for about $5. I checked mine by letting the oven go for about 30 min and found it ran hot by 25 degrees, so I take this into account. A quick peek into the oven to check temp won't matter too much, but don't check the first 15 min of baking as it can upset the cake.