Tips, Tricks, And Secrets To Making A Great Scratch Cake
Decorating By puzzlegut Updated 31 May 2007 , 3:15pm by apclassicwed
Finally, baking is a real science. It is not like other cooking where you can add this and subtract that and still come out with a good result. Alter one thing and the whole cake may fail. So stick to what the recipe says, including baking temperatures. If you are interested in knowing more about how baking works there are a couple of good books out there. Baking 911 by Sarah Phillips explains the methods and science well plus the book has several recipes that are really good. She also has a website where she will answer your questions about baking.
I completely agree with BakingGirl baking is a real science. I have tried a few different scratch recipes and I find that when adjusting recipes the results arent as great as when you make one from scratch. I found the Ultimate Butter Cake by Sarah Phillips is my favorite one. Specially because It has the options to make it into a yummy lemon or orange cake. I just made the lemon one this past weekend and my friends raved ( a bit of lemon rind and a little extract tasted so much better) they absolutely loved it. My friend automatically said that it couldnt be from a box. The Ultimate Chocolate Butter Cake is also yummy! I guess it better be since it uses 4 sticks of butter 
As for my baking soda and baking powder I bought one of those food saver canisters (big enough for both) and put them both in there specially for my baking soda. It lasts sooo much longer fresher!
To determine whether baking soda is still fresh:
Place 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda in a small bowl, add 1 tablespoon vinegar. If the mixture fizzes, the baking soda is still good. If the mixture does not fizz, throw out the old box and buy a new one.
While surfing came across this, Cake - Technical Help:
http://www.keymix.com/cake_techhelp.htm
Also, this might be something like what tolinda was talking about:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Desserts-747/BROWNIES.htm
(scroll down to "Answer".)
http://www.ochef.com/625.htm
HTH
Here's a moist (scratch) cake recipe thread:
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-95251-.html
The above also has info on making and using simple syrups.
Here's an article giving the science behind baking a butter cake:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/ButterCakes.html
and a butter cake trouble shooting chart:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/ButterCakeTroubleshooting.html
Joy of Baking has a lot of great info: www.joyofbaking.com
HTH
Scratch cakes are never going to duplicate the texture of a box mix. For me that is a major hooray! Box cakes are are just too light and fluffy- like white bread from the grocery store- just blah.
As baking girl said baking is a science. Do you actually measure accurately- over fill your dry ingredients measuring cups or spoons and then level off. No sorta close. That's OK for cooking, but a big no no for baking.
Did you actually follow the directions? If it says combine the ingredients and then beat for two minutes did you actually do that. I now use a timer, I've been at this for years and I have become more meticulous not less. Why ? Because I get better results.
A cake is done when it springs back from being very lightly touched, it will also have just started to release from the side; it will release entirely as it cools. If it has released entirely from the sides before you take it out, it is slightly over baked.
If the recipe calls for cake flour, use it. About the only place you can safely mess with a recipe is the flavorings. Adding some other extract instead of vanilla or even a bit of lemon or orange rind is an safe variation in a white or yellow cake- or using coffee instead of water or a bit of cinnamon in a chocolate cake.
Recipes vary in quality and difficulty level. If you are not an experienced baker, stick to one bowl recipes that just expect you measure acurately, mix and bake. These recipes will have coarser crumb to them. That is what they should have. Like artisan breads, they do not have a fine fluffy texture. Stick to box mixes if that is what you are looking for.
Also, scratch cakes do go stale quickly so wrap in cling film as soon as they are cool. Level and frost 10 to 12 hours later - you don't get the bulge between layers if you allow the cake settling time.
Yanno, speaking of cakes that can substitute as loofahs made me think of a funny story mom told me about when she made her first scratch cake. She said she had all the ingredients mixed in and poured the batter into the pans and placed them in the oven....only to realize 5 minutes later that she forgot to add a very important ingredient: baking powder! So she said that she went flying into the kitchen, grabbed the baking powder, added some to the batter (that was already doing it's thing in the oven) and stirred it in. Needless to say, her layers were a hot mess. Hills and valleys for days. I think of that when I mess up and have a good laugh.
Anyhoo, follow the recipe to the hilt. And beware of overmixing because that will toughen up a cake like nobody's business. Also when you check the layers, if there's a few moist crumbs on the toothpick/tester, go on ahead and take them out. It's also about finding a recipe that works for you. I went through I don't know how many recipes before I found a yellow cake that met what I was looking for...ingredient wise, mixing wise and tasting wise. I admit though, I still use a box at times. No shame in my game.
Thank you all for the great tips! I really enjoyed reading through this thread!
My advice about scratch cakes is to not expect it to get that beautiful golden color that box cakes have on the outside. It took me a long time to figure out that by the time the cake was golden, the inside was dry! Check your cake often to make sure that you don't over bake it!
I'm glad this came up, I have only one scratch recipe that I have consistent continued success with. All the rest -- hooey!
I'm a scratch baker, and my best tips would be: first, don't overmix your batter; second, measure accurately; third, I fill my pans only 1/2 full ! this gives the batter enough space to rise and results in a better texture cake
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