Double Disaster: Packing It Up For The Day
Decorating By melynn44 Updated 25 Apr 2007 , 12:44pm by melynn44
Well this was officially a double disaster. For those of you whom have not read, I am making a 9x13 anniversary cake for my parents for their anniversary.
I decided to use a Boxed cake mix. (Duncan Hines White) Everything came together pretty nicely. However, when it came out of the oven, it was very very very thin. Knowing that I still had to level it, I realized that the cake would be no thicker than a brownie..........It was literally only an inch thick.
So, I went to the store, and bought two cake mixes, Betty Crocker this time. Well, this one was even worse. It had to cook for probably an hour before it was cooked through. By that time, when it came out, the bottom and sides were black...........and even the inside which was white tasted burnt. It was absolutely unusable.
On a positive note, my frostings for tubing came out great. The icing was what I was really worried about, not the cake itself! I have used cake mix a hundred times before, and it usually comes out thicker than an inch. And other than the times that I have gotten impatient and not let it cool enough, they usually come out just fine. I really would prefer to use boxed cake mix instead of homemade, only because I am doing the rest of the cake by hand, and I want to contribute as much concentration and time to that as I can.
Does anyone have any ideas what to do? Perhaps white white cake mix is naturally more dense than others? Go ahead and laugh if you must, but at least help me out. I am going to try and give it a go again tomorrow, so HELP
Sorry to hear you're having such a rough day! Whenever I've done 9x13 cakes, I either use one and a half cake mixes or one mix with the extender recipe; and I use a flower nail or bake-even strips to help it bake up more level. I also bake at 325º.
Hope this helps you some!
Sorry to hear you're having such a rough day! Whenever I've done 9x13 cakes, I either use one and a half cake mixes or one mix with the extender recipe; and I use a flower nail or bake-even strips to help it bake up more level. I also bake at 325º.
Hope this helps you some!
Thanks for the tips. What is the extender recipe? I looked on the box, and all I saw was a lower fat recipe.
When you do the one and a half, how do you adjust the time, just time and a half? Yeah, I baked at 350.
Something that very well may be a problem is the fact that our oven is about to die. It is just really bad. For meats, it takes much longer than it should, and for baked goods, it usually takes less time than it says. We ordered a new oven about a month and a half ago........it was supposed to only take a week, but ended up being on major backorder.
Keep the advice rolling in guys! I really need it. At this point, I am considering making a cake from scratch.
are you dead set on a white white cake? I like to use whole eggs in my white cake mix. I find that it is easier to work with. The cake extender recipe is on this site in the recipe section, not on the box. It really just sounds like your oven is what is giving you the issues though and not neccessarily the box mixes. I would be afraid that the scratch cake might come out the same. I would do what others have suggested and use a flower nail in the middle to help it cook better in the center. Do you have an oven thermometer in your oven to make sure it is heating up to the right temp? I have two in mine just to make sure my oven is doing its job right and so I can adjust the temp accordingly. They are really cheap to buy..maybe 2 bucks at the grocery store.
I was also thinking oven temperature. Get an oven thermometer - a good one from a reputable store, not a wally-world special - and check the temp on the thermometer to the temp on the gauge.
Also, place the thermometer in different parts of the oven to see where your hot spot is, or hot spots are.
Theresa 
Use bake even strips or inverted flower nail. I haven't had luck with the flower nail but some people swear by it. I personally like the bake even strips.
Bake at 325...have you tried an oven thermometer. My oven is 50 degrees hotter than I set it.
I just used wasc for my 11x15 and it turned out great.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2322-White-Almond-Sour-Cream-Cake.html
Also the extender reciped if that's what you choose to do
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-1977-Cake-Mix-extender.html
Inverted flower nail
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-38982-inverted.html+flower+nail
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-9465-inverted.html+flower+nail
Best of luck at your next attempt!!!
My white cakes never seem to bake very high either, no matter what mix I use. I don't know why. My only suggestions are to bake at 325 and to use bake even strips. I don't have the bake even strips so I use kitchen towels around my pans. I saturate them with water and squeeze out the excess and use binder clips to hold them around the pan. I have several that I only use for that purpose. Also, get an oven thermometer and place it in the center of your oven and put the cake in when the temp is 325. Keep the cake in the center of the oven. My oven seems to be hotter in the back.
Good luck with the next try. I'm sure it will turn out fine this time.
I collar my cakes. Here is the article that was posted on CC about it. My cakes climb all the way up the side, to the rim, and sometimes above. And I bake all my cakes at 325 degrees F, with an oven thermometer.
http://www.cakecentral.com/article43-Collaring-Your-Cake-Pans-Make-A-Deeper-Cake.html
Theresa
i think when you go out for more mixes you need to pick up two thermometers. so you can make sure your oven is up to temperture before you put your pan in the oven. if you can get it up to the correct temp you should be ok. i also use a box and a half. if you can't get it to the correct temp check with a neighbor or your parents about using theirs. maybe you could visit with them for an hour while its baking if its not a suprise. good luck with your cake.
I was also thinking oven temperature. Get an oven thermometer - a good one from a reputable store, not a wally-world special - and check the temp on the thermometer to the temp on the gauge.
Also, place the thermometer in different parts of the oven to see where your hot spot is, or hot spots are.
Theresa
Don't mean to hijack here but I know my oven has hot spots. How do you avoid/correct the problem when baking a cake though. It's not like I can open the door and turn the cake around for more even baking 
What do I do?
My oven bakes hotter in the back than in the front also. I just open the door ONE time to turnit around, then leave it alone. I recently learned the trick with baking at 325 instead of 350. It takes a little longer, but it is worth it!
Good Luck! 
You know! I just had that same problem with DH and it was in a 9X13 pan! My first one didn't rise very high and after leveling it it wasn't very thick and then the second one was very high in the middle! I don't know if it's the mix or the oven!? The oven is fine though. Almost new but it's electric. Maybe I should turn it down and do it longer time period??
Good tips for using 1 1/2 mixes and the baking strips..I always forget those!
Sounds like the temp regulator is really misbehaving in your oven and in one of the posters above. It may actually get up to temperature just fine but the temperature has to fall way too low maybe more than 50 degrees before the oven figures out it has to apply the heat again. This gives the effect of baking/cooling and may account for the flat 9 x 13s.
The other possibility is, if you have a gas stove, you are not getting even gas pressure. Without enough pressure the valve won't open. Try making sure you're not using other gas appliances while baking.
Thanks to everyone! I am going to try to address everyone's questions and comments in one fell swoop, so sorry if this gets long.
I do not have bake strips, nor have I ever even heard of them. Is this something you'd be able to find at a Wal Mart? I live a good hour away from any specialty stores at all (small town here) so WM is really my only option. I do have a flower nail, but am not really understanding the concept. You put the nail top down into the center of the cake prior to baking, through the batter? Is that correct?
The oven: it could be the temp. It could just be the oven. It is very close to not working at all. Lately, anything put in the center of the oven will not work. So, my mom came up with a way of positioning the oven racks that thus far, has worked for us. We have one on the very bottom. And one, second from the top. However, the coil at the very top is sagging so far at this point that the 2nd position is really more like a broiling position. So, when we need to cook something for shrot amount of times, we use the top; For longer times, we use the bottom. I may re-position one of the racks back to the middle, and maybe that will help. I know we have an oven temp. thermometer somewhere, but I think the consensus has been to reduce the temp to 325 and just pray. If I find the therm., I'll definitely try it out.
I am not dead set on a white cake, no. I could go with a French Vanilla at this point. I like white cakes, because they do not use egg yolk, and are therefore, a smidgen healthier.
The first cake did not really go bad..........it actually turned out very beautifully; No cracks, perfectly golden. It was just a lot more dense and packed down than I expected. The one and a half thing sounds like a good plan. Now, if something calls for 3 eggs, how do you halve that?
As far as using someone else's oven, I live with my parents, so I am using theirs anyway. And, yes, it IS supposed to be a surprise, so I am left with only about 4-5 hours per day to make the cake. I have the icings all done though, so if I can get the cake to come out right the first time, God willing, add in the cooling time, that will leave me a good 2-3 hours to work on the decoration of the cake. Agh, our new top of the line convection oven cannot get here fast enough!
Oh, and I have an electric stove, not a gas one. It is hotter in the back as well. By the way, would you use a glass or metal pan? Last question, would you try a white mix one and a halved, one french vanilla or vanilla cake alone, or the vanilla or french vanilla one and a halved?
Okay, ya'll, I am on Cake #3. I used French Vanilla, and one and a halved it. I set the oven to 325..........and right now, am just hoping and praying it turns out okay. I used the flower nail in it so, we'll see.
Something I forgot to tell you bout our oven is that the oven light does not work, so you have to actually open the door to see the progress, which I am sure is a huge liability in cake baking.
Ugh, here's hoping.
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