I have some questions. I need some tips!
1. How do you get a really moist cake, like a very moist, vanilla or chocolate especially, consistently (usually in scratch cakes with butter)?

2. How do you soak your layers, especially in rum cakes, so the layers really soak in the syrup and you can tell it's soaked after you cut the cake?

3.How do you avoid those little points when piping tiny dots with RI?

4. Who has a good low fat recipe, like the kind that replaces fat with applesauce, or something like that?


Ok, if I remember other questions I'll post!!!

Thanks!!!

Oh, I remembered another one...

5. How do you get consistently moist cupcakes?

I hope I can help a little ...

1. Make sure not to over-cook at all, I've noticed even an extra few minutes really makes a difference. Also, test out several recipes to find one you like. (I'm going to plug the Whimsical Bakehouse Chocolate Butter Cake recipe here - it's my favorite and gets comments about how moist it is every time. I do sub. one stick of the butter for margarine, for some reason it seems better this way).

2. I would also like to know this!

3. Stop squeezing before pulling the tip away. Also you can do a mini swirl with the tip before pulling it away. Or, wait until the icing crusts and tap it down with your finger dipped in P.S.

4. Cooking Light has recipes like that, but I don't know a particular one.

5. Same as number 1, make sure not to over-bake and try recipes until one works for you.

For number 4, here are a few:

1. http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2090-Diet-Soda-Cake.html

2. A Weight Watcher's tip is to take a regular cake mix and add 1 package (600g) of dessert tofu and 1/4 cup of water instead of the oil and eggs.

3. On this thread ( http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-365233.html ) the below "lite" recipes were listed (cannot remember by whom at the moment). Check out that thread for sure! It is FULL of wonderful ideas.


http://www.bobsredmill.com/rec.....hp?rid=931

These next three are from Cooking Light, but are easily the most requested and raved about:

Lemonade Layer Cake
http://find.myrecipes.com/reci....._id=249959

Orange Marmalade Layer Cake
http://find.myrecipes.com/reci....._id=549967

Pumpkin-Orange Cake (the most popular of the bunch)
http://find.myrecipes.com/reci....._id=701058

4. I just made the following this week; it was very good. Took 1 box Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix and used 8 oz diet Dr. Pepper in place of the water, 4 egg whites instead of the eggs called for on the box, and replaced the oil with equal amount of unsweet applesauce. It tasted great and was very moist! It rose well also. Weight Watchers is known for the cake mix plus diet soda cake, but I found it didn't rise very well. So, adding the egg whites and the applesauce made a HUGE difference with a very small amount of calories.

Enjoy!

regarding the moist cake recipes....

- BUTTERMILK!!!! any cake with buttermilk (done right) will likely be very moist and flavorful.

- MEASURE BY WEIGHT. you can get an inexpensive scale for around 20 bucks that will do the trick just fine. less dirty measuring containers, faster, and more consistant results.

- BAKE AT 325. you may need to bake a couple more minutes than at 350, but it will be more evenly baked.

- SIMPLE SYRUP. brush a syrup on the layers before filling and icing. bring to a boil equal parts sugar/water, vanilla or other optional flavor. use a pastry brush to LIGHTLY brush, not flood the cake. it also adds a touch of flavor.

oh and... CAKE FLOUR! much lighter texture. REAL VANILLA. go to town on creaming the butter and sugar , and dont overbeat once you've combined dry and wet ingredients (brings out the gluten so your cake will be tougher, dryer, etc) . good ingredients, make for a good cake. seriously. you learn to notice the difference.

Generally, moisture loss (in the form of water) is what causes a dry cake. There are many who soak the cake with a sugar syrup while still hot after removal from the oven.

My cake recipes tend to be on the sweet side, so the idea of adding additional sugar is not too appealing. So, prefer to spray the cake either with water or a 20 solution of liquor and water. Both creates a deliciously moist result. HTH

Sorry about that! It is a thread on this site. Click on this link and then go to page 5. It was a post by lanibird.

http://forum.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=365233&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=60

Hope that helps!

The reason I decided to ask the random question about moisture is that I find that most people expect cakes to always be like box or mix cakes.
I've made both kinds. Box cakes when I was younger, though in my professional life I have always made scratch. I believe in the natural ingredients and the integrity of good products.

I am trying to get some business going from home and since I have sold a few cakes, a friend asked about the moistness. The cakes are not dry, mind you. But they are scratch. A very different texture. I have been testing many recipes and I have to play with oven temp too. But I do find that when I soak layers I don't get that real SOAK that I want.

But people don't realize that they are so used to even bakeries using mixes that they don't really know what a scratch cake with real buttercream should taste like. They just want artificial flavor and preservative.

So anyway, as I am experienced, I still LOVE to the tips and tricks that others use that I can learn from. One never stops learning!!!!

re: buttermilk - just make sure you aren't using fat-free buttermilk - you need the fat in the cake.

Anyone else???? Any comments or additions???

about the cupcakes, if you bake at 325 and use good cupcake pans - thick alluminum, place on the middle rack and set your timer for the lower time setting and check from there. dont overbake and they should be fine. i've noticed the times when i try to take shortcuts and put a cookie sheet on the bottom rack with the cupcake liners that stand alone, the bottoms always come out dry and or nearly burnt. you can also use simple syrup on them just like cake, and use wilton bismark tip 230 (its long and narrow) to add a squirt of filling. its a nice surprise, and adds some moisture.

Do you find that the dark top pans help get that dome that a cupcake should have? I have only one pan like this, the other 2 are a lighter silver color, and it seems to be he better one.

you know, i 'm not sure. i dont use any dark pans at all any more, i just didnt like the results so i got rid of those and got some good heavy alluminum pans and cupcake tins. i think that they bake pretty evenly in the ones i have, but are still slightly rounded. i think a combination of cheap pans, overbaking, over beating, over filling,....it can all have an affect on the dome or not.

I have a new question...when covering a cake in fondant, what is the best way to avoid the little wrinkles that sometims form? Is this just a matter of practice? Does this have to do with fondnat being too thin, or the size of the cake?

(I don't decorate cakes evryday as I am not officially in business or working, but I have made a few fondant covered cakes and this usually happensin at least 1 or 2 spots.)

Also, how can we get this thread to have more participation?

Thanks!

To smooth fondant--
On a round cake lift and "balloon out" the fondant before you start to smooth it--sort of in an umbrella shape--to get out the wrinkles.
On a square cake, smooth the corners first then lift and smooth as you go.

jesaltuve, i also find that if you roll your fondant out much larger than you actually need to cover it with, its easier to lift and fluff out while smoothing it to the sides. if you roll it just big enough, the wrinkles are bound to be excessive because there is nothing extra to work with.

Two tips that I have:

1. To keep your BC firmed up and not too soft while decorating: Take an insulated bag (such as lunch bag - we have one that hold more than a six pack of colas) and put ice in the bottom. Cover with a dish cloth and line your bags of BC on the dish cloth. You can also use a bowl but the ice won't stay frozen as long as in the insulated bag.

2. For piping bags with melted chocolate: Turn crockpot on lowest setting, place thick kitchen towel in the bottom (and fold to create several layers so as to create insulation between the crockpot and piping bags). Line your piping bags filled with melted chocolate on the cloth and leave the lid vented. If your crockpot isn't the oblong, you can stand the piping bags up - just use foil to partially cover the crockpot (to keep in some of the heat). Also, be sure to position the towel so as to cover the sides of the crockpot as well so as not to melt piping bags (i.e. disposable, etc). Check the bags often to make sure they are okay.

Hope these help someone else like they did me!!

You're welcome! Hope you like this method as well!