Question For All That Use Cake Mixes......
Decorating By jeking Updated 20 Sep 2006 , 8:18pm by jeking
My daughter is a server at the local country club and most weekends there is a wedding/reception there. She always calls me with the details of the cake...I've even had her take pictures for me! Four out of five times she tells me that the cake "fell apart" when they tried to cut it. She is usually able to bring home a slice because the leftover cake gets thrown away. For each of the cakes that "fell apart", I noticed that it was made from a cake mix...usually a white cake mix. It has the usual cake mix flavor and texture. I know that many of you use cake mixes for your cakes and I'm not bashing any of you at all!! Do you ever have anyone comment on the cake being difficult to slice? I only bake from scratch and have never had a complaint about the texture of the cake or any difficulty with slicing it.
Some of my cakes start with a mix, but I add a lot to them. I have never had this happen with any of my cakes. They slice quite well, with the exception of one cake that came from the Cake Mix Doctor... the Hummingbird cake. But it was for home use, so it wasn't a disaster. Perhaps these cakes are being made with a straight mix that has nothing added, and it is allowed to get too dry, then gets crumbly. Can't really say for sure.
I always use cake mix and every now and then they are too moist. can you give me a good reciepe i can use from scratch??
I have when I used straight white cake mix. Im not a big fan of white cake from a mix because its too fluffy and tastes weird. BUT when I doctor it up it tastes alright (no matter what you add to it the cake will still have that cake mix flavor in the background) and is a lot more stable. If I dont doctor it up its really fluffy and not very firm. Id be afraid to use something like that in a tiered cake; I could totally see it imploding. I prefer to use my scratch recipe but I know regular non-cake snobs really like the flavor and texture of cake from a mix so when I do make a white cake from a mix I always doctor it.
Luckily I haven't had any problems. Everyone is so happy with the taste and the texture. I've even had a couple express their like of the "not your usual wedding cake texture" and great taste!
Are the cakes being supplied by the same baker/bakery every time?
Debbie
I think the source of the problem is that with a wedding cake, they often sit out for hours and the icing begins to dry. Then when it is cut, the icing sticks to the knife and tears through the cake rather than making a clean cut. The server is supposed to wipe the knife off frequently if this happens, but they are usually in too big of a hurry.
I wonder if it has less to do with the type of cake and more to do with wedding cake serving sizes (and tall layers)....
I have noticed with my own baking (and I do scratch cakes and doctored cake mixes) that since most of us (family and friends) are trying to watch our calories we only want very thin slices of cake, if its a layer cake, its hard to get a very thin slice to come out all in one piece....scratch cake or not. In fact one cake my Mom makes from scratch...which is awesome....is so crumbly its almost impossible to cut little pieces of (oh darn)....
My point is that since wedding cake pieces are usually very small...could it just be the difficulty of achieving the small pieces (and the ability of the one cutting it)........You should have seen my cousin try and cut my wedding cake! LOL........
I am just throwing a guess out there, cause I dont make wedding cakes, and I dont cut wedding cakes!
I too use doctored Duncan Hines. 
"Duncan" is the only dude I know when it comes to mixes! They have a better texture than Pillsbury and Betty. That's just my opinion, of course.
Never had any problems with Duncan falling apart due to texture, but I did try a Pillsbury once with disastrous results. It was WaaaY too tender/fluffy.
--Knox--
It's definitely different bakers/decorators. She is able to watch them set up. It must be that they aren't "doctoring" the mix enough to get a bit firmer cake.This is the white cake recipe I have been using. It's fabulous and you can add any flavors. I added the vanilla caramel to it yesterday and it was very good.
12 eggs white, beaten to stiff peak and set aside
cream 1 1/2 cups butter and 3 cups of sugar until light
Add flavoring of choice
Alternate dry ingredients (6 cups flour and 2 tablespoons baking powder) and 2 cups milk (I use half and half plus a small amount of water). Batter will be very thick. Fold in the beaten egg whites. This makes a large amount of batter...enough to bake 2 8" rounds, 1 6" X 3" round and 1 6" X 2" round.
It's my "signature white cake" now! Hope you like it.
I use box mix most of the time. I have stayed and cut my cakes and they do not fall apart. I have started using the push down method (thanks to all here who talked about this in another thread). I think it makes the cakes more dense and easier to handle.
okay so at this point i haven't had any problems, yet--
i really just posted because i couldn't resist--
GO GATORS
what is the push down method ?
push down method is to take a dish cloth & press down the cake right after it comes out of the oven & is still in the pan, it makes for a denser cake---if i told this wrong, someone please correct me 
jeking, I will have to try your recipe, it sounds good. My problem though, is whenever I have to "fold in stiffly beaten eggwhites" my cakes ALWAYS fall! ALWAYS! I tried the snickers cake recipe on here the other day with disasterous results! Fortunately it was another "just for us" cake so it tasted good anyway - not the prettiest thing I have ever done! So that is why I tend to stick with the cake mixes - Betty Crocker - and add pudding to it. I have never had any trouble or complaints about it holding up or falling apart or any problems cutting it. And people seem to really like the flavor.
I also use the pushdown method without a problem. But one word of warning, make sure you do it RIGHT when it comes out of the oven. I got side tracked one day (4 kids!) and I didn't push it down for a few minutes, and I ended up having to level it anyway. It was too wobbly.
As for cake mixes I have never done a tiered in white, but I always doctor mine anyways.
Kelly
I use mixes and for white wedding cakes, I put the whole egg in...I've experimented and it doesn't change to color or anything....well not to me it doesn't and I haven't heard any complaints!
Once, I accidentally put two extra eggs in when I was mixing two mixes and the cake was very firm and I heard raves about it, too.
jeking....be sure to thank your daughter for all she is doing for our country and our continued freedom....God Bless our Troops!
From a very grateful American
Ditto. It's the LAND OF THE FREE because of the BRAVE!!
mkerton and Puppyloveconfections...thanks for your kind words. She just turned 19 and is an intelligence analyst in the Army. Right now she's in the Reserves with 2 years of college left...hoping not to deploy until college is over, but was told a few weeks ago to expect deployment to Afghanistan within the year. As much as you hate to see them go, I know this is what she desires in her heart and I also know that she has been very well trained. Thanks to all you other moms and dad of our brave soldiers!! 
OK...back to cake topics...how did you like the white cake recipe?
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%