Cakes Keep Turning Out Awful, What's Going On?[Fairly Long!]
Decorating By SugarAches Updated 13 Aug 2007 , 9:13pm by SheaButter
I always make a basic Italian Creme cake for my "vanilla" or "plain" cake orders, and it's been a big success. Early on it used to have sort of a 50/50 chance of being gooey and having dark spots, but I learned soon enough I just had to cream the shortening, butter and sugar together for longer, and since then they've been really successful. The texture is awesome and I like to think I know what I'm doing.
That was until the day before yesterday. I recently got a new kitchenaid and was rarin' to try it out on a birthday cake order, especially since I had to cream the sugar and butter for so long by hand before. I did everything normally, the fat and sugar LOOKED right (lighter in color, volume up, etc.) and I popped in the cake. When I torted it later it was a complete mess. Only the very top was fluffy and the bottom was dense and gooey like my earlier attempts. I thought it was any number of things... the egg whites might have been sitting a bit long and become less stable, the buttermilk was expiring the next day and might've gone bad early, etc. So I replace every possibly bad ingredient I can think of and go again, this time being super meticulous.
They were even WORSE! Quite possibly the worst I have ever baked, in fact. They seemed to rise in the oven but were flat and goopy once I got them out. They weren't undercooked and they weren't jarred during baking, I don't get it! Could it be I'm no good at creaming stuff with my Kitchenaid? I ended up being awake for over 24 hours just trying to make the cake work, and at 6 am the next morning, after 40$ in ingredients down the drain (and I was getting 30 for the cake!), I gave up and made a mix. 
I've got a wedding cake in that flavor coming up and I'm worried! Any ideas?
(PS: If you think it might be me and the kitchenaid, could you guys give me any tips on creaming a shortening/butter and sugar mixer in one? It's unlikely that creaming in a kitchenaid is so much different... but it's the only thing that changed!)
possibly OVER creaming in the KA -- as it is more powerful.
I start to cream on "stir" and then go to 2.
possibly cut the time back a bit.
(can't suggest a time as it is so dependent upon so many things like temp of ingredients, humidity, etc.)
and I do, find it often takes only 1/2 the time to do in a KA as it used to take w/ more traditional stand mixer w/ dual beaters.
i have never made italian creme cake so i cant help u there but i know that with the kitchen aid mixers,u usally can cut the amount of time u mix/beat things for down to half,if u got a book with ur kitchen aid mixer it should tell u what the best speeds and times are for different recipes etc.
HTH
When I cream my suger and butter, I don't go higher than speed 2 on my Kitchenaid. What speed did you use?
I agree that you are probably creaming for too long. KitchenAid recipe book states that you need to do half as much mixing with the KA than with any other kind of mixing (hand mixer, etc.).
I vote with the over-creaming as well. When I used to teach cake decorating classes my word of advice to all of my students was to cut the mixing time in half if they were using a stand mixer. These babies have so much power that people don't realize the difference when switching from a hand-mixer to a stand mixer. Also the speed powers are much different on the stand mixer. If a recipe calls for medium speed with a hand-mixer, I always go at a much lower speed with my stand mixer. Try it again with a smaller batch of cake and see what result you get. I'm sure that is where you will find your problem. Let us know how it turns out and then if you don't mind forwarding your recipe for the Italian cream cake we would all be very grateful.
Good luck! 
Thanks, you guys! After the first mention of "overbeating" I slammed my head into the desk for not figuring it out myself, and went to try my luck again. 
I never went higher than speed 4, but stuck to 2 most of the time... but when you're creaming for 15+ minutes that doesn't matter much!
Hand-mixing time does indeed NOT equal kitchenaid time! I mean, my lord! I've made it twice since. The first attempt was better, but not perfect, and the second attempt was great. I even forgot the egg yolks for a while and had to mix them in at the complete wrong time, and it still turned out nearly perfect! There was a tiny, TINY density difference at the very bottom, but I had to tear it up bit by bit and look REALLY close to find it. Thank you guys so much! Sometimes you need stuff like this to stimulate you into focusing on perfecting something.
As for the recipe, I'd be glad to give it! It's been a great "plain" cake for me. The best part is it lends itself well to practically any flavoring or extract and you can get a ton of variation out of it, which is my favorite thing to do. Oh, and it's GREAT with strawberries and swiss meringue! I'm AWFUL at writing directions, though, and tend to state the obvious, so sorry for that in advance!
Basic Italian Cream Cake
1 stick butter
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
5 eggs, separated
Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks in a bowl and set them aside.
In a tall cup, stir the baking soda into the buttermilk and set aside.
Cream shortening, butter and sugar together with the egg yolks. (Note: I've gotten good results creaming the butter on its own until it's just perfect, and then adding the shortening, then just creaming in the sugar like normal. I don't know if other people would cream the shortening and butter together or what, but that hasn't worked as well.) Alternate adding the buttermilk, vanilla and flour. Fold in the egg whites thoroughly, and bake at 325 degrees until toothpick inserted... you guys knows the deal. 
Okay so here may be a few suggestions.
1.) Are any of your ing. or leavening agents expired?
2.) Have you had your oven calibrated any time recently, I would check to make sure that it is baking at the correct temp you have actually put it on? SOmetimes this can make the best chef and baker lose their minds!
3.) The weather, as in humidity may also be an effect on your cake!
I hope some of these suggestions are helpful to you!
I agree to cut down on the creaming time. Another thing is that after you finish mixing, reach down into the bottom with a spatula and gently fold/mix the "residue" from at the bottom of the bowl (I learned this trick from watching Baking with Julia).
Okay so here may be a few suggestions.
1.) Are any of your ing. or leavening agents expired?
2.) Have you had your oven calibrated any time recently, I would check to make sure that it is baking at the correct temp you have actually put it on? SOmetimes this can make the best chef and baker lose their minds!
3.) The weather, as in humidity may also be an effect on your cake!
I hope some of these suggestions are helpful to you!
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