I am starting to bake my cakes from scratch. I prefer the taste of the scratch to mix and I like knowing what I'm putting into my cake vs. whatever is in the mix.
Just my personal preference.
I am having trouble keeping my cakes moist. I have tried a couple different recipes and a couple different techniques. I have found one that is pretty good but I think there has to be something else out there.
Any suggestions of recipes from any of you scratch bakers????
I really want to make this work because the ingredients being whole foods is very important to me.
Thanks!!! 
simple syrup! brush it onto your cakes after you level/torte them and proceed to fill and ice as usual. you can flavor it to compliment your cake too.
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
combine in a saucepan and whisk to hydrate sugar completely. without stirring bring to a boil over high heat, remove from heat and let cool completely. after its cool i add a complimentary extract (vanilla, strawberry, etc) and brush it over my cake layers when torting. you can use liquors to flavor too, i think you add those before heating though.... i dont use them so someone else who does can maybe help with that.
sometimes, I use "apricoating" which is nothing more than melted apricot jelly with a few drops of water. It does an excellent job of sealing the cake.
One other thing to make sure of (not that you would do this) but the sugar/fat creaming cycle of the recipe is very important. It really does take about 5 min for all those sugar crystals to slice and dice the fat until they are all wrapped up in it. Another measure to take is to try a recipe that uses weight instead of volume. 3 Large Eggs from your grocery store may not weigh the same as the 6oz of whole egg required for a recipe. Anyway - my two cents 
I love scratch cakes. I think you will be pleased once you experiment with a few recipes. One of my recent favorites is Sarahs Red Velvet in the recipes on CC.
Here is a good link on making scratch cakes and the proper technique for ANY scratch recipe. All you need are the ingredients and you would apply this sequence and technique and your cake will be moist and delicious!!!
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-365153.html
...forgot to add, do not OVERMIX or OVERBAKE! These are common reasons scratch cakes come out dry.
I also love baking from scratch and one thing that I learned from other CCers is to add a box of pudding and an extra egg to your cake mix. And that makes it more moist. Some cakes I just use the pudding and not an extra egg. It seems to work very well.
Which recipes have you tried? Maybe we can give you some tips on them.
This is the best so far.
http://joyofbaking.com/YellowButterCake.html
I think I maybe over baking the cakes. I was always baking my mix cakes on 325 but have noticed the scratch cakes do better on 350.
Thanks to everyone for your help. I knew you guys would have great suggestions!
i second the not overmixing, overbaking, simple syrup and weighing ingredients. a scale can be purchased inexpensively at walmart or target to get started with. another thing is to FOLLOW THE RECIPE, cream the butter and sugar WELL. mix by hand if you can, and use the best quality ingredients you can afford. if you can get a stand mixer, it will save you more than a headache or two.
three of my favorite recipes (note the buttermilk!!! makes it moist!)
moist yellow cake by toba garrett
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/109358
chocolate cake from kate sullivan and margaret brauns book
(this is posted on someones blog, its the first recipe under a july 13th post)
http://lick-the-spoon.blogspot.com/
carrot cake (i crush the walnuts, omit the raisins and finely grate the carrots)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Carrot-Cake-Ever/Detail.aspx and frost with this
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-901-Whipped-Cream-Frosting.html
the yellow cake can easily become marble, amaretto by subbing out half of the bmilk for liquor, berry by adding fresh puree , lemon by adding zest and juice etc.
the chocolate cake is amazing frosted with whipped milk chocolate ganahce and a chocolate wrap
italian meringue buttercream goes well on the yellow cake. try it in espresso, amaretto, raspberry, chocolate etc. mmmmmm
another thing that makes scratch cakes the ultimate is to torte and add 3 layers of filling. try a fresh fruit puree or whipped ganache, toasted coconut pecan or crushed cookies and cream. yum, yum, yum YUM
If you haven't tried this one, I strongly recommend it.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/109358
I also recommend using the weight measurements for that recipe if you have a scale. You will get much better results with all of your scratch cakes that way.
Using measuring cups can't give you consistent results because the amount of, say, flour in a measuring cup will vary every time you measure it.
Ah, Melysa beat me to it!
hey...you may have been the one who introduced me to it! i cant remember who or when, but sometime in the last 3 months or so, i saw that recipe link on a thread, gave it a try, and now its one on my narrowed down list of favorites! i like to use it as a base recipe flavor and change it up a bit for variation. its delicious.
Oh my gosh, that's the recipe I've been using for yellow cake and everyone LOVES it!!! I had been looking so long for a good one and after I found that one, I have never changed since. I do now add a box of pudding to it and that makes it really moist.
RBGibson wrote
Oh my gosh, that's the recipe I've been using for yellow cake and everyone LOVES it!!! I had been looking so long for a good one and after I found that one, I have never changed since. I do now add a box of pudding to it and that makes it really moist.
Is that cook and serve pudding or instant?
RBGibson wrote
Oh my gosh, that's the recipe I've been using for yellow cake and everyone LOVES it!!! I had been looking so long for a good one and after I found that one, I have never changed since. I do now add a box of pudding to it and that makes it really moist.
Is that cook and serve pudding or instant?
Just instant pudding. One small box for a normal mix. And I use 1 and a half for a sheet cake.
i second the not overmixing, overbaking, simple syrup and weighing ingredients. a scale can be purchased inexpensively at walmart or target to get started with. another thing is to FOLLOW THE RECIPE, cream the butter and sugar WELL. mix by hand if you can, and use the best quality ingredients you can afford. if you can get a stand mixer, it will save you more than a headache or two.
three of my favorite recipes (note the buttermilk!!! makes it moist!)
moist yellow cake by toba garrett
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/109358
hey melysa, toba's yellow cake looks fabulous! i use her choc recipe and i know it yields a lot of batter, more than the typical recipe. this one looks like it does too, is that true? i need about 30 cups of batter for an upcoming cake and i wondered if 3 batches would be enough...
A quick question about adding pudding mix to a scratch cake--I have only heard of others doing this to a box mix, and this is the first I have heard of adding pudding to a scratch cake. How does it affect the cake, and are there others that do this? Kind of curious and would love some feedback on this. Thanks!
A quick question about adding pudding mix to a scratch cake--I have only heard of others doing this to a box mix, and this is the first I have heard of adding pudding to a scratch cake. How does it affect the cake, and are there others that do this? Kind of curious and would love some feedback on this. Thanks!
i do that all the time!! i use a yellow cake recipe as my base, then add lemon, or strawberry, or cookies n cream, or white choc or french vanilla to get other flavors. it works great, doesn't affect the texture or structure of my cakes, and is much easier than using a different recipe for each flavor. i also use lorann oils and extracts in addition to the pudding for a stronger flavor.
If you use pudding, when do you add it, and do you just add it dry?
i add it dry with the sugar in the beginning. pudding is mostly sugar anyway, so i cream it with the butter/sugar. if you feel like it is too sweet with the pudding you can reduce the amount of sugar in your recipe by about 1/4 cup.
A really good recipe for a vanilla scratch cake is on the baking911.com website. The recipe is for a Scratch Boxed Cake. This cake is made from scratch and tastes like a boxed cake. The recipe is very versatile. I've used organic orange, strawberry, and lemon oils in this cake, it comes out beautifully. Here is how I rate this recipe:
Crumb: Light-medium density
Flavor: Lovely vanilla flavor
Moistness: Evenly moist
Crown: No crown on cake, flat
I've made this cake on numerous occasions, and I always receive complements.
Teenycakes
i second the not overmixing, overbaking, simple syrup and weighing ingredients. a scale can be purchased inexpensively at walmart or target to get started with. another thing is to FOLLOW THE RECIPE, cream the butter and sugar WELL. mix by hand if you can, and use the best quality ingredients you can afford. if you can get a stand mixer, it will save you more than a headache or two.
three of my favorite recipes (note the buttermilk!!! makes it moist!)
moist yellow cake by toba garrett
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/109358
hey melysa, toba's yellow cake looks fabulous! i use her choc recipe and i know it yields a lot of batter, more than the typical recipe. this one looks like it does too, is that true? i need about 30 cups of batter for an upcoming cake and i wondered if 3 batches would be enough...
i'd guess (sorry i dont really measure) it makes ABOUT 9 cups, so id suggest three and a half times the recipes. i fill about 2/3 full. it stinks when the batter doesnt rise to the top of the pan and then you've got to chop off the big round middle , making the cake shorter. test out one recipe, measure and see what you think. for me, this makes 2 8" rounds and about a half dozen cupcakes.
The pudding doesn't change the consistency or structure of the cake at all. I find that it enhances the flavor and adds moisture. I never thought of creaming it with the butter, I may try that next time! I usually add it with the dry ingredients. And that yellow cake, with the buttermilk and also the pudding, OMG, it is sooo good! I try to pick a pudding flavor that will enhance the flavor of whatever cake I'm making. I don't use it as the main flavoring, I still have different recipes for different flavors of cake.
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