Cake Did Not Bake Right.......why?
Decorating By AmandaKate Updated 13 Oct 2009 , 3:12pm by AmandaKate
Hi all,
So lastnight i began making my practice cake for a bridal shower cake i have coming up in a few weeks. The bride chose a pink champagne cake with cheesecake frosting (macsmom's recipe)
the recipe is:
2 boxes white cake mix
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 & 1/2 t salt
1 pkg of white chocolate pudding mix
8 egg whites
1/4 cup of oil
2 cups of pink champagne
2/3 cups of water
2 t vanilla extract
1 dram of lorann champagne flavor
The only thing i didn't have was the lorann flavoring because the store that sells it closed really early yesterday.....but no big deal....this is only the practice cake....
ANYWAY......i used 2 9in round cake pans and filled them about 3/4 full. I baked them at 350 for an hour......took them out and tested them.......the very bottom center was still gooey so i put them in for another 10 min.........took them out and one of the tops had started to burn on the edge.......but the bottom center was still not fully cooked
I figured the burned part wasn't a huge deal since it's going to be cut off when i level them anyway........but i can't figure out why this happened??? Is it because of the alcohol in it? Should I bake it for a longer amount of time at a lower temp?????
Thank you in advance for your advice!!
I'm popping in here because I have the same problem when making champagne cupcakes. The top half is nice and spongy, but the bottom half is like a hockey puck. They appear to be done when I do the toothpick test, but I can't seem to get the bottom half baked properly. Maybe we're not mixing the egg whites properly or something?
Hi AmandaKate,
I think you overfilled your pans. You used the 2 cake mix extender recipe and only baked 2- 9" pans....that's a LOT of batter for that size pan. I think 1/2 that recipe would be sufficient.
When you overfill the pans it takes forever to bake them and usually the top will be overdone and the center/bottom will not be cooked completely.
I love champagne cake, just had a wedding cake this weekend as a matter of fact, it always bakes up really high yet is light and fluffy inside. I use a scratch recipe though, so I can't really comment on this exact recipe that you used.
I've found that I only fill my pans about 2/3 full whenever I make champagne cake......I feel that the alcohol/fizz in the batter really makes these cakes expand when baking.
Finally, yes, whipping the egg whites and folding them in to the batter will also help make it lighter for a better rise when baking.
Thanks!!! I really appreciate your advice!!! I'll try filling the pans to a lower level next time 
MacsMom's recipe for pink champagne cake also includes 2 cups of vanilla yogurt:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df4f9hbq_46cs9f28fs
Did you use yogurt in your recipe (and just overlooked it when you posted)?
To fill a 9" diameter 2" deep pan 2/3 full would require 5-1/2 cups of batter per pan.
I'm pretty sure the above recipe yielded about 14 cups of batter.
Wilton cake making and preparation help:
http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/
HTH
yes, I apologize......I DID use the vanilla yogurt in the recipe but just forgot to type it on my original post.......
I think i've been trying to fill my cake pans more and more because when the cakes bake, only the middle rises and forms a dome......but the sides remain at the level that i filled the pan.......I wanted more cake to work with when leveling and such.....
MacsMom's recipe for pink champagne cake also includes 2 cups of vanilla yogurt:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df4f9hbq_46cs9f28fs
Did you use yogurt in your recipe (and just overlooked it when you posted)?
To fill a 9" diameter 2" deep pan 2/3 full would require 5-1/2 cups of batter per pan.
I'm pretty sure the above recipe yielded about 14 cups of batter.
Wilton cake making and preparation help:
http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/
HTH
does anyone know if the flour she uses if its Self rising or what?? I would like to try this receipe, Sorry for the interuption
Not a problem!!!!!! 
please do interrupt.....i love to hear other peoples questions or opinions! 
I used regular all purpose flour and the second time I made it (this past weekend) the cake came out perfectly!!!!! It tasted soooo good!!! So far it's everyone's favorite!!!
The one thing I changed about this recipe is I skipped the Lorann's Champagne flavoring........I bought a bottle of it and it just didn't smell right.....not sure if it was old or what........but the cake was awesome without it!!!
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