EVERY time I make a cake from scratch they come out too dense and heavy. Anybody have any idea why this keeps happening? I live in a high humidity and high heat area could that be a factor? Any advice or ideas are welcome. Thanks

It would help immensely to post a recipe that you have used and how you make it. Heat and humidity have nothing to do with the outcome of a cake being baked. At least not in my experience.

Process and recipe are the main culprits. Some cake recipes are dense and some are not. You might just be baking one that is supposed to be dense, or it could be something off in your process.

Also - DO a search here on CC. This has been covered before. You will learn a wealth of information searching for "scratch cake" or something like that.

I used the Sugar Cookie Vanilla Cake recipie that I got off of this site and the second one was from the Swans Down cake flour box for red velvet cake:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup red food coloring
2 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups cake flour plus 5 tbs
1 tbs vinegar
1 tsp baking soda


then there's this one:
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter softened
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk

And how did you prepare the batter. And be precise like how long you creamed the butter/sugar, etc.

Most of the time, cake problems are from the way the batter is prepared too.

When I prepare a cake I do it as follows. I am using a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer, so you don't have to mix as long as with a hand-mixer. I put in the dry ingredients (sifted), then add the liquid ingredients (except eggs). After adding the liquid ingredients, I mix on low speed just long enough to moisten the dry ingredients...stop the mixer and scrap the bowl especially the bottom. Then I turn the mixer back on low and add the eggs one at a time to assure consistent mixing. Once all the eggs are added I turn up to a slightly higher speed until the mixer looks glossy. No More! Don't beat your batter to death. Pour it into the pans and tap lightly on the table to remove air pockets. Bake just until a toothpick or cocktail pick comes out clean. No More! Don't over bake. Set pan on rack and let cool 10 minutes. Turn out onto rack and then flip to another rack. I do this because if the cake isn't level the hump in the middle will crack your cake. Hope that helps.

Let us see your recipe. Makes it a lot easier. I make cakes with almond flour and it can be difficult to wind up with a light product.