Hi all,
Just a quick question that seems a little silly.....
I know there are different kinds of cake - pound cake, chiffon, butter etc. I make WASC and I have a client asking me what kind of cake this is. It sounds silly but I don't really know what this is classified as. 
Any one out there with an answer would be appreciated!
Isn't it just considered a doctored cake mix? If a cake mix is in a category of its own (whatever that would be) then I'd guess it would be in that category.
"American-style batter cake"
Whaaat? 
hi, well, what i have seen on this site, is that it is white almond sour cream cake.
Some start off with a cake mix and add different ingredients, etc.
Then someone started a thread called finally a scratch wasc. I have read thru all the threads and it seem like the scratch bakers and box mix bakers do it all the same. What i mean is , they all just put all the ingredients in the mixing bowl(whatever the ingredients are) and mix it up. I forgot who started the finally a scratch wasc, but you can find it and read it and then look at all the boxmix recipes under recipes and also what macsmom has started . That thread is called gourmet flavors or something like that. hth
hi, well, what i have seen on this site, is that it is white almond sour cream cake.
Some start off with a cake mix and add different ingredients, etc.
Then someone started a thread called finally a scratch wasc. I have read thru all the threads and it seem like the scratch bakers and box mix bakers do it all the same. What i mean is , they all just put all the ingredients in the mixing bowl(whatever the ingredients are) and mix it up. I forgot who started the finally a scratch wasc, but you can find it and read it and then look at all the boxmix recipes under recipes and also what macsmom has started . That thread is called gourmet flavors or something like that. hth
If it's just the mixing method, that's the high-ratio method, but that's generally used with high-ratio shortenings. Snarkybaker calls that the reverse-creaming method, but that doesn't necessarily use the high-ratio shortenings, you can use butter with that. That's where you start with the dry ingredients, add the fat and the liquids, mix, then add the eggs. I don't know how the WASC is mixed, so I don't know if that would apply.
As far as what "type" of cake it is,I'd just say it was a butter cake unless there isn't any butter in it. Then I'd be at a loss other than to say it was a doctored cake mix cake.
Hi again, i,m hoping to send the thread on the scratch bakers version of the wasc , where they just put all the ingredients in the mixing bowl and mix. I will find macsmom recipes also.
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=654467&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0
Here is macsmom's thread. It is a big thread.
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=614554&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0
I was thinking the same as Leah. I think the "type" as you could explain to a customer is American Cake Style. It is slightly richer and sweeter than most others. I would tell them, take your ordinary Betty Crocker cake and give it some flavor, and you have a WASC. That might help explain it in a way a customer could understand. It doesn't really have a name or style per say like a Chiffon or Angel Food, Pound Cake, ect. When you say those names you know what kind of cake you are gonna get, say WASC, or even Almond Sour Cream and it doesn't tell the non-caking world what texture or styel cake they are gonna get.
But my point is that "American cake" isn't a style of cake. If anyone's saying that "American" cake is cake mix, then just call it cake mix. People will know what that is, but when you start giving it cute names you'll lose them again.
I opened that link but I can't go through that whole thread! I suggest to just call it doctored cake mix (which it is) or just tell people it's a "basic cake texture", which most people will accept just fine if it's a scratch version.
I doubt that when people ask they're looking for a description of the mixing method anyway...Maybe they're just looking for a description of the cake texture itself. If that's it then could just describe the kind of crumb that it has and compare it to a pound cake, since most people will know what a pound cake will be. My cakes are all butter cakes but use different recipes, and when I describe them to people I say that this one has a larger or smaller crumb than this one, etc etc. When you tell people that a pound cake has a denser/tighter crumb they seem to "get it" then.
Thanks everyone! I advised the client that is a very moist cake, that has a sour cream and mix base. I have a feeling that it really doesn't matter....he is going to have an issue with the cake regardless of what it is. Just a gut feeling, but we all know how that usually goes! Thanks for all of your replies!
WASC is a version of a Butter Cake.
A " Pound Cake" is a cake whose primary leavening is the steam from the creamed butter in the cake.
A " Butter Cake" is a cake that uses either the creaming or reverse creaming method whose primary leavening is chemical. All cake mix cakes are butter cake-style. The small amount of oil you add is really just a sub out for some of the liquid in a scratch cake.
A "Chiffon Cake" is a cake where the primary leavening is beaten egg whites. Angel Food and genoise are both variations of a chiffon cake.
The last category of cake is what my favorite pastry chef called a " dump cake". The Epicurious double chocolate, the Hershey's can cake, most carrot cakes, and some red velvet recipes all fall in this category. It is a cake without butter. All of the fat is vegetable oil, and honestly, there isn't a lot of technique involved. They are the best cakes for a novice scratch baker to start with. I imagine they don't have a fancy name because they aren't made typically by European pastry chefs.
Oh, and the " high-ratio" mixing method really doesn't have anything to do with the shortening. It is a reference to the high ratio of sugar to flour in the recipe. Any cake which has more sugar than flour by weight can be made with the reverse creaming method with a fluffier , more tender result than the standard creaming method. Coating the flour granuals with fat before adding the liquid inhibits gluten production. This is especially important in recipes that call for cake flour. Cake flour absorbs water very quickly and so the reverse creaming method is especially useful in these cakes.[/code]
WASC is a version of a Butter Cake.
The last category of cake is what my favorite pastry chef called a " dump cake". The Epicurious double chocolate, the Hershey's can cake, most carrot cakes, and some red velvet recipes all fall in this category. It is a cake without butter. All of the fat is vegetable oil, and honestly, there isn't a lot of technique involved. They are the best cakes for a novice scratch baker to start with. I imagine they don't have a fancy name because they aren't made typically by European pastry chefs.
.[/code]
What if it's a mix-based WASC that's butter-free? Then it would in the dump category, I guess.
Oddly enough, there doesn't have to be any butter in a "Butter Cake" It's the ratios of the ingredients that define the cake categories, not the quality of the ingredients. There are crappy, made with all shortening " butter" cakes, and incredibly delicious "dump cakes", which really do need a better name...but I digress.
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