With a smoother texture, of course.... I just made Rose's All Occasion Downy yellow butter cake... I haven't frosted it yet, but my first sneak taste was super buttery and delicious (a little on the dry side though), and my second little taste totally reminded me of cornbread.

Is it me? I am starting to search for recipes for a wedding cake and now I'm afraid of this one - I don't want to hear anyone saying it tastes like cornbread!

There was a thread on here in the last two weeks about this. You will probably get lucky in that some people have probably made that cake and can help you. I tasted that once when I was testing recipes and I ate it warm. I ended up not using the recipe. If you can find that thread, it would help you, but searches are sometimes difficult.

Found it:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-732526-tastes.html+cornbread

Good luck with your recipe. If that one doesn't work, we scratch bakers are always willing to share another recipe and help you through it.

I made a cake that tasted like corn bread before. I just attributed it to over mixing the cake. I have also made that cake and it didnt taste like cornbread to me.

Thanks for that link - glad I'm not the only one then!

I did try to do her recipe exactly as she said. That was the first time I had done the reverse method (can't remember what you call it exactly - I am just a hobby baker!)

As I was baking it, I found the yellow cake scratch-off thread on cc here. And read about how temperamental this recipe was. It seems to walk a fine line and I just can't risk that when I will have so many people eating my cake. I've been building a great reputation as a baker - this would be a quick way to put a crimp in that!

So, at least according to that thread, I need to be trying Sylvia Weinstock's original yellow cake recipe with just 1/4 C milk added, and I think it was 1/2 t ginger.... and Rebecca ....... (can't remember the last name - it's written down here somewhere)'s White on White cake, the Not So Lemon Magnolia cake and possibly Lita829's yellow cake.

Unless of course someone has found the perfect fool-proof yellow cake recipe since this thread - and you want to share!

Those SW changes look like mine. Even with the changes, that cake is still not my favorite. I take the flavors of SW as I tweaked them and combine with Warren Brown's with Hennessy. That's my go-to yellow. Made correctly, this cake is good with no frosting. It makes great cupcakes too. SW recipe is not good for cupcakes.

Warren Brown's with Hennessy - ? I thought I had read every yellow cake recipe, but I haven't heard of this one yet! I'll have to go google...

Go to Warren Brown's Cake Love site. Copy his yellow cake recipe, then pm me and I'll get the details. It is sturdy, moist, and very flavorful. It adapts well to other flavors too.

Found it already! Very interesting. Watched his podcast also. Pm'ing you now.

If you use real butter with salt. It will taste like cornbread. You must use real butter unsalted.

Very interesting. I did use salted butter.

I participated in the yellow scratch off and in doing so found that Rebecca Rather's White on White cake was my favorite. I've had trouble with its consistency; even with tips from snarkybaker, who uses a version of it very successfully in her bakery. (I really think it's my oven...but that's another story)

Another CC member, FromScratchSF, has a blog with a vanilla cake recipe and tutorial. I've tried it and it's very good and very consistent. Here's the link to her blog with the tutorial:

http://fromscratchsf.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/white-cake-part-3-with-recipe/

HTH

You're saying that you've had inconsistent results with the Downy Yellow Cake? Not with Rebecca's, right? Thanks for the link - I will go check it out!

I'm sorry I didn't make that clear. It is with Rebecca Rather's WOW cake that I've had inconsistent results.

Thanks for clarifying... I'm beginning to wonder if there really is a totally perfect recipe. That scratch-off was so interesting - what worked great for one baker was awful for someone else. I am nervous enough baking for friends - I can't imagine ever doing this professionally!

You do have to find a recipe that works for and learn technique. Not sure how long you've been baking from scratch, but practice does make perfect. As fas as Rose Levy Berenbaum's cake recipes go, I don't like them. I have made that cake and no, it didn't taste at all like cornbread, but it was on the dry side to me. Now it wasn't dry to others, but I like a more dense cake, so her cake's are not for me and I know a lot of people don't care for her cake recipes. I LOVE all her filling and frosting recipes, but not the cakes. I have never heard from anyone or myself have had a bad result from Rebecca Rather's cake recipes, so I would try hers. And NEVER use salted butter in ANY baking or frosting making.

I've made cakes that tasted like corn bread too... several recipes, in fact.

My question is... *what* causes that? is it the butter (I only use unsalted)? the mixing process? over-mixing? is it over-baked?

That's a good queston, cause I have never heard of the "cornbread" taste before. This is the first time. Anyone know? I'm just curios.

AI had never heard of the cornbread taste thing either until I discovered this site, but this weekend I tried Whole Foods cupcakes for the first time. I was curious to see what Whole Foods bakery cakes tasted like because they are decorated so nicely. They were dry, tough and tasted like frosted corn muffins. Yuck.