Is It Just Me... Or Does This Happen To Anyone Else???
Decorating By srdegelos Updated 29 Jan 2007 , 3:16am by golfgirl1227
I have finished 3 Wilton cake classes. My cakes turn out pretty good during the classes but as soon as I try to do one on my own at home it's terrible. I made a homemade chocolate cake for my mom this last weekend and it was terrible. It was soooo dry we all nearly choked on it. And the buttercream icing was dry and actually tasted just like fudge. The cake and icing was so crumbly it was terrible. It wasn't overcooked because the day I made it, it was moist and wonderful. I made it on a Thursday and served it on Saturday. Is that why it was so dry? I'm sick of wasting ingredients on cakes that I think will be awesome and then as I make them they never turn out like I see them in my mind. Does this make sense to anyone??
hmmm...sounds strange!
Im not even sure what to say about it!
Was the cake fully covered from Thursday to Saturday? That may be a drying factor...
Make sure the recipe is followed 100%, down to the last teaspoon, leveled perfectly, every instruction followed.
Other than that..im not sure why you are having the cake problem!
Maybe try mixes for a while so that you don't have the combined frustration of new recipes and being new to decorating. That way you can focus on the decorating and when you feel more comfortable with that start trying recipes. I know I have made recipes that were great and ones that were not so great. It's trial and error. HTH
(going back to DH) 
Do you use the same equipment in class that you do at home? I know that measuring cups and spoons don't always have the same capacity, no matter what they say. I read something somewhere that said that some teaspoon measures can be as much as 25% off others. So that could be a factor.
Another thing could be oven differences. I'd get a separate oven thermometer to test it, and see that your temp is correct. I did once, and found that my oven was almost 50 degrees off!!!
Thanks, those sound like good ideas. I just wish I was creative on the decorating part and had a steady hand. I know it just takes lots of practice but I think my problem is also patience. That recipe sounds like it would help with the lack of moisture. I'm going to have to try that.
Well, scratch cakes do not contain the preservatives that cake mixes do, so I assume that would make them dry out quicker than a mix.
Just a thought.
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