Hello everyone I just have a few questions. I am a 16 year old home baker. I run a small sweet shop, selling different treats and also professional cake designing. I have been using box cake mix since I've started baking I didnt think It was a problem until now. People are asking for different cake styles that involve Stacking, Carving and different Shapes. Box cake mix isn't cutting it! Its not dense or moist enough and its always crumbs up. So I am looking out to try some different cake recipes that fit my requirement. I dont want just any recipe, it has to Taste like Haven!! I tried a recipe that I found on YouTube and it was horrible. It didn't bake right, its tasted like cornbread and thats not what Im looking for. I dont want to waste my money and ingredients on this stuff, thats why Im looking for the perfect recipe. I've heard of the WASC recipe but Im scared it wont turn out right. So can someone please help!

Hi sweetcrunch!  I have been using Yolanda Gampps recipes for a bit now (how to cake it) and they are awesome.   I've gotten rave reviews from my clients too.

If you try them, just remember that she bakes in a 3" pan so you need to lower the quantities if your using a 2" pan.  Also, the chocolate cake requires "dutch processed" cocoa powder.    I use her chocolate cake recipe but use coffee instead of water and I do add some vanilla.  They're great to make ahead and freeze and are amazing if you use lots of simple syrup.

They're also butter cakes and are great for carving.

I use the wasc and it carves beautifully. Chilled cakes carve more easily. So refrigerate x carve and then you can keep it at room temperature if that's how you do it

Thanks so much for the reply! I actually just started watching her videos 2 days ago and I LOVE HER. I was going to make her cake recipe but it seemed a bit to much batter and I dont know how to shorten the ingredients. Also did you have to make a few tweaks to her recipe yourself more like taste wise? 

Thanks for the reply! So should I just bake the cake the day before I decorate and just pop it in the refrigerator over night?

That'll work but if you're short on time a couple hours is fine too

Nope, they are  AMAZING as is.  If I'm making an 8" cake, I use the 4lb recipe.  I just collar my pans, if I'm using the 2", no need if I'm using the 3" ones.

The chocolate, I just use coffee instead of water because coffee always enhances the taste of chocolate. And, I just feel the "need" to add vanilla, not sure why, haha!

I did convert her recipe into grams to make it easier to cut/double.  I use 130g/cup of flour; 200g/cup of sugar; 95g/cup of cocoa; 8oz/cup of liquid.  Butter, I use 1 stick for each 1/2 cup which is approx 112g.

Ok Great! I have about 2 1/2 inch Spring Pans what will I do to keep it from spilling over and how much batter will I need. (Say if im baking in a 8'' or 9'' pan...Use the 4lb recipe?)

I would start with the 4 pound recipe (2lbs in each pan) and collar your pans (put a ring of parchment paper around the pan about an inch above the rim).

You shouldn't have any issue with the vanilla as it's a very thick batter. The chocolate is a little more runny so just line the bottom of the pan and up the side.  Not sure if you'd have an issue with the springforms.  Or, you could maybe wrap some foil around the outside of the pan when you do the chocolate, just so it doesn't run out the bottom.  It's not complete liquid, it's just not thick.

They will also probably take close to an hour to bake, just keep and eye on them.  

Try cutting the 4lb recipe in 1/2 and do one pan to see how it goes.  You kinda gotta play and see how everything goes with your pans and your oven.  For instance, my cakes rise higher than Yolanda's do, don't know why, maybe altitude or oven(?).  She uses 3lbs per pan but that is too much for me.  I had to play with it a bit.

They really are great recipes if you have the time to master them :)

Thank You So Much For Your Help I Really Do Appreciate It.. Im Going To Try It Now And Ill Tell You How It Went!!

I made it today and it was the bomb!!!!!! I have been sick for the past few days and cant really taste anything but the batter it self is good. I couldn't line the pan with parchment paper because I didn't have any, so I greased it really good. I used the 4lb recipe and used two 10'' x 2 1/2'' Spring cake pans (I split the batter). It did spill out the bottom but only one drop of batter came out (I am going to buy different pans so that wont happen again). I let them cool down, I wasn't really worried about it falling apart all I was doing was tasting it. It was good even though I couldn't really taste it because of my sickness, but everyone else said that was the recipe I am looking for. So long story short next time use parchment paper and its perfect. HEAVEN 10/10

@sweetcrunch ‍ Yay!  So glad you liked it.  Her vanilla and chocolate are my go-to recipes now.  I even mixed them together for a marble cake and my client loved it!

If you have the time to search through her blog, she sometimes does variations that you can try too, like turning the vanilla into toffee cake, etc.  

Her banana  cake recipe is good too, haven't had an order for that yet though.  Those are the only three I've tried.