I made a #4 princess cake using a Sunny Side Bakery 12x12 pan. It's the first time I used a non-Wilton pan. I used a Duncan Hines French Vanilla Cake Mix. I cut the cake into three strips. I cut 2 of the strips into smaller pieces to assemble the 4. The cake was torted and the sides were removed with a serrated knife. Crumbs were everywhere. The tiny pieces were very difficult to ice. I stacked the cake by baking two 12x12 cakes. It was beautiful assembled but it broke apart during transport. It was dry. I don't know if it was dry from the pan or because it broke apart. It was embarrassing to serve a dry broke apart cake at my daughter's party. Any helpful advice would be appreciated.
Hi... I'm so sorry to hear about your dear daughters cake. Of course it's all of our worst fear and I'm very sorry it happened to you.
I do not use Wilton pans anymore, so I don't believe using a non-Wilton pan was the issue. I could be wrong, but I think it had either to do with the cake mix itself or possibly the baking time (or maybe even the oven?).
I usually bake from scratch, but always keep Pillsbury mixes on hand for those who prefer them. I use Fat Daddio pans now. I used Wilton many years ago when I first started my passion for baking/cake decorating. Then I tried one Fat Daddio and just fell in love with them.
Anyway, with box mixes, I either follow the instructions on the box (if that is preferred by the recipient) but I most prefer to modify the box mix recipe.
I'm not sure about you, but every time I bake any cake I start checking it before the standard baking time. I then keep an eye on it closely and get it out of the oven as soon as it's done. And I get them out of the pans as soon as I can.
I also think that subtle changes in how we mix can affect how it bakes. For example, I feel certain that overmixing, or even slight changes in the amount of water and/or oil can affect the final outcome, as well as the weather and environment. My oven is on-point as far as temperature and there are times when the cake is done before the standard baking time, and there are times when it's taken a few more minutes.
I'm sorry if I am not too helpful here. I wish I had "the" answer for why this happened to you. But I just think it could be a number of things. Things we might not otherwise notice.
(((Hugs!)))
The type/brand of pan should have little to no bearring on a cake being dry. It has to be the recipe used. Maybe your baked it too long/at too high a temp. I don't particulary like DH cake mixes. I prefer Betty Crocker but have used DH from time to time and have not had a dry cake as you describe.
The cake did break apart. I don't know if the exposure to air dried it out or not. I am estimating it was broke apart for 2 1/2 hours.
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