Hello everyone,

I started baking in June this year.I have an issue with getting very fluffy cakes. Initially when d cakes come out of the oven,they are moist and fluffy but after a while they become hard and not so fluffy.

Kindly advise on what to do.

Thanks.

*Shouty caps not necessary.  

keep reading recipes and keep practicing

sounds like you're either overbaking, have a separated emulsion, bad recipe or a combination, or oven could be too hot

you'll get it

what kind of cake are trying to bake? probably good to focus on one kind till you succeed.

then on to the next

;)

Try adding an extra egg and an extra 2 tbls oil. Too many eggs can be drying, but create the lightness, hence the oil adds moisture. Too much sugar in a recipe can make the cake dense, but sugar also lends to moistness.

These tips are helpful:

Butter, eggs, milk need to be room temperature.

Sift dry ingredients (even if the recipe does not say so) together-mix until combined- do not beat the mix to death.-UNTIL COMBINED.

Calibrate oven-make sure temperature is correct.

DON'T RUSH!!!!!

Cake Mixes-Duncan Hines-beat two minutes on low-When mixing more than one-it is still two minutes-do not keep mixing.

Happy Baking and Decorating,

Chef Angie

AIs there a trick to moisten a cake after its baked?

Simple syrup. But it's often better to work with a good recipe and proper technique to come up with a cake that does not need to have moisture added, unless for modifying the flavor profile or as part of the recipe itself e.g. genoise.

What kind of flour are you using?

I had trouble with regular "all purpose" brands like Gold Medal and Pillsbury.  I switched to cake/pastry flour and cakes are properly tender without drying out. 

You must also measure the flour correctly--best to use recipes that WEIGH ingredients.

AI think the trick is getting the right ratio of ingredients. For a vanilla sponge try Peggy Porschen recipe, also cream your butter and sugar until very pale and creamy then add your beaten eggs very very slowly. Works for me :)

AI have shifted to purely using cake flour since pastry school.

I have been trying varies recipes to find my go to base recipe for a white/yellow and chocolate, The cakes I have tried have tasted good as I read alot it reviews before trying out a recipe but the only issues I have faced is the softness and melt in your mouth factor. Getting into this profession I need my bases recipes sorted out before I can go experiment further.

All tips and suggestions are welcome :).

A[SIZE=5][/SIZE][COLOR=blue][/COLOR]Hello All, I'm excited to say this is my first time being on here and I LOVE to bake. I have been baking for about 10-15 years and I usually try to bake from scratch, but a recent back injury has caused me to not bake as much or use boxed mixes. Anyway I was curious about how to make a boxed mix more moist. I was thinking if the eggs were separated and beaten. The whites beaten stiff and adding 2 tsp's of sugar and the yokes beaten until they are broken and have a uniform yellow color by adding a minimal amount of Lemon juice. Has anyone else heard of this method? :)

If the box recipe asks for milk to be added, substitute with sour cream.  

No, but I think of eggs this way: Consider a hard boiled egg. The yolk is dry, the whites are moist. Using all whites would seem to produce a more moist cake. 

AI'm no professional, but I've been told that egg whites makes a cake dense and a little drier (wedding cakes) and the yolks is what gives more moisture along with vegetable oil.

The first chocolate cake I made was okay, the second was awesome (both from scratch, I don't use box cake mix). I used no butter, only vegetable oil. I was very shocked and everyone loved it!

A

Interesting. I've always experienced the exact opposite, though, with cake.

AIf you whip egg whites, you incorporate air. Air is dry. It will not make your cake more moist.

the fluffiest cakes are often a box mix, so stick with them, substitute half the water with sour cream.

ASimply put, when baking from scratch, do NOT over beat your batter once you add flour. This is especially important if you are using a stand mixer. This is probably the most common reason for dry, heavy cakes behind inconsistent measurements (weighing versus using cup measures) and over baking .

For best results, weigh out your ingredients, mix carefully and bake til done.

I'm somewhat new to baking, but I recently read that you can incorporate 1/8 tsp cream of tartar (I actually add just a smidge more) into the batter when you're adding the eggs to keep the eggs from drying out the batter too much.  This was a problem, specifically, with my white cake mix.  I've tried it twice, and it did make a difference although the cake ended up being a lot more dense than I like.  I'm experimenting myself because I love the taste of this particular recipe I have, but it just needs some tweaking.  ;)

Aso i have a recipe for a simple white cake that uses cake flour and at the end you fold in whipped egg whites..my issue is "doing it gently" without deflating them...but i cant fully mix them in without handling it too much. i got the "complaint"that the cake was too dense and they like a more fluffy cake....how do i accomplish this????

the recipe i used is as follows.....

3cups cake flour 1/2 t salt 1 T baking powder 2 sticks room temp unsalted butter 2cups sugar 1cup milk room temp 1 1/4 t vanilla 1/4 t almond extract 5 large eggwhites room temp.

*i didnt have enough milk so i added plain yogurt to get me to 1cup.i also did 1.5 recipe(needed enough for a 9x13pan)*

sifted dry ingredients.creamed butter/sugar. added 1/3 flour to butter mix,1/2 the liquid ingredients,half the remaining flour,rest of milk then last of flour.*attempted to gently fold in the whipped egg whites,even added 1/4tsp cream of tartar when i whipped them)*baked at 350 for about 40min or so.

this recipe i found was intended to be sturdy,moist and easy to work with when carved/manipulated yet the perfect crumb...i wanted to try it out because i intended on filling with fresh strawberries,i didnt want the juices to make it too soggy..i had extra and made cupcakes and liked them.didnt think they were too dense..could it be because they are smaller?...sigh...idk...still trying to find the perfect scratch recipes..any advice would be much appreciated.thank you

I found this recipe online. It reminds me of my grandmother's old recipe, almost the same ingredients right down to the part where she told me,"you always sift your dry ingredients 3 times to make a light and fluffy cake". She always mixed her cakes by hand even the egg whites 

Hope this helps

A

1st, if they wanted a fluffy like box mix, you will not please them with a scratch cake. Did you whip to soft peaks or stiff? Try more soft peak next time. Look at videos that show how to fold in egg whites. I usually do three additions. I actually start out folding with the wire whip, then finish off with a large spoonula.

WOW!!!!!!!! Hi MacsMom!  I want to personally thank you for all the advice and contributions that you have made to Cake Central! Your dreamsicle recipe has always been a fan favorite of my kids. I'm just tickled pink to be posting next to you, lol!

Thanks again!!!

JUST DO IT HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO KNOW???

AI completely agree with IAmPamCakes! I have followed 2 different recipes that have both directed you to separate the egg whites an beat them and fold in mixture last. Both casks came out dense and slightly crisp on the outside. I make an awesome chocolate cake and what I notice is that the batter for it is lite and thin consistency in comparison to all the yellow cake batter recipes I find. Why is this? I love to bake all my sweets but cannot manage to find a fluffy yellow cake recipe!