So, my cake was delicious, but the centers sank down a lot when they cooled. I have a brand new mixer that I used for this, and I set timers for the timed parts to be sure I mixed it the right amount of time. My eggs, butter and milk were definitely room temp also. Do you have any advice on how to avoid the center collapsing? Thanks for your advice 😁
Ah, the science of baking. One little thing and you end up with a sunken cake. Sorry this happened, I am glad it tasted delicious though.😁 There are a lot of different little things that could cause a cake to sink in the middle. Here is a troubleshooting list so you can see if it could be any of these reasons: -You had already mentioned that your butter, eggs and milk were at room temperature so we are good there. -You had said you were careful with timing but I still wanted to mention that over mixing the batter especially when you add the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients can cause your cakes to have too much air so it can rise too much which will then cause it to sink. Of course though under mixing your batter can be a problem too so really use your judgement making sure to mix the batter just right also making sure to use the paddle attachment on the mixer as opposed to the whisk attachment. Also, a lot of recipes say medium-high speed for example but our mixers are numbered Stir, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 so what is medium-high? Math would say 7.5 but when concerned with over mixing I choose 6 instead of 8 even though 8 is closer to 7.5. (In this specific recipe make sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next as stated in the recipe. Also, make sure you follow the directions well when adding the flour mixture in 4 parts alternating with the milk mixture.) -Make sure all ingredients were measured correctly, weighing your ingredients instead of measuring them can offer extra assurance. If you can not weigh your ingredients I like to gently sprinkle my flour over the measuring cup and leveling off so you assure the flour doesn’t get packed in the measuring cup causing too much flour to be added to the batter. If your batter is too dry the cake will harden and then fall. A cake sinking after cooling could be a sign of the batter being too wet. If you warmed your butter in the microwave on defrost to warm it to room temperature (as opposed to it sitting out on the counter) make sure it is not melted into liquid form at all as this could change the consistency and texture of the batter. -Make sure baking powder is measured correctly and is fresh. (too much can cause too much air weakening the structure) You can check freshness by using the 5 second test: put 1 teaspoon of baking powder in ½ cup of hot water and you should see rapid bubbling if fresh. -Make sure batter is put in the oven to bake within 20 minutes of the dry and wet ingredients being mixed together. Be sure your oven is fully preheated and is not too hot causing the cake to rise higher and then collapse or too cold so the center does not bake. For extra assurance get an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is truly at the temperature it says it is. Don’t fill the cake pans more than 2/3 of the way full overfilling can cause the cake to rise too high and then drop. Make sure the cakes are on the center rack in the center of the rack without any other food above or below the cakes. When checking for doneness make sure not to leave the oven door open too long and make sure to close the oven door gently. -Make sure your cake is not under baked in the center. Make sure you are using a professional cake pan like Fat Daddio’s or Magic Line. -Make sure your cake doesn’t cool down too fast. You should leave your cake in the cake pan for 10 minutes and then flip it upside down on a cooling rack keeping it upside down until it cools to room temperature so it does not have to fight gravity while cooling. Make sure it is not by a cool draft because we do not want it to cool too fast.
Hi, I don’t know if you’ll see this as this video came out a while ago but would self-raising flour be okay instead of plain/all-purpose flour and baking powder?
Adding flour or more eggs can help make the cake more dense and therefore easier to carve. I found this article that looked pretty good that you may want to check out. foodandfizz.com/how-to-make-a-box-cake-dense-for-carving/ 👍😃
Yes I do! I have not had a chance to post it yet though so I will just put the recipe below here in this comment for now. I also have a Red Velvet Cake Recipe (for carving) that I have posted a video for th-cam.com/video/G_HCS5iheYo/w-d-xo.html Chocolate Cake Recipe (for carving) - EASY: *makes 2 - 8 inch round cakes 8 oz unsalted butter (ROOM TEMPERATURE) 14 oz granulated sugar 15 oz all-purpose flour ½ tsp baking powder 2 ½ teaspoons baking soda 4 oz natural cocoa powder (I use Ghirardelli 100% unsweetened cocoa powder) 1 tsp salt 2 tsp vanilla extract 4 large eggs (ROOM TEMPERATURE) 16 oz water (ROOM TEMPERATURE) 2 oz vegetable oil 1. Preheat oven to 335 degrees Fahrenheit. 2. Take butter and eggs out of the refrigerator to warm to room temperature. I also measure out my water and leave it out on the countertop to adjust to room temperature. It is essential in this recipe for these ingredients to be at room temperature! 3. Cream the butter until smooth and shiny in stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or electric hand mixer). Scrape bowl with spatula. 4. Slowly SPRINKLE in the sugar adding it to the mixing bowl on low then whip on medium high speed (I use 6 on the stand mixer) until fluffy and light in color for 10 minutes total (stopping to scrape the bowl halfway through mixing). 5. On low speed add eggs one at a time. Do not add the next egg until the prior egg is fully incorporated. 6. Combine the room temperature water, pure vanilla extract and vegetable oil in your LIQUID MEASURING CUP. 7. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 8. On lowest speed add about 1/3 of your flour mixture to the batter then immediately add about 1/3 of your water mixture to the batter and mix until just moistened. Repeat the process 2 more times. Stop mixing when batter is fully incorporated. Scrape the bowl periodically throughout this process. 9. Grease your cake pans with cake goop (equal parts all-purpose flour, vegetable oil & vegetable shortening.) Fill pans 1/2 full and tap the batter to level it out and get out air bubbles. 10. To ensure you do not over bake your cakes put cakes in oven and check after 20 minutes. If the cakes are still “jiggly” add another 10 minutes. When not jiggly anymore add another 5 minutes and check with a toothpick. If not done check with a toothpick in 2 minute intervals. Cake is done when a toothpick comes out of the center clean or with just a few crumbs. 11. When cakes are done if they are domed up at all place a towel over them and gently push down with an oven mitt until level. This is to help with building the cake layers. It will not change the taste of the cake. 12. Let cakes cool for 10 minutes before flipping them out of the cake pans with oven mitts onto a cooling rack. You can run a toothpick around cakes before flipping them for reassurance if you would like. 13. Let cakes cool to room temperature before wrapping them in plastic wrap, placing them in a freezer bag and freezing them. Make sure they are in a FREEZER bag. I freeze my cakes because freezing cakes makes them even more moist and makes them much easier to frost as well. DO NOT store the cakes in the refrigerator before they are crumb coated because refrigerators dry out cakes. If your cake is too big for a freezer bag you can wrap them in aluminum foil after wrapping them in plastic wrap. To assure they keep their shape while frozen use my tinfoil cake hack where I use the cake pan to shape the tinfoil. THAW CAKES BEFORE CARVING! They should be cold but not frozen. If you do not want to freeze your cakes you can put the wrapped cakes in the refrigerator for one hour (not longer or they will start to dry out) so they are cold for stacking and carving.
Yes you can👍Just don’t add more purée than needed for taste as purée will make the cake more moist which is fine but if it’s overdone it could end up being too moist.
I have never made this recipe with self-rising flour; however, it should work fine as long as you omit the baking powder and salt from the recipe because these ingredients are already added in self-rising flour.👍😊
After about one hour at room temperature a 6 inch round by 1 inch thick cake layer for example will still be really cold but should start to become flexible enough to be carved. It depends on the size and thickness of your cake so just use your judgment by checking the flexibility of your cake. So it will take at least an hour but obviously waiting until the cake is at room temperature to the touch is your safest bet if you have the time. Let me know if you have any further questions. 👍😃
Do you ever double this recipe to save time and make it all at once? I need four layers but I’m always leery of doubling cake recipes because I feel like it could potentially be too much to mix together evenly🤷🏼♀️
@@tastebakery awesome thanks so much! So glad I found your channel I’ve been decorating cakes for a few years now and I’m surprised I didn’t see it sooner! 😁
Hi Annie! Thank you so much for your feedback! I listened 😁 and added the weight to my ingredients. I actually use weight for my recipes and convert it to cups to accomodate more people but your comment made me realize...why not do both! So thank you so much I don’t know why I didn’t do that in the first place. Thank you also for getting my humor! 😂🤓😉
Not the best for carving. I am by no means new to making novelty cakes. We just moved cross country and couldn’t find my recipes so I found this one. I made 3 separate batches and they all came out the same… too crumbly and just fell apart. I also buttered and floured the pans…🤦🏻♀️ they all stuck to the pan. 3 DIFFERENT PANS! Disappointing to say the least.
Oh no! I am so sorry this happened, how frustrating! I will double check that I typed the measurements for the recipe correctly in the video link in case this is the problem. I would normally ask if you think the batter was undermixed because this can cause cakes to crumble but it sounds like you have been baking cakes for awhile and would not make this mistake. I have never had a problem with these cakes sticking to the pans; although, I have only baked them in either Magic Line or Fat Daddio’s cake pans and only using homemade cake release aka cake goop (equal parts AP flour, shortening, and vegetable oil mixed together). I also always let the cakes cool for 10 minutes before I flip them out of the pan. I will have to try it with different brand pans and with different cake release to try to duplicate the problem. Perhaps they need parchment paper in the bottom of the pans if cake goop is not used and/or if brands of pans other than Magic Line or Fat Daddio’s are used. Again, I am so sorry this happened. Thank you so much for letting me know.
Love you delivery m'dear 😂 Karate Kid for the win!
Thank you! 😄 I have way too much fun making these videos🥋😂
So, my cake was delicious, but the centers sank down a lot when they cooled. I have a brand new mixer that I used for this, and I set timers for the timed parts to be sure I mixed it the right amount of time. My eggs, butter and milk were definitely room temp also. Do you have any advice on how to avoid the center collapsing? Thanks for your advice 😁
Ah, the science of baking. One little thing and you end up with a sunken cake. Sorry this happened, I am glad it tasted delicious though.😁 There are a lot of different little things that could cause a cake to sink in the middle. Here is a troubleshooting list so you can see if it could be any of these reasons:
-You had already mentioned that your butter, eggs and milk were at room temperature so we are good there.
-You had said you were careful with timing but I still wanted to mention that over mixing the batter especially when you add the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients can cause your cakes to have too much air so it can rise too much which will then cause it to sink. Of course though under mixing your batter can be a problem too so really use your judgement making sure to mix the batter just right also making sure to use the paddle attachment on the mixer as opposed to the whisk attachment. Also, a lot of recipes say medium-high speed for example but our mixers are numbered Stir, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 so what is medium-high? Math would say 7.5 but when concerned with over mixing I choose 6 instead of 8 even though 8 is closer to 7.5. (In this specific recipe make sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next as stated in the recipe. Also, make sure you follow the directions well when adding the flour mixture in 4 parts alternating with the milk mixture.)
-Make sure all ingredients were measured correctly, weighing your ingredients instead of measuring them can offer extra assurance. If you can not weigh your ingredients I like to gently sprinkle my flour over the measuring cup and leveling off so you assure the flour doesn’t get packed in the measuring cup causing too much flour to be added to the batter. If your batter is too dry the cake will harden and then fall. A cake sinking after cooling could be a sign of the batter being too wet. If you warmed your butter in the microwave on defrost to warm it to room temperature (as opposed to it sitting out on the counter) make sure it is not melted into liquid form at all as this could change the consistency and texture of the batter.
-Make sure baking powder is measured correctly and is fresh. (too much can cause too much air weakening the structure) You can check freshness by using the 5 second test: put 1 teaspoon of baking powder in ½ cup of hot water and you should see rapid bubbling if fresh.
-Make sure batter is put in the oven to bake within 20 minutes of the dry and wet ingredients being mixed together. Be sure your oven is fully preheated and is not too hot causing the cake to rise higher and then collapse or too cold so the center does not bake. For extra assurance get an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is truly at the temperature it says it is. Don’t fill the cake pans more than 2/3 of the way full overfilling can cause the cake to rise too high and then drop. Make sure the cakes are on the center rack in the center of the rack without any other food above or below the cakes. When checking for doneness make sure not to leave the oven door open too long and make sure to close the oven door gently.
-Make sure your cake is not under baked in the center. Make sure you are using a professional cake pan like Fat Daddio’s or Magic Line.
-Make sure your cake doesn’t cool down too fast. You should leave your cake in the cake pan for 10 minutes and then flip it upside down on a cooling rack keeping it upside down until it cools to room temperature so it does not have to fight gravity while cooling. Make sure it is not by a cool draft because we do not want it to cool too fast.
You are hilarious lol. Trying my hand at my first sculpted cake this weekend! Axolotl 😬 wish me luck!
Thank you! 😊 Way to go for it! How did your Axolotl cake turn out?
Can you make it into chocolate?
Hi, I don’t know if you’ll see this as this video came out a while ago but would self-raising flour be okay instead of plain/all-purpose flour and baking powder?
Any tips on how to tailor your recipe using box mix? Last minute Baking away from home.
Adding flour or more eggs can help make the cake more dense and therefore easier to carve. I found this article that looked pretty good that you may want to check out. foodandfizz.com/how-to-make-a-box-cake-dense-for-carving/ 👍😃
Do you have a chocolate cake recipe for carving?
Yes I do! I have not had a chance to post it yet though so I will just put the recipe below here in this comment for now. I also have a Red Velvet Cake Recipe (for carving) that I have posted a video for th-cam.com/video/G_HCS5iheYo/w-d-xo.html
Chocolate Cake Recipe (for carving) - EASY:
*makes 2 - 8 inch round cakes
8 oz unsalted butter (ROOM TEMPERATURE)
14 oz granulated sugar
15 oz all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
4 oz natural cocoa powder (I use Ghirardelli 100% unsweetened cocoa powder)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs (ROOM TEMPERATURE)
16 oz water (ROOM TEMPERATURE)
2 oz vegetable oil
1. Preheat oven to 335 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Take butter and eggs out of the refrigerator to warm to room temperature. I also measure out my water and leave it out on the countertop to adjust to room temperature. It is essential in this recipe for these ingredients to be at room temperature!
3. Cream the butter until smooth and shiny in stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or electric hand mixer). Scrape bowl with spatula.
4. Slowly SPRINKLE in the sugar adding it to the mixing bowl on low then whip on medium high speed (I use 6 on the stand mixer) until fluffy and light in color for 10 minutes total (stopping to scrape the bowl halfway through mixing).
5. On low speed add eggs one at a time. Do not add the next egg until the prior egg is fully incorporated.
6. Combine the room temperature water, pure vanilla extract and vegetable oil in your LIQUID MEASURING CUP.
7. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
8. On lowest speed add about 1/3 of your flour mixture to the batter then immediately add about 1/3 of your water mixture to the batter and mix until just moistened. Repeat the process 2 more times. Stop mixing when batter is fully incorporated. Scrape the bowl periodically throughout this process.
9. Grease your cake pans with cake goop (equal parts all-purpose flour, vegetable oil & vegetable shortening.) Fill pans 1/2 full and tap the batter to level it out and get out air bubbles.
10. To ensure you do not over bake your cakes put cakes in oven and check after 20 minutes. If the cakes are still “jiggly” add another 10 minutes. When not jiggly anymore add another 5 minutes and check with a toothpick. If not done check with a toothpick in 2 minute intervals. Cake is done when a toothpick comes out of the center clean or with just a few crumbs.
11. When cakes are done if they are domed up at all place a towel over them and gently push down with an oven mitt until level. This is to help with building the cake layers. It will not change the taste of the cake.
12. Let cakes cool for 10 minutes before flipping them out of the cake pans with oven mitts onto a cooling rack. You can run a toothpick around cakes before flipping them for reassurance if you would like.
13. Let cakes cool to room temperature before wrapping them in plastic wrap, placing them in a freezer bag and freezing them. Make sure they are in a FREEZER bag. I freeze my cakes because freezing cakes makes them even more moist and makes them much easier to frost as well. DO NOT store the cakes in the refrigerator before they are crumb coated because refrigerators dry out cakes. If your cake is too big for a freezer bag you can wrap them in aluminum foil after wrapping them in plastic wrap. To assure they keep their shape while frozen use my tinfoil cake hack where I use the cake pan to shape the tinfoil. THAW CAKES BEFORE CARVING! They should be cold but not frozen. If you do not want to freeze your cakes you can put the wrapped cakes in the refrigerator for one hour (not longer or they will start to dry out) so they are cold for stacking and carving.
could I add strawberry puree to this recipe and make a strawberry cake durable enough for carving
Yes you can👍Just don’t add more purée than needed for taste as purée will make the cake more moist which is fine but if it’s overdone it could end up being too moist.
Can this cake be used for fondant cakes also
Yes, it absolutely can!👍😃
How do I find your cake recipe?
In the description :)
Hi could I use self raising flour?
I have never made this recipe with self-rising flour; however, it should work fine as long as you omit the baking powder and salt from the recipe because these ingredients are already added in self-rising flour.👍😊
Do you know how long it takes for the cake to thaw out?
After about one hour at room temperature a 6 inch round by 1 inch thick cake layer for example will still be really cold but should start to become flexible enough to be carved. It depends on the size and thickness of your cake so just use your judgment by checking the flexibility of your cake. So it will take at least an hour but obviously waiting until the cake is at room temperature to the touch is your safest bet if you have the time. Let me know if you have any further questions. 👍😃
@@tastebakery thank you for your detail response very helpful!
@@casandragalindo7237 You are so very welcome!😊
do you have the exact measurements for your cake recipe?
Yes, you can find the measurements in the video description.👍😊
Your videos are hilarious ❤
But also really helpful
Thank you so much! I have way too much fun making these videos 😂
Thank you!
Do you ever double this recipe to save time and make it all at once? I need four layers but I’m always leery of doubling cake recipes because I feel like it could potentially be too much to mix together evenly🤷🏼♀️
That can be a problem at times but I have doubled this recipe without any issues.👍🏻😊
@@tastebakery awesome thanks so much! So glad I found your channel I’ve been decorating cakes for a few years now and I’m surprised I didn’t see it sooner! 😁
@@annamace9962 You are so very welcome! I am so glad you found my channel too. 😃 Welcome! So glad to have you!
It would be nice if you had your ingredients measured in weight. However, nice of you to share. You're funny too 😉
Hi Annie! Thank you so much for your feedback! I listened 😁 and added the weight to my ingredients. I actually use weight for my recipes and convert it to cups to accomodate more people but your comment made me realize...why not do both! So thank you so much I don’t know why I didn’t do that in the first place. Thank you also for getting my humor! 😂🤓😉
@tastybakery where I can find this recipe in weighs, pls
WHERE IS THE RECIPE!)!?+)!!(?
The recipe is in the video description.👍😃
Not the best for carving. I am by no means new to making novelty cakes. We just moved cross country and couldn’t find my recipes so I found this one. I made 3 separate batches and they all came out the same… too crumbly and just fell apart. I also buttered and floured the pans…🤦🏻♀️ they all stuck to the pan. 3 DIFFERENT PANS! Disappointing to say the least.
Oh no! I am so sorry this happened, how frustrating! I will double check that I typed the measurements for the recipe correctly in the video link in case this is the problem. I would normally ask if you think the batter was undermixed because this can cause cakes to crumble but it sounds like you have been baking cakes for awhile and would not make this mistake. I have never had a problem with these cakes sticking to the pans; although, I have only baked them in either Magic Line or Fat Daddio’s cake pans and only using homemade cake release aka cake goop (equal parts AP flour, shortening, and vegetable oil mixed together). I also always let the cakes cool for 10 minutes before I flip them out of the pan. I will have to try it with different brand pans and with different cake release to try to duplicate the problem. Perhaps they need parchment paper in the bottom of the pans if cake goop is not used and/or if brands of pans other than Magic Line or Fat Daddio’s are used. Again, I am so sorry this happened. Thank you so much for letting me know.