1. Bake your cake from scratch.
Okay, okay, I know I’m unusual in my baking from scratch all the time thing. So here are some great box mix tips!
1. Use Betty Crocker cake mixes
2. Add just a little more oil to the recipe (mounding over cup)
3. Use parchment paper in the bottom of the pan and Bakers Joy
4. Use “Bake even strips” or a pan filled with water while baking.
5. Cook at a slightly lower temperature for longer.
6. Cook until done (pulls away from sides of pan and toothpick comes out clean)
7. Let cool upside down on cooking rack, to help flatten a center mound (keep pan on for 10 mins)
Tip’s for a moist cake
1. After the cake is baked I let it cool for about 10 mins, then as soon as I can stand to handle it I wrap it in a few layers of plastic wrap and put it in the freezer to cool. I do this so that instead of all the steam leaving the cake while it cools it’s trapped inside, creating a super moist cake. Leave it in about 8 hours, until it’s cool to the touch.
2. NEVER refrigerate a cake, it dries it out.
3. Let cake thaw entirely before Icing otherwise as it thaws water droplets will condense on the side, ruining all the work you just did! Not pretty!
Tips for carving cake.
1. Make a dense cake, like pound cake, and always from scratch.
2. Wrap and freeze the cake (to hold in moisture, but also for carving) let it thaw out slightly before starting to carve your cake. This way you won’t carve too much at a time, and won’t loose to much to crumbs.
3. Let it thaw completely to frost.
Ashlee @ I'm Topsy Turvy
Amy- good luck! I hope they work for you. It's kind of trial and error depending on your humidity/dryness as well as your elevation!
Angela
Have a question– I have noticed that when i unwrap my cakes that the top of the cake is wet ( from the condensation i am assuming…) i usually had to level just a bit, but dont want to have to cut so much off the top. Is there anyway i can keep this from happening??
Ashlee
it all depends on your recipe and altitude how much doming you have. from scratch tend to not dome as much as cake mixes high altitudes tend to fall, so you have to cut off the sides, not the center. I only notice cakes being wet and sticky when they are box mixes. my scratch cakes don’t usually have any issues being wet, also I usually start carving while they are still on the frozen side, so maybe that helps.