Dense cake

[blurubi]

I have had "professionally" made cakes, wedding, birthday, etc..., and they
seem more dense than a boxed cake mix. What do the "professionals" use to make their cakes more heavy?

 

[AllenOK]

I'm not totally sure these professionals are doing something to the batter itself. I do, however, know of a tip that will add both moisture and density to the cake after it's baked: Brush the cake, several times, with simple syrup.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

a more dense cake is achieved by using less leavening in the batter. That is, a normal, boxed cake mix uses between 6 and 8 tsp. baking powder in the mix. If that were cut down to 4 tsp, that would help. Another trick is to mix the batter as little as possible, to avoid developing the gluten in the batter. With less gluten, more gas is allowed to escape, and thus, you have a heavier cake.

Look at a pound cake recipe. It produces a very dense and wonderful cake. Look at the ratio of flour to fat to sugar, to leavening. Use that ratio in your other cakes to get dimilar results, no batter the flavor of the cake. And yes, pouring simple syrup, like AllenOK said, or a suitable flavor of Jello, or even instant pudding will soak into the cake, setup, and increase both the density, and the moistness of the cake. Hope that helps.

Seeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Toots]

A tip a pastry chef shared with me - they make the cake and then they freeze it before frosting it. When the ice crystals defrost, it adds moisture back into the cake.

 

[AllenOK]

Jello brushed on to a cake. I would never have thought of that! GW, thank you!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Jello brushed on to a cake. I would never have thought of that! GW, thank you!

I'm not sure why, but htis doesn't come out even a little bit soggy. You don't brush the jello onto the cake; rather, you leave the cake in the pan and pour the liquid jellow into the cake and let it soak in completely. Then put the whole thing in the fridge and let cool for a couple hours. This is a classic with lemon cake and lemon jello. It is very good. I would think you could use white cake and strawberry, or any combination that suits your fancy. I wonder what a chocolate cake with cherry Jello would taste like. I just might have to try that combo.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[AllenOK]

Or chocolate and raspberry?

Please don't tell PeppA about the vanilla w/ strawberry. There are to many things "strawberry" in the house as is!

 

[Bacardi]

Try a betty crocker YELLOW BUTTER RECIPE...It uses butter (big surprise) instead of oil...Also use whole milk instead of water...It makes a very dense cake, kinda goes with what goodweed was saying about having a lot of fat...

Edit: I don't do dishes or clean, my wife does (I know, I'm lucky)...I at least try and dirty up as little bowls and measuring cups/spoons as possible...With this box cake, all I need is the mixing bowl, a spatula and a 1/4c measuring cup. With a make from scratch cake, I can't even tell you how many things need to be washed let alone the mess everywhere...

I put up a pic of one I did under the cakes sub-forum

 

[tannerodell]

I use oil, and sour cream in my cake, it makes an amazingly moist cake.