ISO Scratch Yellow Cake recipe

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I can take a basic box mix, and with a the addition of a bit of this, and a touch of that, taylor the recipe to make specialty cakes that fill the requirements for everything to exceptional layer cakes, to creamy truffles. But I have always had trouble making scratch cakes.

Let me explain what I'm looking for, and why a boxed mix won't work for my needs. I want to experiment with that gooey, cookie-like dessert that when combined with melted chocolate, becomes brownies, and when combined with brown sugar, butter, and salt, becomes scotchies, or blondies. I am hoping to create a family of similarly textured deserts, but that include a range of flavors such as maple, cherry, strawberry, banana, lemon, vanilla, cinamon, etc. I think I can create a wonderfully untapped group of deserts around this theme.

I ask for the scratch yellow cake mix as I understand that a brownie is simply a chocolate cake that was made without leavening ingredients. I hope to achieve a similarily good product using the scratch cake ingredients, minus the leavening agents, and playing with other flavorings. Any help would be appreciated.

I hope to start this project today, so I'm hoping the response is quick. Thanks a bunch.

Seeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Erik]

Goodweed...let me see if I have one in my "Professional Chef" cookbooks, written by the Culinary Institute of America (CIA).

They are good at putting those types of recipes in!!!
If I don't have it...I'm sorry in advance.

 

[Erik]

Alright, the CIA book, no dice on the recipe, but my SIL, who is a baker, messaged me with this recipe:
Basic Yellow Cake

http://javascript<b></b>:printfriendly()

• 3 cups sifted cake flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup butter or margarine
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom of two 8-inch round cake pans and line with waxed paper or parchment paper. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Cream sugar and butter together until light. Add eggs and vanilla to creamed mixture and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition. Continue beating one minute. Spread batter evenly in prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool layers in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely. Fill and frost as desired.
Makes 12 servings.

 

[Shunka]

That should work for you, Goodweed. The recipe I used as a professional baker is just about exactly the same as the one Erik posted.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Thanks Erik and Shunka. I will put it to instant use and see what I can come up with. I'll post my results.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[jpmcgrew]

This is from the cake mix doctor book.Really good !maybe you can do variatians on this recipe

Sticky Pecan Pie Bars
Crust
1 package plain yellow cake mix
8 TBL melted butter
1 large egg


Filling
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans or halves

preheat oven 350 degrees
mix crust ingredients for two minutes with mixer should come to gether in a thick dough ,press on bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of a13x9 ungreased pan
bake till just begins to brown about 20 minutes

Mix everything except pecans in same mixer no need to clean fron before until well combined,fold in pecans
Pour filling on crust bake till golden brown and filling just starts to set
about 22 to 25 minutes.
Cool 30 minutes

 

[jpmcgrew]

Looked up something that might also be helpful in what your looking for check them out and see if theres anything there

http://www.recipegoldmine.com/cakemixcook/cakemixcook.html

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Thanks again. Seems I have chores to do. This might have to wait for a weeknight. Besides, I have to go buy some eggs first.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[marmalady]

Hi, GW - Sorry I must have missed this post - this is a TNT, old family recipe from hubbie's family in NC - makes an awesome cake, is easy, and freezes perfectly!

1-2-3-4 Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups sifted self-rising flour
1 cup milk
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour 3 (9-inch) cake pans. Using an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and continue to cream well for 6 to 8 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Cool in pans 5 to 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto cooling racks. Cool completely and spread cake layers with your favorite frosting to make a 3-layer cake.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Well, I tried my first 2 experiments, a blueberry desert bar, and a banana desert bar. Both came out exactly the same in texture. I used the following recipe that was provided by Eric;

Basic Yellow Cake

• 3 cups sifted cake flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup butter or margarine
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups milk

For the blueberry desert, I omitted the baking powder but kept everything else the same. I strained the jucie from a can of blueberries and added enough additional milk to satisfy the liquid measurement. I mashed the blueberries and folded them into the cake batter. I then baked it all for thrity-five minutes.

The result was a very good blueberry flavor,, but with a texture that was slightly rubbery, not gooey like a brownie. I think that decreasing the eggs to one small egg, or eliminating them all together might solve the problem.

For the banana desert, I used two boxes of instant banana pudding to replace 1 cup of the cake flour. And I substituded and equal amount of cooking oil for the buter. Again, the rest of the recipe was the same, omitting the baking powder of course, as the original. And again, the flavor was wonderful. The texture, while moist, was just a bit rubbery, again feeling like too much egg.

I think this will work, once I get the texture ironed out. The flavor is really good with both the blueberries and banana. Maybe I'll try again tonight. Any comments are welcome.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Chocoholic]

Sounds great, Goodweed! Let us know what happens. Best of luck