So why do my homemade cakes always turn out like crap?

So then I thought maybe I should have just used the self-rising stuff -- is that more like what we'd call 'cake flour' in the US?

Interestingly I just saw Nigella Express last night and she said that sifting some cornflour in with the flour makes it more like cake flour! I never really bothered with cake flour in the US to be honest!

That Nigella show gets right on my t*ts!... either she's marketing to the American audience or her food researcher is a yank!  It's all so fake! 

But I digress.

I always use self raising flour with baking powder for added bonus. I found that using plain flour with extra baking powder gave it a bad bitter taste.

I used to use cake mixes until my friend a pharmacist pointed out the chemicals in the mix - presumably for preservative reasons... I've given them a miss since.

... either she's marketing to the American audience... 

I think she's marketing to a male audience!  One of my male friends here lurrrves watching that show & finds himself salivating while watching...and not because of what she's cooking either.

I used to use cake mixes until my friend a pharmacist pointed out the chemicals in the mix - presumably for preservative reasons... I've given them a miss since.

The mixes are the only ones I've got to turn out right in the past.  However, I've done one mix since living over here & while it was sort of a 'taste of home' -- after eating British cakes, the mix cake tasted kind of fake & not quite right.

I made a British recipe cake today -- for lemon drizzle cake.  Only now I don't remember where I found it, but it was an online recipe.  I thought someone had posted it on Delia's 'Recipe Exchange' section, but I can't find the exact one now.

It seems to have turned out ok (not flat!) -- I bought fresh (not expired) baking powder & self-raising flour.  When I turned it out of the pan -- I made it in a loaf pan -- it split in two.   But I'll cut our slices off that for tea this evening & let Steve take the nice ones into work.  Will let you know how it tastes later!

Well, Mrs Robinson, if you are looking for a good UK recipe, I can't recommend enough Nigella's clementine cake.  It's a doddle to make and served with Green & Blacks Chocolate ice cream is nothing short of heaven on earth.

Did you post the recipe for that somewhere here on UKY before?  I think you did, didn't you?

I probably did cos I love it.  As a matter of fact, one has just come out of the oven. 

Both of those, lemon drizzle and clementine, sound fabulous! If you can find the recipes, I'd love to see them! 

I probably did cos I love it.  As a matter of fact, one has just come out of the oven. 

I dug up where you posted it - I think!  Is this the one?

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=22424.msg274012#msg274012

This is the lemon drizzle cake I did today (not sure why I thought I got it off Delia's website?):

http://www.easylivingmagazine.co.uk/Food/Recipes/LemonDrizzleCake/Default.aspx

It was nice & Steve's taking the rest to work tomorrow.  I'm not sure if it's just the cake recipe (it was dead easy -- you just plop everything into the mixing bowl & whizz it up in about a minute) or the self-raising flour, but the texture of it reminded me so much of CORNBREAD!

Which was strange, but it did taste good & Steve liked it.

Got them both saved. Thank you! 

Well the verdict from 'the boys' (aka Steve's work mates) on the lemon drizzle cake was...  One boy:  "That's the best cake I've ever had!"  And another:  "She should become a pastry chef!"

   No, the cake really wasn't all that.  I think they are just angling for more cakes.

(Bearing in mind, the cakes that these boys are likely to eat normally, probably come ready-made from the grocery store.)

Ok, I did the chocolate layer cake again (US recipe) - Take Two!  I tried to take on board everyone's various suggestions & we have "Lift Off"!  The cake rose a little bit more than it did last time.

One of the layers looks pretty nice.  The other one is a bit peaked up in the center -- but I can slice that off a bit to even it, if need be, and probably make it the bottom layer.  The layers do have cracks in the top, however -- is this normal?

In any case, better than last time but I still think I have a ways to go to perfect my technique.  I may try a different recipe the next time I do chocolate cake.

It's progress for me -- because I never ever used to make homemade cakes.  I always used a box mix, but I do think homemade tastes better.

my baking book says that if the crust is burst or cracked that it could be one of the following:

too much flour or flour too strong
too little liquid
improper mixing
oven too hot

the unevenness could be due to:
improper mixing
batter spread unevenly
uneven oven heat
oven racks not level
cake pans warped

There's a chocolate cake recipe in Nigella Bites, I believe, which is to-do for and has worked for me in both the US and the UK.

Have you also considered your oven? If it's not convection, it could be too hot or the cake could be cooking unevenly.

Have you also considered your oven? If it's not convection, it could be too hot or the cake could be cooking unevenly.

Yes - I have one of those fan-assisted ovens & I really don't like it but it was here when we bought the house, so...  I know to set it about 20 degrees lower, but it's still really aggravating never to really know what temp to set it at vs a vs what temp the recipe says.   Blah!  I can't wait until the thing craps out & I can get the kind of cooker/oven that I really want -- but it's fairly new by the looks of it.  (It has one of those ceramic hobs & I hate that too!)

The cake looks really nice this morning sitting on the kitchen counter -- even unfrosted.

Yes - I have one of those fan-assisted ovens & I really don't like it but it was here when we bought the house, so...  I know to set it about 20 degrees lower, but it's still really aggravating never to really know what temp to set it at vs a vs what temp the recipe says.   Blah!  I can't wait until the thing craps out & I can get the kind of cooker/oven that I really want -- but it's fairly new by the looks of it.  (It has one of those ceramic hobs & I hate that too!)

The cake looks really nice this morning sitting on the kitchen counter -- even unfrosted.

I loved my fan assisted oven!  I hate having those heating elements under my food!  My oven in the UK didn't have any heating elements in the oven cavity itself and it was great because it was heated evenly and it didn't matter where in the oven you put your food.  With heating elements it's always hotter at the bottom and colder at the top so if you are baking more than one thing you need to keep shuffling them around or you'll risk one being burned while the other is still undercooked.

To each their own I guess.

As for knowing the real temperature, even ovens with heating elements aren't always accurate.  Get an oven thermometer.  They are cheap and great!

June

Ok, I did the chocolate layer cake again (US recipe) - Take Two!  I tried to take on board everyone's various suggestions & we have "Lift Off"!  The cake rose a little bit more than it did last time.

One of the layers looks pretty nice.  The other one is a bit peaked up in the center -- but I can slice that off a bit to even it, if need be, and probably make it the bottom layer.  The layers do have cracks in the top, however -- is this normal?

In any case, better than last time but I still think I have a ways to go to perfect my technique.  I may try a different recipe the next time I do chocolate cake.

It's progress for me -- because I never ever used to make homemade cakes.  I always used a box mix, but I do think homemade tastes better.

From a taste testing point of view, your cake was perfect -but now gone! 

Isn't part of the job of icing to cover things like cracks? Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, it all goes to the same place and it made for a happy tummy.

I guess practice for me is the only thing that works - my problem is the icing, as you know. At least it is tasty trying!