Anybody have a cake recipe like bakeries use?

[donnajon]

The secret to the icing is to use PURE CANE confectioners/powdered sugar. I took a class years ago with my sister and learned this. She thought there wasn't any difference and didn't use the pure cane. Big difference. If you use imitation clear vanilla extract, your icing will be white white instead of off white.

 

[ChrisnSteph]

My SIL has that book and the recipes are out of this world!!!!

Another vote for the Cake Doctor book! We also have her cupcake book - OMG!!! The recipes are easy and you'll end up with a very gourmet tasting cake!

 

[Poohnatic]

This is from a bakery with a huge cake business (they use Puratos and Multifoods mixes, but I'm sure most people assume they bake from scratch - no, I won't name them ).
Hope it works out, let us know. Now I'm craving cake, thanks a lot! :

Thanks SO much for this recipe, my husband will be in 7th heaven. He loves his buttercream frosting. He's the man that views cake as a frosting delivery device.

I finally have a good Black Forest Cherry cake recipe. It's my favorite NY bakery cake and I could never get one that tasted right in Maryland. I asked a baker once and found out that because the cake uses cherry brandy, bakeries needed to have a liquor license to make it!

Suzanne

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Thanks SO much for this recipe, my husband will be in 7th heaven. He loves his buttercream frosting. He's the man that views cake as a frosting delivery device.

That's funny, I know a lot of people are like that. Myself, I'm not much of a frosting person - I generally scrape most of it off - but I do love the cake, and all bets are off if it's cream cheese frosting, then I'll clean my plate.

 

[Honu]

Most bakery cakes are Genoise. Which is basically a sponge cake. Most are also flavored with sugar syrups before frosting to keep them moist. This is a good site for bakery level recipes - Joy of Baking

 

[twinklebug]

Bakeries use mixes put out by Pillsbury and other companies. It's how they maintain consistency. Bakers are known for adding a little of this and a little of that, but in baking you can't really do that if you want a consistent product.

I'm glad "Uncle" Johnny doesn't come to the DIS. He'd be all over you for that comment.
Real Italian bakeries make everything but the boxes from scratch.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I'm glad "Uncle" Johnny doesn't come to the DIS. He'd be all over you for that comment.
Real Italian bakeries make everything but the boxes from scratch.

Where is he? I have a certain fondness for bakers.

Seriously, it would be a rarity indeed to find a bakery today that didn't use at least some commercial mixes or dough enhancers, etc. Next time your in his bakery, look around at his ingredients and you will see bags and jars of commercial products, and probably a salesperson or two hanging around as well, LOL. It's the absolute norm of the industry, though one the public is probably largely unaware of.

If anyone's cares to read more, here you go: (this is bathroom reading for me....)

http://bakingmanagement.bakery-net.com/article/11948

http://www.foodservice.com/foodshow/Baking/Cakes_Mix_Batter/

http://www.multifoodsbakery.com/

http://www.dawnfoods.com/public/managed/about_us/history/index.asp

http://www.dawnfoods.com/Public/Dynamic/Products/ProductsCategory1.asp?pkid=4&PTid=2

 

[tycopj]

YUMMMM! Thanks for all the sweet ideas!

 

[Beca]

I saw a show once where a very famous baker was answering the question, "What makes your cakes so amazing?" She said that people often rush the mixing process of the cakes. She said for high end wedding cakes, she often allows them to mix on her mixer for an hour. She said the longer the cake mixes, the lighter and fluffier it will be.

 

[twinklebug]

Where is he? I have a certain fondness for bakers.

Seriously, it would be a rarity indeed to find a bakery today that didn't use at least some commercial mixes or dough enhancers, etc. Next time your in his bakery, look around at his ingredients and you will see bags and jars of commercial products, and probably a salesperson or two hanging around as well, LOL. It's the absolute norm of the industry, though one the public is probably largely unaware of.

He's retired - had his shop in Boston for many-many years then moved it to Framingham for another decade. It was a small family run shop, his wife did all the cake decorating - they did my wedding cake & blew Kondietermiester (sp?) away. She also did my wedding dress alterations.

I can guarentee that he didn't use the pre-prepared stuff (other than jams etc) as his son attempted to re-start the business and wanted to use such means. Johnny wouldn't hear of it and personally went down to bake the "proper" way The son's heart wasn't into it, so that shop is closed now too.

I miss all the Italian "love" we'd get just upon walking in. Not to mention boxes upon boxes of italian cookies

 

[Imzadi]

You want a bakery cake but the bakeries around there aren't even making the cakes you want?

Pudding cakes are all the rage now which is probably what your bakeries are now making. Pudding makes cakes denser & heavier. Also, if a cake has many layers of filling, it actually has to be dense enough that it doesn't collapse under all the weight.

I love a good buttercream icing. I'd be wary of the Crisco recipes. I can't stand icings that taste like sugary fat & oil. They are often so greasy and greasy tasting. I think this is why many people push the icing off the cake. Whereas a great buttercream icing is to die for! I eat the cake part just to cut the richness of the icing. A store around here sells frosting shots & makes a ton of money from them.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

She said for high end wedding cakes, she often allows them to mix on her mixer for an hour. She said the longer the cake mixes, the lighter and fluffier it will be.

My stepmother taught me the same thing (although not quite an hour). She always said to put them in your Kitchenaid and just let them mix. Go put on some makeup, fix a cup of tea, etc.

But then I've been seeing on some cooking shows where people say not to do this. That is makes the cake tough.

So who's right??

 

[plutolovr]

If you want a really good, not sugar sweet buttercreme, look for an Italian buttercreme recipe. Italian buttercremes use egg whites and sugar syrup and butter. The sugar is cooked to firm ball stage and then added to the whipped whites, after it cools you add butter. It's delicious and very tasty. Not artificial like the Crisco recipes.

 

[teacups]

Go to www.foodnetwork.com
They have NEVER failed me when looking for something. I know you can find what you want here....

 

[scarlett873]

I love a good french buttercream too! I haven't quite mastered the art of the sugar syrup icings, but I'm getting there...a good french buttercream literally tastes like sweetened butter. YUM!

The recipe I posted earlier for the buttercream does not have that shortening taste to it. I despise that in an icing myself and I fell in love with this recipe. I use it on all of my cakes right now! (Until I can master the french and italian buttercreams!!)

An awesome site for recipes and inspiration for decorating is Cake Central. I can almost always find a recipe when I need it! They also have a forum for questions about recipes and how-to related stuff! I know that I use the site frequently for inspiration...I even have a few of my cakes on display in the photo galleries! (I'm also scarlett873 over there) I'm not all that great yet...but I'm learning!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I can guarentee that he didn't use the pre-prepared stuff (other than jams etc) as his son attempted to re-start the business and wanted to use such means. Johnny wouldn't hear of it and personally went down to bake the "proper" way The son's heart wasn't into it, so that shop is closed now too.

I'm sure your cake was awesome! Mine was from Montilio's and it was beautiful as well. Let's not open up the Konditermeister can of worms here, LOL.

With all due respect, I understand your point, but I suspect you aren't aware of how bakeries actually operate (as most people aren't). You make it sound like the bakery closed because the son used commercial products. While it may appear that way on the surface, in fact there's generally a whole lot more involved than that. The baking world changed in the years between father and son running the bakery. Let me explain.

There are many reasons why it's very hard to find small bakeries any more. Costs are a huge factor. It's not uncommon for bakeries to have monthly utility bills of several thousands of $$ from the costs of running enormous ovens, proof boxes, freezers, walk ins, mixers, lighting, etc. Just to pay the utility bills they need to sell an enormous amount of products, and/or keep prices inflated. Then you have labor costs. Bakers, baker's helpers, decorators. As anyone who bakes things knows, it takes a while to get a nicely finished product. Multiply this times hundreds of dozens of things: you have prep and mixing time, panning time, proof box or refrigeration time, baking time, cooling time, slicing and packaging time, etc. A wedding cake can take anywhere from two to six hours just to decorate - baking it not included. It's not unusual for a bakery with a large cake business to employ several full time cake decorators.

Packaging is a whole other ballgame - regulations now require ingredient labels on anything packaged, and nutritional information in certain states. The packages themselves cost a small fortune, and don't forget paying the floor staff, cleaners, manager, exterminator (!! ), electrician, refrigeration mechanic, maintenance person for the machinery which constantly breaks down, and on and on. So bakeries have to charge a lot more for the pie when you can just walk into BJ's and get a similar pie for a lot less. Some people prefer to buy a bakery pie and for good reason. But many more people would rather get the pie (and name any other bakery product) somewhere like BJs or the supermarket due to lower cost and convenience (for what many times could be virtually the same product ). That's a fact of the industry. Small bakeries can't compete anymore. Of course, you can still find some around, fortunately, but many have closed. Those that are still around often struggle under the costs today; at minimum, they don't enjoy the high profit margin that they did in years past.

I don't want to belabor the point, but commercial flours and mixes are the industry norm, and have been for decades, as you can see from a couple of the links I've posted. There is not a bakery around that doesn't use at least some. That nice little Italian bakery you walk into that offers "old style" bread? It more than likely has at least some dough enhancers, conditioners and preservatives in it - otherwise it would be like a rock and last about a day, which is not what most people want (think: suing the bakery for the broken tooth; "better" breads have a nice crunch on the outside and are soft on the inside, and will last a few days - thank you Puratos S500 http://en.puratos.co.jp/products_solutions/bakery/bread_improvers/s500.aspx). Even companies like Whole Foods use organic mixes now. Once again, it's the norm. Next time your driving down the highway, take notice of all the baking supply company trucks on the road - they're everywhere. And again, they're not "bad". In fact, they've helped improve products tremendously, and everyone - yes everyone - is using them at least to some degree.

My two cents for the day. Sorry OT mono~rail. Carry on...

 

[java]

Hm Just a thought if you have a bakery that you LOVE the flavor of the cake but they won't ice it the way you want... I bet they would sell you 2 plain cake rounds! Save yourself the hassle and spend your time on the decorating! You can make it so special and still have a great tasting cake without the pain.

 

[Imzadi]

My stepmother taught me the same thing (although not quite an hour). She always said to put them in your Kitchenaid and just let them mix. Go put on some makeup, fix a cup of tea, etc.

But then I've been seeing on some cooking shows where people say not to do this. That is makes the cake tough.

So who's right??

Maybe it depends on what your making and what type of (cake) flour mixed other ingredients you use? According to the cooking shows, when you mix flour with some other ingredients, (not sure what,) it creates gluten while mixing. The more gluten you make, the tougher the end product will be. That's why most mixing directions will tell you how long to mix.

According to the Cake Mix Doctor cookbooks, cake mixes are designed to be almost foolproof. So that even if people don't exactly follow the directions, the cakes will still come out fairly consistantly, batch to batch, oven to oven, mixing too much/mixing too little, etc.

The first Cake Mix Doctor book does talk about how to make cakes denser or lighter according to preference & what the cakes are for. It has some recipes for the difference in variations & she talks about whether you need to add more eggs or less, etc.

 

[Mono~rail]

You want a bakery cake but the bakeries around there aren't even making the cakes you want?

Ummm, I'm not sure what's funny, but here are the cakes that I'm planning to make. The bakeries in my town don't have the doll cake in their books, and I've asked about them making the castle cake if I give them the kit and they said that they "can't" do it.

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/1269637348061272392tmWRyv

http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/novelties/princess/princess.htm

 

[Imzadi]

Ummm, I'm not sure what's funny,

I certainly didn't mean it in a ridiculing way. Hope you didn't take it that way. It just struck me as a little funny, that's all, but I DO know what you mean.