I am never making a cake again

[lucysmam]

It's gone all wonky

Although it is very very chocolatey which is a good thing I guess

when DH was 5 he was crying on his birthday...his Mum asked what was wrong and he sobbed, "please don't make me a birthday cake Mummy!".
He is now 38 and her cooking has not improved...
...it could be worse!!!

lol fair point!

It's meant to be for MIL though & she's good at cakes! She made her own last year so thought I'd surprise her with a nice home made choc one this year I suppose so long as it tastes ok that's all that matters

I generally serve my wonky cakes with custard.

icing covers a multitude of sins.

say the DCs made it

suppose I could deliver it with some custard

It's my decorating that's wonky, have been studying it carefully for ages & happy birthday I've written in those little silver balls is very wonky & all my topping has dribbled down the sides and pooled around the bottom

stick in fridge to harden up the icing and then do some repairs with some fresh icing as polyfiller.

lol @ fresh icing as polyfiller, I think I'll try that.

It's definately not the beautiful creation it looked like it would be last night but never mind

Should have stuck to LDC, at least I know I can make those & they look ok

lol @ fresh icing as polyfiller, I think I'll try that.

It's definately not the beautiful creation it looked like it would be last night but never mind

Should have stuck to LDC, at least I know I can make those & they look ok

I just knew this would be you Lucysmam

Don't be so hard on yourself

I just had visions of creating a lovely cake bella that's all & it's nothing like in my head last night. Never mind, just means I'll have to subject my lot to lots of cakes so I can practice

aww bless you

I always use my wonky ones as a sponge to go with custard- the wonky sponges always taste better IMO. Heat in MW and pour on custard.

Maybe the cake was too wet (I always make this mistake!)

I am rubbish at cakes I really dont know why but they NEVER rise so your sounds like a success to me!

it rose izyboy, just in a wonky kinda lopsided way & if I'd chopped the top off would have been too small to cut into 2 to put filling in the middle

Megg, how do you know if a cake is too wet?

lucysmam - I think Megglevache means the "dropping consistency".

When you have mixed the cake and you take a spoonful, does it run off the spoon if you hold it up over the bowl or do you sort of have to "drop" it back in?

Some cakes are meant to be at uncooked stage like a batter ie. if you were doing a muffin cake or muffins, but others like a victoria sponge the mixture needs to be stiffer.

But it was made with love, LM, and surely that's better than any perfectly symmetrical, shop-bought entity?

Don't be so hard on yourself. I'd love it if someone made me a cake! (Well, I wouldn't because I'm on a diet at the moment, but you know what I mean!)

cheers bella, I didn't know about that. I will try it next time & see. But ...what, if anything, can I do about it if it is really runny?

It tasted better than a shop bought one BIAW, jut didn't look perfect. Which is a bit much to expect from a very inexperienced cook like myself maybe

well, if you have measured the ingredients correctly I am not sure why it was runny.

Was it just a bog standard cake recipe?

I made a chocolate cake yesterday filled with chocolate butter cream and then put melted chocolate on top - was rather scrummy.

look here

imo the quantities for the butter cream does not make enough, so I did 4oz butter and 8oz icing sugar, 1tbs milk, 1 tbs sifted cocoa powder and some melted chocolate.

I have a fan oven, so I turn it down to 160 and bake one tin at a time (otherwise mine cook unevenly) and do for 20mins.

It wasn't that recipe but it was the same iykwim. I don't know, maybe I just need to practice!

I don't have a fan oven any more Just a 'normal' one but only did it at 160 for 50 mins like the recipe said. Maybe I should have done it higher for less time.

Am going to make us one tomorrow anyways so will see how that goes, will follow the recipe you've just linked to though, see if it works out any better