Why did my cake turn out NASTY???!
I'm trying to learn how to cook but my stuff isn’t working out.
Answers: Yesterday I made a German Chocolate Cake and that thing was NASTY a little bit. I made it from the box and I put a little extra vanilla and instant pudding mix in the cake mix but it still tasted like regular ole box cake. It wasn’t all that moist and it wasn’t enough icing for the cake! My 2 year old won’t eat it.
I'm trying to learn how to cook but my stuff isn’t working out.
You might want to forget the pudding next time and add an extra egg and too much vanilla is not a good thing. There are a lot of simple cake recipes on the internet and you can also try using a children's cookbook until you get comfortable. This will also allow you to spend more time with the little one. This is how I taught my son and daughter to cook. Good luck
Cooking is entirely trial and error, and almost everyone has far more failures than successes at first. Just keep at it and you'll get better.
make sure you know how to adjust mixes before trying to make the adjustments. Did you cook it long enough? Too long? Is your oven temperature reliable?
I'm actually not too surprised that your 2 year old won't eat it. German chocolate cake, with coconut frosting, something you grow into...not many 2 year olds going to appreciate it, even if you liked the way it turned out.
Check with a local cooking school, they may be able to help you with the exact reason why it didn't turn out. The pudding, by the way, was it made up? Or did you just add the powder? (if you just added the powder, that might have been the problem. I think you're supposed to make it up, first. Never tried it myself.)
don't quit , try another brand
If you're trying to learn to cook...STOP using boxed mixes. Get yourself an excellent cookbook like (my favorite) Joy of Cooking. I just bought this for my 22 year old daughter and she loves it. Start cooking from scratch. I've always thought boxed 'stuff' was cheating. Probably because both my Mom and Grandmother were amazing cooks and ALWAYS cooked from scratch. This way you have absolute control over what goes into the recipe. After you've mastered the basics......THEN you can start to improvise and experiment. You'll get it. Cooking is a wonderful experience and can be enjoyed for a lifetime. Good luck and Happy Cooking......:o)
Instead of a box you could try from scratch...
cake recipe
http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,196,14518...
frosting recipe
http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,186,14417...
with the box cake try not to add to much to it. it was dry due to the instant pudding. you have to compensate with more wet ingredients if you add more dry. vanilla shouldn't of hurt it too much. with box cakes I would check out the dates on them a few sites out there may have some out dated boxes. I use dunkin Heinz cake mix or Pillsbury with great success. watch your temps and get an oven thermometer. sometimes there is as much as a 25 degree variance in ovens even the most expensive ones. I would also try checking 5 minutes before the done time.
I found they have done a good job most of the time with the ingredients of the box cakes. however i feel the frostings are gross and makes your cake actually taste like a cake from a box. prepare a homemade frosting to those box cake mixes and you will be surprised at the results.
Hi,
It must be some small issue that caused this. I am sure. And I am also sure that you will do much better the next time. :-)
Cooking is an acquired skill. Since you are learning to cook, I would suggest that you should follow recipes as it they are and also keep a check list where you can check the steps you have followed. This will help you in finding what you missed or changed when you review the check list if at all the final result is not as expected as you. And be ready to accept a final result different from what is expected sometimes. Until you become more confident of yourself, you can do like this. Afterwards you can make variations and then also it would be better if you follow the checklist.
You atleast want to learn cooking and you even tried making a German Chocolate Cake. There are a million women out there who dont try or even dont want to cook. You are so much better, and it is just a matter of time before you become an expert cook.
Take Care.. All the best..