Wedding Cakes from Cake Mix and Assembly Tips

Duncan Hines has a recipe for making a wedding cake that reduces the amount of oil you use and increases the amount of water. They have recently changed the directions on the back of the box for their Basic Recipe to use less oil (2 tablespoons instead of the 1/3 cup Betty Crocker calls for). This must be for a lower fat version of their cake. Personally I prefer Betty Crocker white cake mix with pudding in the mix for my weddings and I make it the way it calls for on the box (1/3 cup oil, 1-1/4 cups water, and 3 egg whites). I do this because I like the moister taste and flavor. I have had many, many compliments on the quality of my wedding cakes, so you know people like it. You have to do a few things to guarantee success:

1) Make sure your cakes are thoroughly done, but not burned. I learned the hard way that the toothpick test doesn't always assure that a larger cake is done. Now I use a toothpick inserted near the middle of the cake that comes out clean and I gently pat the top of the cake. If you hear a hollow "thump", it's done. If your patting brings a flat sound, there is still liquid in the center.

2) Be sure to use plenty of dowel rods in your cake for support and cut them a tiny bit taller than the layer. I have stacked as many as four two-layer tiers this way with no problem. The problems with such a moist cake would come with the upper tiers resting too heavily on lower tiers. I assemble the layers at the reception hall and add borders to cover the tier separations.

Best of luck. Hope it turns out well!