I'd go with T&T: Tried and True. There are several very good ones on this Forum.

I usually make a chiffon cake instead of a plain white cake, but I sometimes also make sponge cake or pound cake.

The criteria I use for evaluating cake recipes involves how many eggs are used and whether they are separated with the whites being beaten separately, plus whether the recipe uses oil or butter. I often reduce the salt in cake recipes by half, depending on the recipe. I do not like salty cakes, as they taste more like bread.

There's nothing like experience. I usually know how a recipe will come out, and often how to tweak it a little to suit me in ways I know will work. Sometimes I find something really unusual, which I can't predict, and make it 100% exactly to learn what it is and does. There aren't any rules for that. Just decades of experience.

You can't go wrong with old Betty Crocker recipes, like pre-1980, many of which are online, and can be found in the old books. They were made to be as foolproof as possible. The recipes from the old Gourmet magazine were highly tested. More likely to be fancy, but still accurate. New York Times is also a pretty good source, and the comments are curated. I like the blog Joy of Baking. The problem currently is a lot of ”chef” recipes aren't written by the chef and aren't tested. Blogs, whose writers aren't in other media, are better, when they're good, but some are the pits, which goes back to how to evaluate. Even worse are the sites where people can just post recipes. Some are good, but you need to know how to choose. Many commenters have never made the recipe, or are bad cooks, or are trolling with bad suggestions, so be very careful and skeptical when reading comments...but comments are sometimes invaluable.

For a white cake, if you want it to be really white, you need to think about what makes cake yellow: egg yolks, butter, vanilla. It's easy to use vegetable shortening (Crisco), plus the recommended on the label adjustment for the lack of water in shortening, instead of butter. There's no good white substitute for egg yolks, however, that I'm aware of, so you need a recipe which only uses the whites, and has the right amount of fat and liquid to balance correctly without yolks. You can use an artificial vanilla that's clear, or just decide you don't care about that amount of beige, or use another, clear flavoring like rosewater (Middle Eastern), orange blossom water, a clear liqueur, or similar. Also, to be really white, you need to use bleached flour and to bake properly it's best to use cane (white cane) sugar. If it's cane, the packaging will say so.

I‘m sorry I haven't made a white cake for decades so don't have a good recipe to share.

Good directions: The sugar and fat should be ”creamed” together so the sugar dissolves and you beat air into the combo, The eggs in a regular cake are added next because they need to be well mixed and incorporated. For a white cake, you'll probably beat the eggwhites separately, to give them volume, and fold them in last, after the flour. Putting a little of the salt in the eggwhites to whip them might help stabilize them. Following what your recipe calls for, you can be told to use cake flour (less protein means less potential development of gluten) or AP (all purpose) flour. Less gluten means a lighter, more airy cake. So you want to thoroughly mix in the flour, but not beat the heck out of it, contrary to some old ideas. The more beating, past well mixed, the tougher the cake.

Four things add to rise: yeast, baking powder, baking soda + acid (e.g., buttermilk), and eggs. Few cakes call for yeast. More cakes use eggs only—with whites whipped to stiff peaks. Quickbreads (such as pancakes or biscuits more than caky things like zucchini bread) sometimes only use baking soda + acid. Most cakes use baking powder which itself is a combo of baking soda + acid. Double acting baking powder (which most recipes assume) has part that starts the bubbling/rising reaction when it gets wet, and part when it gets hot. The baking soda + buttermilk kind of thing starts when it gets wet, That's why pre-heating is so important. Once your batter is made, you want to get it in the pan and into the oven promptly. Pre-heating also gives your oven a chance to heat thoroughly, including the walls, rather than just the air being hot.

When you fold in your eggwhites to the rest of the batter--the last step—slide a scraper, or wooden spoon, down the side of the bowl, across the bottom to the center, lift, and turn over, then turn the bowl and repeat. The least amount you handle it is the least amount of air you release. Get the two well combined so there are no blobs of egg, but gently.

Good luck finding your recipe!

Usually I read multiple reviews on-line before trying a new cake recipe; however, everyone has their own idea of what makes a perfect cake! Several years ago, I tried about a dozen different yellow cake recipes that had received rave reviews…but they were not MY idea of a perfect yellow cake. I eventually found the one I now use in an old Taste of Home church suppers cookbook. I think you’ll just have to read some reviews or get some recommendations and then just give it a go. It’s always so nice when you can try a cake or other dessert at a social function and the cook is gracious enough to share the recipe!!

"...however, everyone has their own idea of what makes a perfect cake!

My thoughts exactly since tastes can really vary. For something like a white cake recipe, I might check sources that have worked fairly consistently well for me. King Arthur and Rose Levy Beranbaum are two that come to mind. Or, as lovemycorgi posted, you try something you like and can get the recipe from the baker.

Online reviews can be helpful, but I can often tell if a recipe looks like a good fit. Other times I just have to try them to know. I can recall recipes with umpteen positive reviews that I tried once and never again.

Another Betty Crocker cake fan here. I have an old 1960s cookbook and have been using it for years and years now. I also have a cake cookbook from Southern Living magazine which I've tried a few recipes from and they turned out well.

So I guess for me, it's the source that I primarily consider when looking for a new recipe. MarthaStewart.com is another source I trust for cakes and baking recipes.

@carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b, which BC cookbook do you have? My mom gave me this one when I was 9. Still have it. The very first recipe I tried from it was a cake...Bonnie Butter Cake.

LOL! Same book, same age, same source! It's held together with gaffer's tape. :) Reliable. I can't remember my first recipe, but I loved the applesauce cookies and made oatmeal muffins for school, and, of course, chiffon cakes.

Mine looks like this:

But in waaay worse condition, It's a looseleaf and the most used pages are tattered, stained, and falling out.

I actually have a couple more editions in good condition put aside. I think I have that one too.

Hmmmmm.

How i evaluate a good cake:

Is it chocolate?

Does it have chocolate icing?

Then its good.

As for recipes, I am no help. I am a no shame having,boxed cake baking animal.

What exactly IS bad cake???

Same as others said, if I want a trustworthy recipe, I go to a source I trust. Ina Garten is one for me; I used to go to Martha, too, but not so much anymore. She is so prolific, I'm not sure everything is actual tried and true with her. I also think Joy of Cooking is a good source, but sometimes following recipes there drives me nuts...not cakes probably, but recipes will have you go to other parts of the cookbook to find how to do something in the recipe, instead of printing it IN the recipe.

Bad cake is a real thing. Like one baked too hot so it's dry and kind of tasteless. I've made mistakes with cakes that came out delightful, but there are some really bad cakes out there. Bad means you'd rather not eat any more of it than take another bite. I've never eaten a "dump" cake (just dump the ingredients in a bowl) that couldn't be improved upon. I've never eaten a microwave cake which was actually good, though on TV they make them for show, decoration, to represent moss and other kind of raggedy things. It ends up looking kind of like a torn sponge. Kind of cool. But that just has to be edible, rather than delightful.

It was a joke, Plllog.

I know. :D But it reminded me of really bad cakes I've been served—and one I made. I love cake, but it's so disappointing when it's bad.

I tried a whole bunch of white cake recipes a few years back, and this one was the very best of the bunch. It is what I always use now. My sister bakes wedding cakes and this is the one she now uses too.

https://addapinch.com/the-best-white-cake-recipe/comment-page-14/

Thank you, Chessie! Have you made her Best Chocolate Cake recipe? I haven't found my chocolate cake recipe yet either.

Yes! I nearly listed Add A Pinch because I like a couple of her recipes so much, but didn't because I haven't read further. It's a proper chocolate cake, not fudge cake or soufflé or other. Good moist crumb. Excellent with or without the espresso powder. It's a hot water preparaton, which many people associate with the Hershey's box, but if you use a top notch Dutched cocoa powder, like Valrhona (my choice), Guittard or Droste, it's ever so good. And I've saved the white cake recipe. Thanks, Chessie! Note that it does have some yellow ingredients—in the picture it's a bit ”ivory”—but for good cake, it's close enough!

It was pretty darn white to me...but no matter what, it tastes divine. :-)

This is also an EXCELLENT cake. I mean, just absolutely yummy. I have made it a few times, and it freezes really well. When I make this recipe, I use her white cake recipe (not a mix), and it is very white (no egg yolks). I do think that egg yolks give way more flavor (I go for flavor over looks) but the addition of the brownies on the bottom layer just makes it so over the top! We also drizzled some of the chocolate sauce on top and gave it a nice swirl.

https://kitchenmeetsgirl.com/vintage-cake/

I rarely ever bake anything myself but the DW does.

I evaluate a cake by taking just a sliver piece and eating it. If I go back for more you know it's good.

If a white cake made with only egg whites lacks flavor, you might try adding 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract along with the vanilla.

Just looked at that white cake recipe and it does call for almond extract. It has twice the almond as vanilla and usually it's the other way around.

Joy of Cooking is one of the cookbooks for which I always reduce the salt by 50%, if not more. Whoever wrote it loves or is addicted to salt, and I do not/am not. Otherwise, I do like it as a general cookbook. It used to be the only cookbook that I owned, and I learned by experience to always reduce the salt in its recipes. The exception might be their sauerkraut recipe, which calls for 1# of salt for 40# of cabbage, and I use 0.88# of salt for 40# of cabbage, which is close.

But for sweets, it is a different story, and I always reduce the salt by 50% or more for those, especially cakes.

The "Best White Cake" every recipe looks good and passes all of my criteria, but I noticed that it has buttermilk and no baking soda. I would add 1/4 tsp baking soda (for 1/2 cup of buttermilk), since some people have said in the comments that it did not rise enough. Otherwise, it looks very good.

Try a little nutmeg in a white or yellow cake. It makes things taste richer, IMO.

It would seem that you should use all butter for flavor in a white or yellow cake, but many cakes use part shortening, which I'm not sure what that does in a cake, or oil, which I know is in there for moisture.

AFAIK, shortening can give a fluffier result than butter.

And shortening is white. I bake with neutral flavored butter--i.e., not grassy or anything--and I don't find a flavor difference in cake. The thing about butter, though, is the melt-in-the-mouth thing. Shortening is supposed to trap more air, and encapsulate the gluten, making cakes loftier and softer. I usually use all butter unless it need it to be non-dairy, when I'll use all shortening or vegan margarine. I haven't noticed much difference in the outcome other than the slight texture difference.

i make a test cake and taste it.

I make half a recipe to test, but there's just the two of us so that's what I make anyway. I started baking 6" cakes last year when I got back into baking, and half an 8-9" layer cake recipe makes a 6" layer cake.

This is half of the King Arthur Classic Birthday Cake recipe.

Half of a chocolate cake recipe.

Spice cake. Hadn't had one of those since I was a kid.

Oh spice cake is a blast from the past for me too! My mom used to make her mother's recipe with a 'penuche' icing. Never so fancy as yours tho - just a sheet cake, as I recall.

"Spice cake. Hadn't had one of those since I was a kid."

Wow! Spice cakes are my absolute favorite! I would prefer to eat them over any other kind. :-)

As for shortening vs butter, I use half and half in certain cookies. All butter will make a much flatter, more spread-out cookie. (Therefore so many recipes suggest chilling or freezing the dough). It totally depends on what I am making as to which I will use. Here is a good article on it.

https://www.jessicagavin.com/butter-vs-shortening/

I love penuche (and spice cake), but have never seen it as icing. I'm having trouble imagining it as anything but thick and firm. My brain won't go to flavor of penuche texture of fudge icing. I may have to try it! I rarely frost/ice/drizzle/glaze/soak/dust cakes. Eileen, yours are so pretty, it's tempting,

My mother made penuche every Christmas. I made brown sugar frosting last year but the sugar doesn't dissolve so I wonder if there's a recipe where you cook it first.

Plllog, those were my first attempts at cake decorating. It's hard to frost the sides of a small cake, especially when you don't have a turntable, so the coconut and walnuts hid my inexperience. The vertical stripes of the chocolate cake were easy though and turned out well.

So, the answer is yes. :) I looked up recipes and they do melt the brown sugar into the butter. I still can't really imagine it but it says something when reading about something that's mostly sugar and i actually want to taste it. :)

I'll have to try that next time. This is the recipe I made. I found the recipe last spring and waited impatiently until fall to make it. She frosts it with brown butter cream cheese frosting but I remember it with vanilla frosting so I went with nostalgia. I hadn't planned on walnuts but they came to the rescue when the sides of my case looked so terrible.

https://butternutbakeryblog.com/spice-cake-with-brown-butter-cream-cheese-frosting/ 

The cardamom is interesting. I usually add allspice, as well as cloves and ginger if they aren't mentioned. I like it to be spice cake, not brown cake with a whiff of cinnamon. :)

I was wondering just now, after reading about your walnuts, if all those fancy looks in modern bakeries are meant to cover mistakes by ham handed apprentices. :D My father taught me how to caulk a cake, but I still have small hands and am bad with a pastry bag. I do better with a spatula, but the fanciest I get with that is fish scales. :) But then, I only do frosting a few times per decade. :) Practice could help a lot. I really want to try Russian tips. Esp. if they're American. :) Your "flawed" cakes are lovely!

My spice cake has cinnamon, mace, allspice, nutmeg, and ground cloves. No cardamom though.

Mine has a caramel icing. And NO applesauce - for me that would make it too "apple-y".

I don't have cardamon or cloves so I subbed allspice but only used 1/4 teaspoon. I thought the spices were well-balanced.

I mentioned that I look for moistening ingredients and this cake has applesauce. Perhaps it's technically an applesauce cake and not a spice cake.

Plllog, I thought I wanted to learn fancy piping but by the time I get the cake baked and frosted, I don't have much interest in decorating it. I really need to allot two days if I'm going to pipe so I don't run out of energy when I get to the fussy part.

That’s the cool thing about Russian tips—you need basic control but they squirt out flowers. :) Two days is better for decorating, anyway. It goes better if the cake is fully steamed out and set, first.

Applesauce cake has been a base for spice cake at least since Betty Crocker. I wouldn't hesitate to call it spice cake if the spices are the star. (Though I'd want penuche icing to taste like penuche—otherwise, I'd rather call it ”brown sugar” icing.)

So, I get your desire for moist (have you tried mayonnaise cake?), but I will interject that dry, in a regular cake recipe, usually means that it was baked at too high a temperature. fudgy level moist (in any flavor) is another story, but just a moist, spongy crumb shouldn't require extra ingredients. I have a very accurate oven, which makes it too hot for a lot of traditional cake recipes that bake at 350F. Especially for layers or sheets, I tend to interpret that ”350” as 325-330F. Convection can also make an oven hotter, and dry out a cake with its wind, as well. Then, a common treatment for certain recipes which are supposed to bake dry, is to pierce the bottom and pour in a soak of flavored simple syrup, or thinned out liqueur. Something to try is a fruit flavored cake. Those tend to be quite moist, presumably frome the fruit. :)

FWIW, I have a great applesauce cake recipe from The Farm Cookbook - it's earthy, crunchy hippie vegetarian recipes from the famous commune in TN. There are no eggs and it comes out very moist and tender. I haven't made it in a long time because we never have applesauce any more.

And as I recall, the 'penuche' frosting was like a runnier version of the fudge - sugary crystals rather like a thick glaze.

I don't like jarred applesauce so I make it homemade every fall., which is why I waited for months to make the spice cake.

I remember chocolate mayonnaise cake when it came out. In my research I read that one of the professional bakers always puts mayonnaise in his chocolate cakes, and I plan to try that the next time. I think he said as much as 1/2 cup for a 9" layer cake but I wouldn't use that much--maybe a few tablespoonfuls.

If you understood all the science of baking, you'd know what you can tweak, or how to evaluate a recipe.

You convinced me to order some 6" diameter pans, and so I ordered a set of four and will keep half in L.A. and half in Cathedral City.

I have not been making cakes much lately, partly because we would not eat them, but if I can make half cakes, that would be more efficient.

I like that you can simply halve the recipe, and so I will try to use recipes that have an even number of eggs.

Spice cake does make one think of Autumn, but it doesn't have to be, and neither do apples. :)

Small batch applesauce—you could do even a single apple’s worth in a little pan.

• 3 large apples (I do different flavors and textures, but they can all be the same)
• 1 cup sparkling apple cider
• pinch salt
• 1.5 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Lars, I take recipes with 4 eggs and cut those recipes in half. Most 6" cake recipes call for three layers but I bought two 6x3" pans and divide the batter between them. It gives a little bit of a taller layer and gives us six generous servings. I don't know if half a recipe will fit in two 6x2 pans. You may have to make a few cupcakes. I'd bring all four pans the first time you make one because you might want that third layer.

I also use the 6x3 pan for a tall cheesecake. I put two strips of parchment paper in the pan (cross them) and line the bottom with a circle of parchment. The cake lifts right out.

I ordered four 6" diameter x 2" high cake pans - I was unaware of the 3" version, but I think 2" high should be high enough for my purposes. If not, I will order a couple of 3" high pans later.

Most cake pans are not more than 2" high anyway, but the taller ones do look better. My goal is to make smaller cakes.

I haven't made any of the cakes designed for a 6x2, but from what I read, they will make a 1" layer. You can only fill a 6x2 pan half way. You can fill a 6x3 about 2/3 of the way. You do use more batter for two 6x3s than for three 6x2s. So my guess is you'd have too much batter for two 6x2 layers if you used half a recipe. Some of the bakers use a cupcake recipe that makes 12 cupcakes for their 6x2 cakes.

I think that my cakes are about 5" tall, counting the filling.

one of my favorites is tyler's [florence] flourless chocolate cake. First time I made it; PERFECT. Subsequent attempts, not always great, but never terrible.