Dream Whip in Scratch Cake

[sugarlove]

Has anyone tried adding dream whip to a scratch cake to make it more moist, light and fluffier? I heard of adding to cake mix but just wanted to know if anyone tried it with scratch cakes with good results.

[etalanian]

Why would you add a product that isn't natural and wholesome to a cake made from scratch?

Eileen

[highchef]

Isn't dream mix in a box? I assume you make it first?

Before I'd use dream whip, I'd whip a couple of extra egg whites and add them..but that'd make it more of a chiffon type cake. Dunno..go for it and let us know! (I'd try it on a mix cake before I'd risk a scratch cake though)

[K8memphis]

Yes I've done it. No you use it dry, as a powder. Eillee-een, Dream Whip is every bit as wholesome and natural as refined flour, refined cake flour, refined sugar and baking powder, buttermilk, vanilla extract, sour cream, etc. All of those so called scratch ingredients are either highly refined or totally processed and concocted. Don't you think??? And I like all of 'em, shortening too and lard. Let him who is without phyllo dough in the freezer cast the first cupcake. Or a box of crackers or a can of soup or quick oats or or or...

Dream Whip does boost the sugar factor in the cake and generally fluffs it up, helps makes a great cake. When I used it, I was testing recipes and with my particular setup I did not see the same results you get when you add it to a mix--but I was in testing mode testing out scratch recipes. So it might have been the recipe itself. I was testing lots and lots and lots of stuff. I settled on Sylvia Weinstock's recipe for white cake. Awesome. I need to try it with Dream Whip & see what happens.

Let me know your results. And I'll post mine next time I bake that cake.

[JeanneCake]

Um, pardon me... what is Dream Whip? I've never heard of it before. I gather from K8's post that it is a powder but is it a pudding like Jell-o pudding mix? Or like Bakewell Cream (which is something like a cream of tartar mix that you use to "boost" biscuits)?

Just curious....

[K8memphis]

It is used to whip up to make a cool whip type 'fake' whippped cream topping. It is like egg whites & real fine sugar & probably some other stuff. It's great in cake because the idea is you whip the batter and the egg whites kinda do their thing and the extra super fine sugar in there does it's thing and it really enhances the cake.

[sugarlove]

It is used to whip up to make a cool whip type 'fake' whippped cream topping. It is like egg whites & real fine sugar & probably some other stuff. It's great in cake because the idea is you whip the batter and the egg whites kinda do their thing and the extra super fine sugar in there does it's thing and it really enhances the cake.

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Thanks K8, I have tried adding dream whip to a modified version of Sylvia's yellow cake recipe. I reduced the sugar because when I first made SW's recipe it was a bit on the sweet side using 2cups of sugar as called for in the orignal recipe;so, I reduced the sugar to 1 1/4 cups (250g) added one pack of dream whip( 4 T). I split the batter between 2 8x2" pans. The cake was very good and moist but it didn't rise much. I think on my next try, I will increase the sugar to 1 1/2 c (300g) and add a tablespoon of baking powder instead of 2 teaspoons. Now, in her book it states to use two 8x3" pans. I wonder if this could also be a reason why my cake didn't rise? Another thing I noticed, although it didn't rise much it also didn't sink in the middle like the cake didn't when I first tried the recipe using 2cups of sugar.

Edited August 25, 2006 by sugarlove (log)

[Patrick S]

Yes I've done it. No you use it dry, as a powder. Eillee-een, Dream Whip is every bit as wholesome and natural as refined flour, refined cake flour, refined sugar and baking powder, buttermilk, vanilla extract, sour cream, etc. All of those so called scratch ingredients are either highly refined or totally processed and concocted. Don't you think??? And I like all of 'em, shortening too and lard. Let him who is without phyllo dough in the freezer cast the first cupcake.

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Touche!

[Kim Shook]

Let him who is without phyllo dough in the freezer cast the first cupcake.

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Yep, that just went in my quotation file, duly credited to you, k8!

[Squirrelly Cakes]

Do you have time to list the ingredients of the Dream Whip package?

I have never added it to a from-scratch cake, I have added an instant pudding to a from-scratch cake as an experiment for a pal, to see the effect. And with that particular recipe, it was fine. But I didn't think it created a more moist cake.

I prefer the pudding added to a cake mix over using Dream Whip. But I have to say I honestly don't think either one makes the cake more moist. When I use the pudding, I use an extra egg and sour cream. I think the sour cream improves the flavour and the texture and along with the extra fat in the egg yolk, makes the cake more moist. True that the sugar also creates moisture but I think there is usually more than enough sugar in most recipes, too much in many high-ratio recipes for my taste. Personally I find cake mix cakes already far too sweet so the addition of the pudding or Dream Whip mix, can't make things much worse for "sicky sweet taste". But then I grew up with the original cakemixes and I don't think they were originaly so sweet.

The reason I would use either is to give more of a poundcake or dense texture to a cakemix cake that I will be stacking. The cake isn't as squishy when you add these things. I don't often make cake mixes but I find when following box directions, the cakes are not stable enough for stacking. There is gelatine or a thickening agent or a stabilizer in pudding mixes and Dream Whip type mixes and this stabilizes the texture of the cakes. That is the only reason I use them. I find cakemix cakes more than enough moist.

I think that you might do well to use another cake recipe if your from-scratch recipe is not moist enough. Sometimes people are trying to duplicate the texture of a cakemix in a from-scratch cake. I just don't think it can be done. Personally I prefer from-scratch cakes but we all have different expectations and tastes.

If Sylvia Weinstock's cake was too sweet for you, it is likely a high-ratio cake with the same amount or almost the same amount of sugar as cake flour, right? You reduced the sugar far too much for the sugar content of the Dream Whip. I would go 1/4 cup less sugar at most and see how it turns out. Even that may be too much of a reduction. Sometimes you can reduce by a couple of tablespoons. The reduction in sugar is likely the main reason your cake did not rise much, it needed the extra sugar in the creaming action. By reducing the sugar so much you are actually going to make a less moist cake as that is one of the reasons high-ratio cakes have such a high amount of sugar, in addition to the use of other specific things in their forumula. I would not increase the baking powder. In most cases unless there are certain other ingredients, you are using about 1 tsp. of baking powder per cup of flour maximum - of course there are exceptions.

If you don't use large enough pans as called for in the recipe, your cakes will not have room to rise to their full volume. That may account for why your original try resulted in cakes sinking in the middle. You are putting too much batter in the pans if the cakes were meant to be baked in 3 inch deep pans.

Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

Edited August 25, 2006 by Squirrelly Cakes (log)

[miladyinsanity]

Let him who is without phyllo dough in the freezer cast the first cupcake.

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Yep, that just went in my quotation file, duly credited to you, k8!

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Thanks, K8. I needed a new sig line.

[sugarlove]

Let him who is without phyllo dough in the freezer cast the first cupcake.

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Yep, that just went in my quotation file, duly credited to you, k8!

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Thanks, K8. I needed a new sig line.

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Dream Whip Ingredients:

SUGAR, DEXTROSE, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (COCONUT AND PALM KERNEL OILS), MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, PROPYLENE GLYCOL MONOSTEARATE (EMULSIFIER), SODIUM CASEINATE (FROM MILK), CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF CELLULOSE GEL, CELLULOSE GUM, HYDROXYPROPYL METHYCELLULOSE, NATURAL ND ARTIFICAL FLAVOR, ACETYLATED MONOGYCERIDES AND MONO- AND DIGYCERIDES (EMULSIFIERS), SODIUM SILICOALUMINATE (ANTICAKING AGENT), YELLOW 5, YELLOW 6.

[K8memphis]

Oh my gosh, Kim, Patrick and Milady, y'all are too sweet~~how cool.

I'm quotable, who knew?!! >> that's me blushing

And yes the Dream Whip does not add moisture--it does add a bit of volume and changes the texture. Kinda densifies it but still retains the softness. Yep I agree with Squirrely, it makes cake easier to serve, slices better, stacks better.

Umm, I use flavored simple syrup to add moisture--squirt it onto baked cake before it's filled & iced.

[Squirrelly Cakes]

I wanted to compare the ingredients between the pudding and the Dream Whip but all I have on hand is a generic brand instant pudding, not Jello. However the starch or thickening agent in the pudding I have is a modified tapioca starch. Whereas the thickening agent in the Dream Whip is methylcellulose which affects gelling and also works as an emulsifier. But they both have sugar as the main ingredient, an oil and a form of milk. So in many ways, similar ingredients. It could be the effect of the methylcellulose that I find actually makes the cake seem a bit more dry, I don't know.

I think in this case reducing the sugar used, by such a large amount, was likely the problem. So trying to make a cake more moist by adding the Dream Whip but reducing the sugar is actually not the way to go. You are creating a lack of moisture issue by reducing the sugar and adding the Dream Whip will not make up for it.

I don't find from-scratch cakes dry but I agree simple syrup will certainly make the exterior more moist and if you soak the cake, more moist still. I seal the cake with a thinned down apricot glaze crumbcoat. I also freeze most cakes overnight before icing as it sets the crumb and makes the cakes easier to handle. It will also soften slightly overdone edges by drawing moisture from the inside of the cake to the outer edges. But it doesn't work miracles on overdone cakes.

Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

[sugarlove]

I wanted to compare the ingredients between the pudding and the Dream Whip but all I have on hand is a generic brand instant pudding, not Jello.  However the starch or thickening agent in the pudding I have is a modified tapioca starch.  Whereas the thickening agent in the Dream Whip is methylcellulose which affects gelling and also works as an emulsifier.  But they both have sugar as the main ingredient, an oil and a form of milk.  So in many ways, similar ingredients. It could be the effect of the methylcellulose that I find actually makes the cake seem a bit more dry, I don't know.

I think in this case reducing the sugar used, by such a large amount, was likely the problem. So trying to make a cake more moist by adding the Dream Whip but reducing the sugar is actually not the way to go. You are creating a lack of moisture issue by reducing the sugar and adding the Dream Whip will not make up for it.

I don't find from-scratch cakes dry but I agree simple syrup will certainly make the exterior more moist and if you soak the cake, more moist still.  I seal the cake with a thinned down apricot glaze crumbcoat. I also freeze most cakes overnight before icing as it sets the crumb and makes the cakes easier to handle. It will also soften slightly overdone edges by drawing moisture from the inside of the cake to the outer edges.  But it doesn't work miracles on overdone cakes.

Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

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Hey Squirrelly, I think you misunderstood me....the cake was moist it just didn't rise enough. I also agree the Dream Whip densified the cake a little while maintaining the softness. The cake was very easy to cut...which reminded me of store bought cake. I decided to try baking this cake again making the recommended changes in the sugar. I will post later once it is done and cooled. I did forget to use the magic cake strips though.

[Kris]

Back in the day when I didn't know any better, I used Dream whip to make an icing for a cake.

It was horrible. The stuff tasted artificial and "chemically."

So there's no way I would actually add it to a cake.

Edited September 2, 2006 by Kris (log)