Does anyone make their own birthday cakes from scratch? Need a better recipe.

So I made a practice cake for DS' first birthday. Baked the cakes on Wednesday and decorated/constructed yesterday. Let it stand all day to make sure the assembly would hold up for the party then tasted it last night.

Bleck!!! So dense and tasteless! I used a Martha Stewart white cake recipe that promised to be so moist and delicious. NOT! I'd like to think I'm a decent baker so I'm not sure if it's anything I did. And I do not think it was leaving the finished cake out all day. The baked cakes were kept sealed overnight before decorating.

But I do find that whenever I make a scratch white or yellow cake, it's just too dense and not tastey (awesome feature for working with and constructing). But I want it to look good AND taste good!

Anyone have a tried and true moist tasty white or yellow cake recipe to share. Or should I go with a flavored cake like lemon or coconut (not banana)?

I'm tempted to do boxed cakes for guaranteed good taste but they have a tendency to crumble and crack. If you have a good tip to have them hold out, I'll take that too!

I'm making a three tier cake, each tier is two layers, using cake circles and supports.

I'm pleased and confident that the outside will come out fine. Now I want it to taste as good!

Thanks for any help!

Re: Does anyone make their own birthday cakes from scratch? Need a better recipe.

No one?!

Re: Does anyone make their own birthday cakes from scratch? Need a better recipe.

Palebride gave me some yummy recipes that I have used. Send her an FM and see what she has in her recipe box

Re: Does anyone make their own birthday cakes from scratch? Need a better recipe.

*my dislaimer is I haven't made it YET

but it was next on my list!!! it's from a trusted source (I LOVE this magazine).