As many of you know I love cake sitting, and have often mentioned which cakes I think are the best (namely Costco (sheet cakes and chocolate fudge cakes), and Coppenrath and Weisse (amazing German tortes)). These cakes work because they're very soft, laden with gooey frosting or mousse/cream, and splat easily making for wonderful sits or whatever other method of cake destruction takes your fancy.
In the UK, most shop bought supermarket cakes are absolutely rubbish for WAM because they are firm, dry and use fairly hard icing, all of which make for very disappointing crushes (they flatten but don't splat). I thought the pictured cake from Asda was going to be an exception, but it was still disappointing, almost supporting my whole weight when I sat down - what a waste of £10!
What brands can you recommend that could almost be marketed as exclusive WAM products, or ones to avoid because they just don't live up to the hype? (Don't forget to include the country it relates to and where to buy! (Sadly for me some of the US based cake stores seem much better than in the UK!))
Content warning: 2 uses of the word 'moist'....ok, 3 uses.
I feel your 'pain'. I am not much into cake sitting, though have a thing for being pushed down onto a cake. The only versions of cakes in the UK that seem to be any good are the Gateaux style as the sponge is moist and there is often a layer of cream or jam. Problem with those is the frosting is too sticky for me and acts more as a glue than something to spread around.
Honestly, I think making your own is the best way to go. Sponges are easy to do and can be made very light and fluffy (whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks and fold in - look up Japanese sponge cake for the effect). Then they can be soaked in a light syrup to keep them moist. You can cut them and put a layer of cream/jam/whatever between them too. For the topping, I used whipping cream as it's heavier and more stable than spray can cream. Maybe use spray cream for decoration if the aesthetics are important.
It's my curse to enjoy baking, but also eating the results rather than just playing.
I remember trying something similar in my early days of WAM and was similarly disappointed and didn't return to wanting to use pre-made cakes.
Yeah, gateaux cakes would be better. One thing I've thought of trying is to add pouring cream to it to make it more moist. Perhaps doing a sort of "I'm making this cake tastier" thing.