Iam new to the cake decorating and I have a few questions that I hope maybe somebody could help me with. Where do I find the pattern book for the new wilton year book?? Iam looking for the pattern for the witch made with the star pan!! Also how many cakes can you bake at one time?? I would like to be able to bake 2 at a time. I have a normal sized electric oven. Also I have been reading alot about freezing cakes, what do you put them in to freeze them??

Thank you for all of your help !
Liz

You could probably fing the pattern book on the Wilton Web site. Also, you can bake 2 layers at a time if you keep your rack to the center part of the oven and rotate the pans (put the top one on the bottom and the bottom one on the top) halfway through the cooking time. To freeze cakes, Cool first, then wrap in plastic wrap double layer, then again double layer in aluminum foil tightly. To thaw, do not unwrap until completely thawed to keep condensation from forming on the cake. HTH

Hi Liz and welcome to the wonderful world of cake decorating!!

If you can't find the Wilton pattern book at a local store, I would check with Ebay or Amazon or some other online retailer.

How many cakes you can bake depends on the size of the pans and your oven. I can bake two 8 inch rounds together. I always have them on a rack in the middle of the oven and never use more than one rack. I bake a 12 inch round by itself since it takes up so much room. You just want to make sure there is plenty of space around all sides of the pan. I don't know if there is a tried and true rule but I leave at least 2 inches from the side of the oven and 2 inches around all sides of the pan.

To freeze a cake. I wrap it in 2 to 3 layers of plastic wrap. You can then put aluminum foil over that if it will be frozen for more than a few days. The key is the thawing. It must be thawed with the plastic wrap on so the condensation forms on the wrap and not the cake which would make it soggy.

Hope this helps you out!

The year books are sold at Michaels and JoAnns or anyone who carries Wilton products. You can freeze cakes by wrapping them in Saran wrap (double wrap them) and then I wrap outside of that in foil or put in a large zip lock if it fits. Cakes are more moist for me when I freeze them.

Our Michael's and Hobby Lobby stores both sell the Wilton year books so if you have those stores, check there.

I can bake three 8" rounds on one rack in my oven. I put two to the back and one to the front, then I rotate them part-way thru baking and they come out great.

I almost always freeze cakes just to get the additional moisture you get from freezing then thawing. I double wrap in aluminum foil for freezing, then the day I thaw them I open the top so the foil doesn't stick to the top of the cake. I always use parchment paper when baking so I leave the parchment paper on the bottom of the cakes when I freeze them. After they're thawed I just peel it off before stacking. They turn out great every time.

hello....welcome!

I agree that how many cakes at once depends on your oven. If you use your oven enough....you will get to know exactly what it can and can't do.

Last weekend I baked a 16'inch round below an 8x3, a 12x2, and a 6x2 inch round. Most people would think I am crazy, but I am a cheapskate and the less I have my oven on, the better. Also, if I have leftover batter I always find the nearest pan, throw it in, and instead of leaving it sit out I throw it in the oven. They all turned out fine....of course I preheated to 400 for atleast 30 minutes, turned it down to 335, put them all in at the same time, and kept a close eye on all of them.

I also freeze every scrap wrapped in saran and sometimes some foil. With cupcakes I often put two or so dozen in an upside-down cake carrier so it's more like a bucket with a lid.

Happy cakin'!

For the Wilton patterns, you can go to the Wilton website and they have a page where you can search for patterns and print them. I have noticed they have the newest patterns (2009) as well as ones from a very long time ago. You should be able to find what you need.

I am fairly new at all of this and have never frozen a cake, do you level your cake before freezing or after thawing? Thanks!

.....level your cake before freezing or after thawing? Thanks!....

You can do it either way. I prefere to level before fzing. That way I don't have to take time to do it later. Also the cakes stack in the fzr better.
If you are going to fz a cake for less than a week I just put it into a food-safe plastic bag. If holding longer than those few days, wnat has already been explained is better.