I use Sylvia Weinstock's vanilla cake recipe rather than madeira or sponge as I find them a bit dry and flavourless and sometimes the madeiras are too dense for my liking.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Macdougalls supreme sponge flour 10oz (sift as you weigh)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
225g butter, room temperature
400g caster sugar
4 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla
300ml sour cream
4 large egg whites
Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and line two 8 x 3-inch baking pans or one 12 x 3-inch pan with parchment.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy and light in color, about 2 minutes on medium speed. Add the sugar and continue to mix until fluffy and light.

Add the egg yolks, one at a time, being sure each is well incorporated before adding the next one. Add the vanilla.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour. Be sure the mixture is completely blended after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl, and beat for 1 minute.

In a separate bowl, with clean beaters, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the batter with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and smooth with a rubber spatula. Bake in the preheated oven, 60 minutes for the 12-inch square pan or 45 to 50 minutes for the 8-inch pan. The top of the cake should be nicely browned. Test for doneness with a skewer or a toothpick; the tester should come out dry and clean.

Hi

I am new to the forum, I am looking to buy some cupcake equipment where is cheap to buy some things from ie non stick boards and cutters and where is best to get your cupcake cases from.

Thanks

Gemma x

[quote="LisaPeps"]I use Sylvia Weinstock's vanilla cake recipe rather than madeira or sponge as I find them a bit dry and flavourless and sometimes the madeiras are too dense for my liking.

LisaPeps, thanks very much, I will certainly try this recipe out as to be honest I also find victoria and madeira a bit too dry as well unless you use a sugar syrup and sometimes that can make it too sweet.

Hello! I am new to this site, directed here by my lovely sister (who I am not sure is a member, but she also bakes and browses here). I have been baking for a few years and have just started doing a lot more and have been asked to make quite a few cakes for friends/friends of friends. Getting the practice is brilliant!

I am just a hobbyist, but I have been making the cakes for the cost of the ingredients only, but I am concerned about the legal aspect of this. Is that an OK thing to do? I don't think I am good enough nor want to make cakes professionally at the moment, so I am reluctant to go through a council inspection etc for now.

Also, a couple of people have said I am not 'charging' enough. I am happy to just cover what it costs me, but if people insist, is it OK to instead ask them to donate any extra to a local charity I am involved with?

Thanks very much. About to go and browse the thread more now.

hi all,

i'm wondering about wedding cake stands...i can only find the napier 14" stand in silver and gold here...the US has sooo many other nicer options like this http://www.webstaurantstore.com/tabletop-classics-ac-88516-ornate-nickel-plated-round-cake-stand-16/810AC88516.html?utm_source=NexTag&utm_medium=cse&utm_campaign=NexTag+Campaign. have any of you found nice stands available in the uk?

the problem I'm having with the napier stands is that they are 14", and I'm making a wedding cake with a bottom tier of 12", and I'm thinking I'll put it on a board of at least 16", so this would go over the napier base. how can i work with these stands for bigger cakes - although I would have thought 12" bases aren't that big?

Lisa - thanks for sharing the vanilla recipe, my bride wants victoria sponge, how different do you think traditional victoria sponge is to this vanilla cake? i'd prefer the latter, but i'm worried it'll be too different to what the bride expects from a traditional sponge? thanks!

Hi everyone,

Just posting to say thanks for the advice - I survived the EHO visit and got a 5 rating - v pleased! Can start marketing properly now!

Afraid I don't know about cupcake cases or cake stands so I'm no help (look forward to seeing the answers tho!)

Midori - technically if you're taking money for the cakes then you should be listed with the council etc. Doubt they'd ever find out though, or be hard on you if they did. I'm sure loads of people are doing what you are. Your cakes must be good!

MrsF, I'm glad your inspection went well, do you mind if I ask what they did when they came? Do you have any pets at all? Thankyou also for your reply. Maybe it is better if I get inspected then, I will worry I am doing something wrong otherwise.

Hi, Theres a pack called "Safer Food, Better Business" that you can get sent for free by the council. It goes through everything that you need to do (things like monitoring the fridge temperature, avoiding cross contamination, proper cleaning, safe storage etc). You fill in the pack with details of how you manage each aspect in your business. The EHO officer went through my pack and quizzed me on a few sections, then inspected the kitchen and storage area, looked at stock (to check dates etc), checked the temp of the fridge, checked what cleaning products I use etc.

If you're really worried I'd ring your local environmental health department and see whether they think you'd need to be inspected. Mine were very helpful. Good luck!

Hello fellow bakers! I found this thread a week ago and try as I might to read all of it from start to finish I just couldn't do it (sorry!). Anyway I find myself in dire need of a good quality chocolate spong recipe that will work for a 9" round cake tin or an 8" square cake tin. I am making my sister-in-law an engagement cake and it was sprung on me that the date for the party is the 2nd March...eek ! Your help will be very much appreciated! Thank you in advance.

Colena

Hi Colena, I make a sponge cake called HD Sponge. I found it from the BSG forum. Its the british cake forum. I have tried few other chocolate cakes and this is the best cake ever! So if you like to have a look at the recipe, you have to register and its free.

Here is the link, if you are interested,

http://bsguk.org/forum/index.php

Hi Bashini,

All I can say is wow...what a fantastic resource. I love the fact that it has the different quantities for the different size and shape tins but also what you need to vary the flavourings! I love it, thank you very much! Hopefully now I can get my skates on and do a practice run before the second of March.

Another quick question I have though is when your stacking iced cakes do you have something like a board underneath the top cake or do you just plonk it on with bare sponge on bottom? Don't even know if I've made any sense there, sorry!

Thank you again!

You are welcome!

When you do stacked cakes, you need to use a cake drum (the thick cake baord) for the bottom tier. It has to be bigger than the cake. Then you need to use thin cake boards (3mm ones) for each tier and has to be the same size as the cake. If the top tiers are 9" and 6", the thin cake boards has to be 9" and 6". You put the cake on the boards and ice the cake with the board and to cover it. Then you need to dowel the bottom two tiers. You can use wooden or plastic dowels. When you put the top tiers, the weight of the cakes goes onto the dowels and not to the cake. Hope this make sence.

Here is a great video on stacking cakes. Sue McMahon is one of the BSG members. SHe has some more videos worth having a look.

Thank you again Bashini, you are truely a cake angel sent from above to help me! Ha ha. If you hadn't guessed already, this will be my first stacked cake so am quite nervous. Less so now that you have pointed me in the right direction.

Thank you!!!!!

My pleasure! I have been there, done that. So I know how you feel. But I'm sre you'll be fine!

Good Luck!

Give us a shout if you need any halp!

another question!

I've just received Mich Turner's masterclass book, and she advises two layers of icing for a smooth finish. now i can imagine yes with two layers of sugarpaste then yes you would get a smooth finish, but is this necessary? do all the pros do this? isnt that a lot of sugarpaste? do any of you use two layers of sugarpaste?

HI, no you don' have to do it. I use only one layer but it is a bit thick layer. Don't roll your sugarpaste too thin.

I think there are a few cake books which say about doing a layer of marzipan underneath fondant cakes or using two layers of fondant but, like bashini, I don't use either, just one layer around 4-5mm is usually fine. You just don't want it too thin as it'll be prone to tearing or showing your cake through it.

When getting the board for tiered cakes do you use single or double thickness boards for the tiers? Its been ages since I did a tiered cake (and I've only done two!) and now I've got to do a four tiered wedding cake and want to get it right! Its going to have flowers trailing down the side so would you normally assemble it beforehand or at the venue? Thank you!

Hi

Just a quick post from me while I'm at work (naughty, naughty! lol).

I have a wedding cake to do in July, the bride wants it all victoria sponge with buttercream & jam, which isn't a problem. She wants a 12 inch round, then a double height 7 inch square & then a 5 inch round. My question is, should I put a board in the middle on the double height cake? I can't wait to do this cake as it's for a friend & I also get to do a Christening Cake for them as their baby is being Christened on the wedding day (and they're my first Wedding & Christening cakes)

Thanks
Rach

Emma, I use the 3mm cake boards to go under the tiers. Not sure whether they are double or single thick boards. And I stack the cak at home and put the flowers on at the venue.

Rach, yes, I would put a thin cake board in the middle of the double height cake.

I have a wee question about mini cakes. I'm thinking about getting Alan Silverwood tins to make mini cakes for a wedding - but I see now they come in 3 sizes. What seems to be the most popular/easiest? 2", 2.5" or 3"? They'd be stacked in a tower with a 6" cake for the top tier.

Thanks!

Hey guys, me again! What size cake box would you suggest for a single tier 8 inch square cake on 10 inch board? I was thinking of a 12 inch but wasn't sure if this would be big enough or whether it would need more room?

Thank you!

Colena

Hi, I would use either 11" or 12", so there are more space to do the writing, if you are doing it on the board. Always take boards 3"- 4" bigger than the cake.

Bashini to the rescue again! Thank you so much. Now to get the other half to go pick it up!

Colena

Quick question for you experienced wedding cakers...my bride wants to use her own footed cake stand to display her 3 tier wedding cake. Its 12" across, but her bottom tier is 12 " so the cake itself will be on a board of 16". Will this work in terms of stability as long of course cake isn't moved after set yp? Should I advise against this? Can't seem to find a footed cake stand wider than 12" so should I tell her to use a regular stand to be on the safe side? Thanks!

Hi everyone, I have been looking at making a Cushion shape wedding cake and need some dummy layers. Do any of you know where I can get these please. I have tried lots of websites and the only one that seems to do them in in USA and postage is very expensive.
Many thanks

T

Can't you just carve it out of cake? Or does it specifically need to be dummies? There are lots of different tutorials about...

Hi tracie,

You can try Dummies Direct. They do all sorts of dummies. You might have to give them measurements though.

http://www.dummiesdirect.co.uk/special_shapes_dummies.html

P.S. Just had a look, yes, they do them.

Thanks Bashini. I have emailed the seller for some prices.