Hello all, I made a number 4 cake for my nephew's birthday. It went well considering i only had to make straight cuts. Now my niece is turning two and would like a number two cake. I've seen some really great number two cakes and I was wondering how they were carved, do you start with a circle and a square or do you just carve from a sheet cake. I've seen the number pans but those are to small. I have another month to prepare so any advice is greatly appreciated!!!

I would make a pattern using a piece of paper the size of the pan I intended to use. I would draw the number 2 using as much of the sheet as possible. I have noticed that the cakes tend to contract a bit once they are cooled, so take that into consideration. When you have you #2 drawn, cut it out and make sure it fits down inside the pan. Have fun!

Make your template out of wax paper or a sturdy sheet cake board. Cut out your template number. Bake the cake according to the size your template will work on. Use a nice sharp , slightly serrated edge knife, and take your time, when cutting it out., and you will have a beautiufl number #2 for the birthday girl. This was you can make it any type of font you wish. Also you can make it whatever size you want. Good luck. Hope this helps

amazing the things you can find in the templates gallery --

such as this great guide to making number cakes

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1111573.html

usually when i do numbers, i hire a tin lol! but if that isnt an option, then i would usually bake several squares, and then print of a big number, cut it out, stick to the carve round it, i suck at free hand drawings! lol