3 ?'s - Cake Batter / Frozen Cakes & A Wwyd
Decorating By Hollandy Updated 18 Jul 2010 , 6:40pm by Hollandy
Hi Ladies! My daughter's second birthday is in less than two weeks and I am getting so anxious and nervous about making her cake so you may see a lot of posts from me in the coming week or so. So here are my questions:
1) How far ahead can I mix up cake batter before baking it? I am baking in my small oven and need to do 4 cakes (2 - 9 inch square and 2 - six inch round) and can only fit one cake in the oven at a time. Can I do it a day ahead without any worries?
2) I made two of her cakes yesterday and put it in the freezer (quadruple wrapped in plastic and two layers of foil. LOL) If her part is on a Sunday when should I take them out of the freezer to stack/fill/cover in fondant/decorate?
3) one of the square cakes I made yesterday stuck to the pan when I tried taking it out (because I was impatient and didn't let it cool long enough) I let it cool and carved it so it is now a flat, even cake but it is slightly shorter than the second cake that came out of the pan perfectly. I am thinking maybe I should just re-bake another square cake and use the other oen as a spare or for some other occasion but the thought of maxing up another double batch of batter for a redo cake makes y head hurt since I still have two other cakes to bake. Since the cakes will be stacked on top of one another and filled with yummy cinnamon buttercream, is it really necessary that they're the same height? WWYD in this situation? I think I'm just trying to be a perfectionist. It's for my daughter's birthday, not like I"m baking it for a wedding or for the queen ya know?
thanks for your help!
1) How far ahead can I mix up cake batter before baking it? I am baking in my small oven and need to do 4 cakes (2 - 9 inch square and 2 - six inch round) and can only fit one cake in the oven at a time. Can I do it a day ahead without any worries?
If it's a box mix (or a modified box variation) it will be fine on the counter for a couple hours. I know not everyone agrees with this, but i have never had issues leaving it sit on the counter this long.
2) I made two of her cakes yesterday and put it in the freezer (quadruple wrapped in plastic and two layers of foil. LOL) If her part is on a Sunday when should I take them out of the freezer to stack/fill/cover in fondant/decorate?
THe cakes will only take about 30-40 minutes to come to a good temperature to work with them. They may still be a little chilled but thats ok. As for how far before your party that depends on your schedule, you could start Friday with the filling crumb coat and base coat, then on Saturday fondant and decorations. then enjoy the party on sunday.
3) one of the square cakes I made yesterday stuck to the pan when I tried taking it out (because I was impatient and didn't let it cool long enough) I let it cool and carved it so it is now a flat, even cake but it is slightly shorter than the second cake that came out of the pan perfectly. I am thinking maybe I should just re-bake another square cake and use the other oen as a spare or for some other occasion but the thought of maxing up another double batch of batter for a redo cake makes y head hurt since I still have two other cakes to bake. Since the cakes will be stacked on top of one another and filled with yummy cinnamon buttercream, is it really necessary that they're the same height? WWYD in this situation? I think I'm just trying to be a perfectionist. It's for my daughter's birthday, not like I"m baking it for a wedding or for the queen ya know?
If the layers aren't exactly the same height it's just fine, no one is going to know except for you... and now us 
In the future though I HIGHLY suggest lining the bottom of your pans with Parchment paper or Wax paper. Then you don't have to have any concerns with your cake sticking on the bottom because the paper will come out with the cake.
Can't add much to leily's excellent comments except that I dont' let my cakes sit in the pan at ALL ..... they are leveled (while in the pan) and flipped out onto the cooling rack inside of 2 minutes. I cant' remember the last time I ever had a problem with cake sticking to the pan.
Thanks ladies! I planned on using baking paper to line it but apparenlty my husband used the entire roll on something, I have no idea what, and I couldn't go to the store to get more. I have it on my "list" for the future though! The cakes are not from a mix, but from scratch but I will take them out about an hour in advance, from yoru advice and go from there. I think I'll start on friday with the actual cakes and do the fondant cutouts on Thursday before.
Thanks again!
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