I'm wanting to make a 3d train cake for my grandson and I've noticed the locomotives all have a round cylinder on them. I don't want to use a shaped pan. Can I bake a cake in a veg. can for that part, or do I have to carve? Most of them look so perfectly round and my carving skills are pretty dismal. Thank you for any ideas!

YEs, you can! Just make sure that you only fill batter to half of the can or a little less, because it will rise tremendously when baking!

It's been a really long time since I've done this, but yes you can. Just be liberal with your shortening and flour when you grease the can and make sure you don't fill the can just barely more than half-way. Otherwise, the cake will rise over the top and spill onto the sides, making removal a challenge. I would bake at 325 degrees and watch carefully, as these are a bit tricky to bake thoroughly, without having overdone or burnt edges, while making sure that the middle isn't doughy

HTH
Kat

Short answer, yes. The mug here was baked in two large (28 ounce) soup cans:

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1923475

Two things: 1) make sure you line the can with parchment, so your cake doesn't stick to the metal, and 2) make sure you keep an eye on it since it will bake at a different rate both because of the smaller volume and because the metal of the can will not conduct heat the same way as your regular baking pans (the parchment helps here).

If you don't use the wax paper, you could just use a can opener on the bottom of the can after it cools, run a knife between the can and the cake, and (gently!) push it through. With this method, however, you run the risk of the cake breaking. Good luck, HTH, and let us know how it turn out.

This would be useful for a lot of different shaped things! Thanks for the responses and ideas. I will tuck those away for later use myself!!

I loved your mug, Cakeyouverymuch!!

thank you. It was 3 layers baked in three cans. The straw is a bubble straw which serves as a dowel to keep the three layers in line. If you're going to use something as small as a tomato can and want ot tort it you could use an ordinary soda straw. The handle is made of fondant and held on with toothpicks.

Thanks so much for your replies! I'm so relieved that I don't have to carve. And, "CakeYouVeryMuch", I also love your mug cake!