AMy cousin asked me to make a cousin for his niece. She wants a one and an eight. I figured I could bake sheet cakes, stack them, and carve out the numbers.
What's the best way to grease a sheet cake pan so it will come right out when I flip it? What can I do to make sure it bakes thoroughly without burning the edges? How can I easily and evenly stack to sheets? And last...when cutting out the numbers, how should I go about that. Should I cut them on a cutting board then try to move the pieces I want to assemble to my work station?
Thank you soo much
AFirst of all, before you go buy pans remember a full sheet pan won't fit in most standard ovens.
I use parchment to line my pans. You can also use some kind of pan release; shortening or Pam spray. A heating core will help disburse heat evenly throughout the cake, or flower nail (you might need two depending on the size of your pan. Some people use bake even strips as well, those also help avoid domes in your cake-you can make homemade strips with wet towels surrounding the pan.
You will need to level your cakes in order to stack them evenly-each layer must be level, so if it domes any remove the excess with a serrated knife or cake leveler (this might be easier to cut when cold/partially frozen).
For your numbers you should use a template, you can make them yourself by tracing the numbers onto paper or even an old cereal box. You could also make the font larger in a Word document and print onto card stock to use as a pattern for carving (again this will be easier with a cold/partially frozen cake-I wrap in Saran and stick in the freezer).
I'd also recommend using cake squares or foamcore that have been precut with your template for stacking each number on. Doing that allows you to work on each number separately, pull in and out of the fridge (between buttercream coats for example). When your finished you can place them both on your final presentation board (keep in mind this should be sturdy enough to hold the weight of the finished cake).
Hope that helps and makes sense.
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