Hello..I am new here. Never posted anyhow..but have been getting great ideas from you all for a bit. You are all so talented and have really inspired me. Thank you!
Okay..to the question:
I am doing my first sheetcake for my first 'real' customer..though not paying costumer as I am doing this for my sons preschool. I need ideas about how to do the logo. It's a childs drawing of a house..very simple but cute. I was wondering if I should use rolled fondant (though I've only used once and it was fowl tasting storebought) or should I use that mist that Wilton makes? Of course..any other ideas would be great also.
The other question I had was how large should this be and where do I find a pan to bake this in? I'm guessing it should be about 100 people there.
Thanks in advance for all your help!
I've never done a sheet cake, so I can't help. I'll bump you up though. Have you looked at the tutorial on how to do a frozen buttercream transfer? Haven't done on of those either, but doesn't seem too complicated. That might be an option. Good luck!! 
A 16x22x2 full sheet cake can serve about 96 people if you do 2"x2" slices while an 18x24x2 should get you 108 servings. (Those are the numbers I found when I went searching, so it could go a few in either direction). I always tend to buy the pans at Michael's Crafts where I buy all my other Wilton supplies, but I'm a Wilton junkie so I'm sure there are better options out there.
As for the design, if you do fondant, I'm a way bigger fan of marshmallow fondant than the nasty storebought stuff (MMF recipe is on this site). Other options though are to do it in buttercream and just trace the logo onto a sheet of wax paper and outline the design onto the cake using pinholes or toothpicks and then connect the dots.
If you want to go more high tech with it there's always frozen buttercream transfer or edible ink printers (way expensive and not worth it for only one job).
I'm not the most experienced person here so I'm sure you'll get some advice that may help out more once it's not so early in the morning lol. In the meantime if you have a copy of the logo online and would like to email it to me I could look at it and tell you what I would do.. [email protected]
Good luck!
Try MMF (marshmallow fondant) instead of Wiltons. It tastes really good. Kind of like a marshmallow peep?? I love it and so does everyone I know. I will never go back to the nasty Wilton tasting fondant. Also look up on Wilton's site and you can find how to piece out a cake for 100 people. It will all depend on how big you cut the pieces- party or wedding style. HTH (hope this helps). WELCOME!!! 
Welcome, Malaika! I'm pretty new,too.
1 full-sheet cake would give you about 108 servings, but you would have to make that as 2 1/2-sheet cakes because a full-sheet might not fit in your oven. A 1/2-sheet is 12X18 inches. Michaels or another craft store should carry that if you don't have a cake supply store in your area.
I even used to have a place that rented pans!
As for the picture...I am still trying to master the FBCT.
Instead, I put a piece of wax paper over a Reverse copy of my image, outline it with icing, flip it over on the cake, press lightly to get the outline on the cake. I fill in with piping, smoothing with a fingertip dipped in cornstarch if needed.
Good luck! Hopefully you'll get some new customers!
I had never heard of the FBCT before but from the tutorial, is sounds like it would be perfect for this cake. I may try that. The MMF I will be using for my youngest sons birthday cake though next week..so happy to find something that doesn't taste as awful as the Wilton stuff..blech!!
Thanks also for the tips on the size of the cake. It made another question for me though. How many batches of cake batter do you use to fill a 12*18??
You guys are so fast on the replies!! Thanks for all the help with this.
Question that isn't related to cakes..where does this website originate from? The time stamped on my post was 10 PM ish and it was only 7 AM when I first posted. So I'm thinking maybe Asia somewhere..can that really be right?
I'm not sure of the 12x18, but I just read the instructions for my 11x15 and it said to use 11 cups of batter (and that one cake mix yields 4-6 cups batter).
So I would scale it up from there and say that you'd need at least 3 batches of batter (assuming the batter you're using makes about the same volume as a prepackaged mix)
Either way, directions are usually to fill the pan 1/2 to 3/4 full, so you could judge by that once you have everything mixed up.
A 12x18 uses 14 cups of batter, so I figure 3 box cake mixes.
Also, a pan that size you might want to use a flower nail upside down in the center of the cake to help it bake evenly.
That's what I use when I do the 12x18, 3 boxes of cake mix, it's just the right amount, but like lukasross said, it's best to use the flower nail, or the heating core if you have it in the middle of this size so it'll bake evenly 
Malaika,
Welcome to Cake Central. I agree on the 3 cake mixes. You may want to measure it into the pan. I sometimes have a little left over and use it to make cupcakes. Also, if you have a lower nail, be sure to use it in the 12 X 18 pan to help the middle cook faster. When you get the 2 cakes done, you can place them side by side and put icing between them and it will look like one cake. You can even bake it half yellow and half chocolate or any combination of flavors.
I think this website originates in Washington State, if I'm not mistaken.
Good luck and be sure to post pictures!!
Cindy
You guys are such a help..truly!! Thank you so much!!
So..I will use 2 12*18 cake pans with about 6 boxes worth of cake mix (I'm still unsure if I will go from scratch with this cake or use The Cake Doctor recipes). I'm also to use a flower nail in the middle of each pan for even cooking. This should give me enough to feed just over 100 mouths.
I'm also going to try the FBCT for the logo as well as the names of the children written out.
Do I have that all right?
I'll let you know how it turns out. The event is Wednesday night so I'll post my first pic perhaps Wednesday morning 
Thank you again for the great tips and ideas!!
Try going to http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/ to see how your time zone relates to GMT
Yes, I use 3 cake mixes and cut the tops off if it is a little too high. Best of luck!
Malaika,
I am in Florida and my time is set to GMT-5. I don't know where you are, but this seems to be Standard Eastern Time.
Theresa 
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