Hello everyone, my name is Sophie and I am from Belgium. (Next to France).
My son Ethan will turn 2 this month and I really want to make his birthday cake myself, because I'm fed up, with the kind of cakes you can buy here in Belgium. It's either whipped cream cake or fruit cake... Pffffff.
I lived in the US few years ago, and I love the taste of your cakes.
I don't have any ideas, and I don't know where to start.
It will be my first try, so it would be better if it wasn't too difficult...
The shape doesn't really matter (I think I'll go for a giant #2 or a square cake with a car on it), but what buggs me is that I don't have any idea for a recipe.
Also I don't know what to do icing, filling, frosting.
I am actually not sure I really understand what's the difference, so I would really appreciate your help on this...
Thanks in advance,
See ya...
Sophie
Hi Sophie! I live over the border from you in The Netherlands, and I'll help you anyway I can! I have lots of really great recipes I'm happy to share with you 
! If you let me know what kind of flavours of cake you like, whether you want a spreadable icing, or one that you can roll out, and then I can give you ideas for fillings from there. The European members of this board are more likely to be aware of the things you can and can't buy here (I know it's much more limited than in the USA!).
SOFINETTE: WELCOME TO CAKE CENTRAL!! (Be prepared--the addiction is especially rough!) 
Frosting or icing is what you put all over the outside of the cake itself. In other words--that's what people will "see" when they look at your lovely cake!
Filling is what's placed between the layers. You can just use more frosting (if you want things simple) or, you can use any variety of fruit fillings, mousse, whipped toppings/creams, etc. Whatever tastes good and goes BETWEEN your layers is your "filling."
QUESTION FOR YOU: Do you have access to Crisco or another brand of all vegetable shortening there in Belgium? If so--I'd go with a recipe for buttercream. I use the "buttercream dream" recipe from this site's recipe section. IT ROCKS. It rocks because it's yummy, it crusts up well for smoothing with VIVA (a smooth brand of paper towels) and it's not too sweet. Uses both real butter and frosting.
And--there are hundreds of great recipes in the recipe section here. Just pick one and go for it! (you may want to do a "practice run" with your cakes beforehand--it makes it easier to get the final product down pat!)
Good luck to you, and again: WELCOME TO CAKE CENTRAL!!! 
--Knox--
Oooh, have to disagree with you there a bit Knox! A European palate will find any frosting with shortening in it repulsive (honestly!). In Belgium, during winter, go with an all butter buttercream (which is what I use all year round anyway!) - I have a great recipe if you'd like it Sophie. Viva isn't available in Europe, nor is any kind of smooth towel 
,and Crisco (if you can find it, v.v.hard), costs a fortune (over $5 for the smallest tub!). The only thing I use it for is working with fondant and I have to buy mine in an Expat shop.
and yes, sorry, welcome to Cake Central!
PS Do you speak Dutch? There is a good forum based in The Netherlands that maybe able to help you too - though you will never find better advice and help than on this site (I'm not biased - really lol!)
What flavor of cake would like? Are you planning to use a doctored cake mix or work from scratch? Do you have American measuring devices or do you need metric directions? What are your pan sizes? The problem with giving you recipes is that American and European measurement systems are so different.
Well, I thought about it, and I think I'll go for a race track cake.
So I'll make a square cake.
Now, I don't know if I'll do a yellow cake or a chocolate cake....
I'll go for a white frosting probably and will colour it for decoration.
But I was thinking that it might need a filling, so it won't be too dry...
Any ideas in case of yellow/chocolate cake....
About the mesures, my only problem is when it is written 1 cup of butter because we use kilograms... I do have a "cup", home that I bought in the states, but it is easy for liquid, not for hard ingredients...
Also about the frosting, I kind of hesitate between a white icing (confectioners' sugat, milk, etc) or a buttercream frosting...
The reason why I hesitate is because here in Belgium we use buttercream all the time and honestly, after eating a piece of the cake, you just felle like p.... it is very greasy...
Anyway, would really appreciate your advice on this...
Sof
Hi, Welcome to CC!
You said your decorating was limited or wanted it simple.....
check out this website for a cute and easy racecar cake:
[email protected]
It looked like a canned frosting on top but mostly used different M&M candies/crushed cookies. Have fun!
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2006/09/conversions_equivalents.php
This is a converstion chart that may help you use American recipes.
The following recipe is a favorite of many people who post here. It is from the Hershey web site. Hershey is a very popular brand of chocolate in America. You may find other recipes that fit your needs there. Also the recipe link here a CC has many excellent recipes.www.hersheys.com/recipes/
HERSHEY'S "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING(recipe follows)
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.
VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.
THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.
BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.
CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.
"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.
I hope this helps.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%