Bake A Cake

Decorating By syderella Updated 10 Jul 2009 , 3:08am by dovelady

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syderella Posted 10 Jul 2009 , 12:35am
post #1 of 10

I work in the bakery at my work, and I love watching the deocrators and they show me how to do some things. so i have been doing some simple cakes for family birthdays and events, but i get nervous about baking the cake. i always just buy a premaid plain cake from work, but that gets expensive.

can you decorate cake mix cakes? or are there any tricks to getting the cake firm enough to decorate?

any tips would be great!
thanks. icon_smile.gif

9 replies
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Misdawn Posted 10 Jul 2009 , 12:42am
post #2 of 10

Of course you can! I always add a pudding mix and an additional egg to my cake mix cakes.

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Rylan Posted 10 Jul 2009 , 12:43am
post #3 of 10

Of course you can. Try using the WASC recipe as the base--it holds better.

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cylstrial Posted 10 Jul 2009 , 12:43am
post #4 of 10

You can decorate a cake mix cake just fine. If you want a firm cake, pound cakes are very firm. There are lots of other dense cakes out there that will do the trick as well. The book, "The Cake Doctor" has some great recipes to dress up cake mixes. And then there are tons of scratch recipes that are on here that are fabulous too. Don't be afraid! If you can decorate the cakes, I'm sure that you can bake them! To me, baking is the easy part!

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stsapph Posted 10 Jul 2009 , 12:45am
post #5 of 10

There are some great doctored cake mix recipes in the recipe section. On of the favorites is the WASC or white almond sour cream cake. You can vary the flavor by which cake mix and extracts you use. HTH!!

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hellohappycakes Posted 10 Jul 2009 , 2:20am
post #6 of 10

Sure!! I bake the layers and then wrap individually in saran wrap and chill. This way they are easier to cut and level. If the cake sides and crumbly, I try to brush the crumbs off before wrapping!! U can do it!!! icon_biggrin.gif

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varika Posted 10 Jul 2009 , 2:33am
post #7 of 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by syderella

I work in the bakery at my work, and I love watching the deocrators and they show me how to do some things. so i have been doing some simple cakes for family birthdays and events, but i get nervous about baking the cake. i always just buy a premaid plain cake from work, but that gets expensive.

can you decorate cake mix cakes? or are there any tricks to getting the cake firm enough to decorate?

any tips would be great!
thanks. icon_smile.gif




I've decorated plenty of plain ol' box mix cakes. I've even decorated ones I've baked in a foil roaster pan and not bothered to turn out of it. ...I should get some of the pictures up, really.

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marineris Posted 10 Jul 2009 , 2:43am
post #8 of 10

This is totally my problem as well!!

I'm ok decorating, but the baking, crumb coating, and covering (fondant or BC) is so stressful!!

1. Some of my cakes come out with a lot of air bubbles - would tapping on the counter then letting them rest before baking help?

2. I have to do a little more cutting than I think is right to make them vertically even - bad pans?

3. I try to "chill" them before leveling, cutting, and torting, but I don't think my fridge is cold enough - I keep putting them back in after most steps. Would it be ok to use the freezer as long as I don't let it freeze?
(I'v heard of people freezing them but most of the time I don't have time to let it defrost. Also heard that it makes it taste bad if you're not very careful in sealing it)

4. Trying to do everything but decorate in one day - feasible?

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varika Posted 10 Jul 2009 , 2:59am
post #9 of 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by marineris

This is totally my problem as well!!

I'm ok decorating, but the baking, crumb coating, and covering (fondant or BC) is so stressful!!

1. Some of my cakes come out with a lot of air bubbles - would tapping on the counter then letting them rest before baking help?




Tapping on the counter helps me with that. You might also try reducing the speed on your mixer so you don't mix in quite so much air. I don't bother to let them "rest" for more than the time it takes me to get the bake-even strips on, though. Once bubbles stop popping to the surface, I give them a little shake along the counter--so the pan doesn't move up and down--to settle the surface, then pop them on in.

Quote:
Originally Posted by marineris

2. I have to do a little more cutting than I think is right to make them vertically even - bad pans?




It does sound like your pans do not have perfectly verticle sides, yes. We have a set of pans like that--they're good pans, but not so hot from that aspect. I bought new ones, but my mother uses the old.

Quote:
Originally Posted by marineris

3. I try to "chill" them before leveling, cutting, and torting, but I don't think my fridge is cold enough - I keep putting them back in after most steps. Would it be ok to use the freezer as long as I don't let it freeze?
(I'v heard of people freezing them but most of the time I don't have time to let it defrost. Also heard that it makes it taste bad if you're not very careful in sealing it)




It only takes about half an hour to defrost. If I don't have time for that, I don't bother to chill the cake--I just level and tort. Maybe try a lighter touch with your tools. My Wilton I instructor also told us not to cut all the way through the cake--stop when you're about 3/4 of the way through and turn circles half a turn or a long cake 180 degrees and come at it from the other direction, so you're always cutting into the cake and never busting chunks out.

Quote:
Originally Posted by marineris

4. Trying to do everything but decorate in one day - feasible?




Absolutely. I do it all the time. Bake in the morning, wander off to have tea and scones or go shopping while the cakes cool, frost in the evening. The cake I did for Father's day and several others have been bake-frost-decorate all in one day. Granted, they've been single-tier, simple decorations, but it can be done if you set your mind to it.

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dovelady Posted 10 Jul 2009 , 3:08am
post #10 of 10

All my cakes are box cakes. I almost always make the cake several days ahead of time and freeze them. Wrap it in alum foil 3 times. I usually make the butter cream icing a couple days ahead of time and stick it in the refrig. I also do the tapping on the counter top to get the air bubbles out but I sift the cake mix before mixing it. I dont use the cake baking directions... I lower the temp and bake it a little longer. Normally on about 320 for 45-50 min. People never know it is a box cake. I have to check out the cake Dr thing though!
You can do it!!!

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