Hello

I have been a lurker for quite some time now and I just love this site! I have been baking cakes off and on as a hobby for a couple years now. I have been asked to make a large cake for my grandfather's 90th birthday next Saturday and and I am excited but a bit nervous to take on this task. I need the cake to feed about 40 people.
I am thinking about making two 9 X 13 pans and laying them side by side. I have three white box mixes that I am going to improve with butter, light cream and extra vanilla. I am wondering how long I should bake each pan and at what temperature? I will be using a box and a half of mix per pan and I also plan to use a homemade version of bake even strips. Would I need to use a flower nail as a heat core or will it bake fine without it? Of course I will bake one pan at a time.

I will also be using gum tex in my homemade marshmallow fondant for the first time to make little figures on the cake. How much gum tex should I knead into my fondant? Can I just use water as a "glue" to piece my figures together?

I really appreciate any help I can get so my first large cake is a success

Hi

I think that you should follow the baking times on the box of your mix. I usually bake my cakes at 325 degrees. It really depends on your oven, You would have to determine that bc ovens are different. Yr oven might bake slower or faster than mines, so its hard to tell. What temp do you normally bake yr cakes on?

You could use a heating core like a flower nail, again it depends on your type of oven. I usually dont use a heating core for my 9x13 cakes but that works for me.

Sorry, I dont make MMF but if i use gumtex in my fondant for fondant figures, I use a little at a time until I get the consistency that I can work with, you have to play it by ear.

HTH

I just did this yesterday: I had my MMF, mixed in gum tex, sprinkling it on like salt, then kneading it in, and I cut strips that would be cat tail leaves. I draped them over pill bottles to make a curve. This morning, when I handled them to put them on the cake, they would just crack in two! What did I do wrong? They were very fragile, even though they still had a little pliability in them!!

Hi dawnybird

Im not sure you did anything wrong, doesnt sound like it to me. See, i dont use MMF so, im not sure of its ability to work with other additives. BUT, usually when I use gumtex in fondant it works as gumpaste for me and it dries hard and I have to handle it very very carefully. Maybe, yr pieces needed to dry for a bit longer? OR maybe the pieces were rolled to thin? im not sure.

Sorry, I cant be of more help to you guys on the MMF point of view.

Thanks for the input, msthang! They're definitely worth considering.

Thank you for the suggestions I will bake the cake according to the box then I will keep checking it every five minutes after. I usually have no reservations over baking a box mix but this is the first time I am using more than one box of mix per pan and I have never used the bake even strips either. I guess there is a first time for everything! I am thinking I will need to bake @325 for about 40-50 minutes but I am just guessing at this point.

It is so funny that you mention this since I am making a fishing cake and I plan to make cat tail leaves as well haha. I am also making a man in a boat and a "no fishing" sign. I hope I have better luck with the MMF.

sweetnlow30,
That really is funny, because my cat tails were for a turkey hunting cake, but this weekend I'm doing a fishing cake, too! I'm just going to have a big bass head "jumping" out of the cake surface with a lure in his gaping mouth. (At least that's the image in my head - haha!)

That would be a great fishing cake I am keeping thing a little more simple since this is my first time modeling with fondant. So far I have my fishing sign and cat tails done and they look pretty good. I managed to get the sign to look like wood by swirling some darker brown through it. I am crossing my fingers that things don't fall apart after they dry! I ran a wooden skewer stick through the center of the sign for some stability. If it all works out, I will post a picture of the cake when it is done. Slow and steady works for me since I am not able to be on my feet for more than an hour at a time. I think I could have used an extra week for all these details LOL.

I don't know - a man in a boat doesn't sound so simple. I'm just learning to make figures and such. I'm not very artistic, so it doesn't come easy. Can't wait to see your finished cake! Good luck!

Yes, I am realizing that the man in the boat is a little ambitious LOL. I have been working on him today and its pretty tough but it's coming along. I got the boat done this morning and it is holding together nicely..so far. The day started out bad though because I was in the middle of whipping a big bowl of thick butter cream frosting and my hand mixer decided to die! I had to send my husband out in a hurry to get me a new mixer so I could finish it. I am so lucky he was home today. I ended up getting a faster Hamilton Beach mixer and boy did that frosting fly, even on a low setting. It is a powerful little machine haha. My next investment is a nice Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I have my heart set on a heavier duty one so I can make my bread dough as well. I hope to have one by the spring

Boy, isn't it great to have a sweet, helpful husband? I have one of those too! Let me know how your little fondant fisherman turns out. I just love making figures, even though I'm fairly lousy at it! Hoping practice will make me better!