6th Birthday Cake

I enjoy making cakes. Baking, in general, relaxes me. I was delighted when a friend let me bake the cake for her son's 6th birthday party. He didn't request anything other than chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I knew I had to do something a little special for him, so I decided to make a number 6.

I have 16 inch round pan, so I made the cake in that. I baked the cake, as I would any cake - using a mix (hey...I need to take help from somewhere) and using powdered pudding mix in lieu of eggs to accommodate my Little Man's egg allergy. A 16 inch cake pan requires 2 cake mixes.

Tip: even though the chocolate cake mix boxes say to grease the pan only...use flour too. If you don't use flour, you run the risk of the cake sticking to the pan. It's going to be covered with frosting anyway, so a little flour on the outside won't hurt.

I baked the cake at 300 degrees and began checking it every 10 minutes after 1 hour of baking. When the cake began to pull away from the edge and an inserted toothpick comes out clean, then I knew the cake was done. I let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then turned it out onto a cardboard pizza round, which I wrapped in foil. I let the cool completely.

We had pizza the night before I made the cake. The cardboard round the pizza came on was 16 inches, so the hubs drew a number 6 on it. I put wax paper over the top of it, traced it and cut it out. After the cake was completely cooled, I placed it in the freezer for 30 minutes. Placing it in the freezer will make it easier to cut.

I placed the cut out 6 on top of it and used it as a guide to cut the cake. I used a large serrated knife to cut the cake.



Once it was cut according to the 6 pattern, I took the time to do some trimming by free-hand to make it a little thinner in shape.
When frosting cut edges of a cake, it is very important to do a very thin layer of frosting and let it harden. That thin layer is called the crumb layer. The crumb layer seals the crumbs to the cake and makes the 2nd, thicker layer of frosting smooth.

With this cake, I piped the edges, sprinkle it with jimmies and finished it off with balloon candles. the cake was a hit.

1 People Raise Their Wine Glasses to Me:

Jessica said...

I love it! Great job. Can you come to Kentucky and help me make Hoss' birthday cupcakes Saturday? :)

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