How to make Birthday (and other celebration) Cakes!

lostinrates

lisa26 wrote: »

I'd recommend going for either a madeira or genoese sponge as it'll be slightly firmer so will work better in tiers and will also slice better. Plus they keep better than a basic sponge.

I would plump for genoese. I find them pretty foolproof tbh, where as, my attemps to make maderia cake sometimes spilt:o (for some reason sunken and split cakes always taste better, but they ARE harder to decorate!

zippychick

ive merged this with our celebration cakes thread

ZIP

Miss_Cinnabon

Hi after some advice please as my son is making his brother's birthday cake for this saturday, its pretty complex what he is trying to do so wondered is it ok to make it 2 days in advance and how would i store that, or make the sponge on the friday and decorate on the saturday?

Not sure what would be best, this is his first time at a more challenging cake so he wants to get it just right

DuckEggGingham

princess_pixiedust wrote: »

Hi after some advice please as my son is making his brother's birthday cake for this saturday, its pretty complex what he is trying to do so wondered is it ok to make it 2 days in advance and how would i store that, or make the sponge on the friday and decorate on the saturday?

Not sure what would be best, this is his first time at a more challenging cake so he wants to get it just right

Do you mean making the sponge early? If you use a maderia sponge you can safely make it a few days before decorating it. I have often done that. Once it has cooled, I wrap it very tight in way to many layers of cling film and then store in a cake tin. I find doing it this way also makes carving any shapes out of the sponge or just simply splitting and filling much easier. The density is just easier to work with.

Hope that helps.

Prudent

I am wondering if anyone could help me with a special challenge please?

I am quite short of money just now as I am half pay through a disablility related illness. I am looking for help to find a really special cake recipe - with a criteria!

I have a reasonably good selection of baking ingredients in the cupboard as I enjoy being OS. last week I was lucky enough to win a large box of bars of very high quality cooking chocolate in milk, white and dark. They are really one of my luxury ingredients and I am keen to use them in the cake. Just prior to winning them I had also picked up some yellow and white icing flowers and some pretty glittery yellow strands when they were on offer in Morrisons.

The cake is for my daughter who left home last autumn and works 400 miles away. She usually works weekends, but has managed to get a weekend off for her birthday :j

I need to make a big cake as she will be sharing it with friends. I would love some suggestions please.

PipneyJane

I love Nigella Lawson's chocolate birthday cake from How to Eat. Couldn't find it on her website, but here's a blogger that gives their version of the recipe. It uses condensed milk. I've made it with evaporated semi-skimmed milk in the past and that works well.

Prudent

Thank you so much Pipneyjane. This is just the kind of thing I had in mind. It looks rich and indulgent

I am wondering if I could top it with white and milk chocolate curls (although I would have to find out how to make them ).

VfM4meplse

In your position I wouldn't restrict myself to cake!

Have you thought of making small chocolates, by melting down some of what you've got with dried fruit / nuts of your choice, turkish delight, honeycomb, caramel etc? You can buy trays of chocolate moulds from Poundland / the 99p shop. I know it means an initial outlay but it's something to add to your collection of baking equipment.

Prudent

That is a great idea. She is getting together with her friends and I have offered to provide cake, but just in case we are short any extra ideas for the chocolate would be good. I will have a look in Poundland for the trays. One of the posh local food outlets has some chocolate moulded into the shape of an inititial. It is decorated with a few smarties and is £5.99. I picked one up for dd and then saw the price. I wonder if poundland will have any shaped moulds....

Prudent

VfM4meplse wrote: »

In your position I wouldn't restrict myself to cake!

Have you thought of making small chocolates, by melting down some of what you've got with dried fruit / nuts of your choice, turkish delight, honeycomb, caramel etc? You can buy trays of chocolate moulds from Poundland / the 99p shop. I know it means an initial outlay but it's something to add to your collection of baking equipment.

Just had a quick look in the cupboard and I do have some bits and pieces I could add at no cost. Last week B&M has jelly diamonds and little orange and lemon jelly slices for 39p a tub so I got some of them. I have bits like pistachios, glace cherries, almonds and cranberries etc. Earlier I was looking at a design of a children's cake and wondering if I could something similar in a rich chocolate version:

http://www.juniormagazine.co.uk/recipes/flowering-garden-cake/12564.html

I liked the wee fairycakes on top, and is was soo pretty. I am trying to remind myself dd is 20 this year :rotfl: