Number Cake Tutorial

That's Life Magazine has posted an awesome tutorial on creating number cakes.  Click here to view it on their page. Want to bring something special to the traditional cake? Food Editor Darlene has a number of great ideas for you to try.

You'll need 2 x 453g tub Betty Crocker Creamy Deluxe Vanilla Frosting. Serves 10 Decorating time 30 min 1. Arrange the cakes on the board, trimming cakes and assembling to connect and make the number shape you desire. 2. Using your choice of decorations, spread with frosting and decorate as desired. Your choice of decorating ideas: Under the sea Add blue food coloring to frosting, swirling color through for varying intensity. Decorations like pre-made sea creatures decorations, sour strap, and fish and crocodile sweets. Butterfly garden Tint frosting in orange and decorate with pre-made butterfly decorations Farmyard friends Tint frosting in leaf green and use pre-made farm animal decorations Off and racing Tint frosting beige and use chocolate bars to make a racetrack, decorate with novelty cars and signs. What a zoo Use white frosting and decorate with animals and tinted coconut. Chocolate fantasy Spread with white frosting and top with pieces of chocolate or novelty shaped chocolates. YOUR NUMBER'S UP If you wish to make your own cake, her are the alternatives to making the shapes used for the numbers.   Store bought cake Swiss roll Double layer sponge cake Double layer slab cake Make your own (Cake mix required : Baking temperature and time) Swiss roll Bar tin 1 x 340g buttercake cake mix-divided into two bar tins : 180C (160C FF) for 25-30 min. Double layer sponge cake 2 shallow 18cm or 20cm cake pan 1 x 340g golden buttercake mix : 160C (140C FF) 40-45 min Double layer slab cake 25 x 35cm shallow oblong pan 2 x 340g golden buttercake mix : 160C (140C FF) 25-30 min One 1. You will need two purchase two Swiss roll style cakes for number one. 2. Place on cake onto the board. Cut a 6cm piece from the remaining cake to make the post longer. Cut a second slice and cut in half to make the base. Trim a wedge off cake for the top and position in place. Two 1. You will need to purchase a double layer sponge slab for number two and make a template for the number. 2. Place the template on the cake and trim around the edges, discarding the portions of cake that are not required. Three 1. You will need to purchase a double layer sponge cake for number three. 2. Take each layer of the cake and remove an 8cm circle from the middle. Remove about a 1/4 of one cake for the base of the three and about 1/3 of the remaining cake for the top. Position to make the number, trimming as required. Four 1. You will need to purchase a double layer sponge slab for number four. 2. Cut the slabs in half lengthways. Position the four pieces into the number four using the pic as a guide. Five 1. You will need to purchase a double layer sponge slab for number five and make a template for the number. 2. Place the template on the cake and trim around the edges, discarding the portions of cake that are not required. Six 1. You will need to purchase a double layer sponge cake for number six. 2. Take one layer of the cake and remove a 6m circle from the middle. Cut a piece about 6cm wide to make the top part of the number. Seven 1. You will need two purchase two Swiss roll style cakes for number seven. 2. Arrange the cakes on the board, trimming wedges from each roll and assembling to connect and make the seven shape. Eight 1. You will need to purchase a double layer sponge cake for number eight. 2. Cut a 6cm circle form each cake. Then trim about 2cm from the side of each cake. Push the cut edges together to make the number eight. Nine 1. You will need to purchase a double layer sponge cake for number nine. 2. Take one layer of the cake and remove a 6m circle from the middle. Cut a piece about 6cm wide to make the base of the number nine. Assemble as the pic indicates. Zero 1. You will need to purchase a double layer sponge cake for 0. 2. Take one layer of the cake and remove an 8cm circle from the middle. Place onto the board. Cut two 6cm squares from the remaining cake and place between the two semi-circles to make the elongated shape.

Sheriff Car Birthday Cake

 

What do you give to the officer who spends all of his time working for his birthday?  A sheriff car birthday cake...  I really enjoyed making this cake.  I used the Wilton's cake pan to make the car and sugar sheets for the wording.  It was a time consuming task but definitely worth it when he walked in and his face lit up like a 5-year old at Christmas. 

Princess and the Frog Cake

 

 

Princess and the Frog cake was made using the frozen buttercream transfer technique instead of the piping technique used in Wilton Course 1 Lesson 2.

 

I found a coloring page of Princess Tiana.  I traced the picture using a black sharpie so that the picture would show through on the other side of the paper.  I turned the picture over to the transverse side and taped it to the back of a cookie cutter sheet.  I then covered the picture with wax paper and piped the outline with black icing.  I filled in the colors with brown, red, and green icing.  I completely covered the back with white icing.  The picture was placed in the freezer for about 90 minutes.  After it was completely frozen, I placed the picture on top of the cake and outlined the design in white and placed  the green zigzag border taught in lesson 2 around the cake using Wilton Tip 18. 

Teddy Bear Cake

Lesson 1 teaches about choosing the right pan, preparing cake pans, mixing batter, filling the pans, testing for doneness, removing the cakes, making icing, preparing the bags with couplers, leveling the cakes, icing the cake, and decorating tips.

 

I made the icing according to the recipe in the book and decided to use it for practicing since I don't really care for the taste or texture.  I was pretty familiar with preparing my bag with the tip and coupler as I learned it from the class last year.  My practice with using the star tip went well.

 

My final product for this lesson: The Teddy Bear Cake



 

Materials Used:

 

Wilton's teddy bear pan

 

Star Tip 18

 

Candy eyes (found at Wal-Mart)

 

Decorating candy string for the mouth and to outline the feet (found at Wal-Mart)

 

Chocolate chip morsels for the nose, mouth, and nails

 

Homemade Cream Cheese icing

 

Wilton brown, blue, and red food coloring paste

 

Lessons Learned

 

Cream cheese icing gets soft really quickly and makes it difficult to pipe designs.  I had to keep refrigerating the icing to harden it up so the bear took quite a while to decorate.

 

Use dark cocoa powder in icing to help cut down on needing to use so much food coloring.

 

Make sure to release bag before lifting tip.  This helps with getting a better shape for the stars.