BIG birthday cake

[kitchenelf]

My post was just for the viewing. 8)

[southerncook]

sorry

[marmalady]

Tx, Goodweed! :)

So, Southerncook - have you decided what three items you're going to make?

I agree about not stacking a 3 layer sheet cake - 'cause you're still gonna end up with a 9x13 cake, which probably wouldn't be enough.

[southerncook]

up date on the cakes...made 2, 10" cheesecakes instead of 3...had to double the recipes, and make 2 small ones w/the leftover batter/crust but no complaints around here about that!
Made the pumpkin on the cover of a woman's magazine thats on the shelves now, came out well, I hear.
Made a standard NY cheese cake w/dulce de leche stirred in w/ an extra egg to bring the texture back up...again, verry good from what I hear. Trouble was, there was none left for me when I got back to the dessert table, people had seconds (claimed the first slices were to small).
I really wanted to try the pumpkin...looks wonderful and has 3 choc. layers..milk, semi and bittersweet ganache on top. Oh, well.
(the 2 small cakes went to neighbors who were waiting in the wings, and the babysitter). I figured i'd eat some at the party and didn't want a whole cake in the house (i'd eat it too!)

[choclatechef]

That white texas cake sounds lovely.

[southerncook]

btw, I bought some fastlite candles for the cake and it was awsome..you light one and they all lite along a paper string. I thought I'd have debris on top of the cake, but there was nothing but 50 lit candles. I did have her blow it out quick, I was afraid the cake would melt, but everything was perfect. Plus I lost 3lbs in stress/anxiety bouncing off the walls!

[mudbug]

all that hard work and you didn't even get to eat any of it? aaawww, MAN!

[aruzinsky]

Originally Posted by southerncook

I am a 'good' baker, but have small ovens. I need to feed 50 at a birthday party, do you think I should bake 2 sheet cakes and put them together, or (as my son suggests) make like a wedding cake, layerd thing? also, need good recipes...scratch, hard is ok. especially the icing. problem here is humidity. I made petit fours for a shower and had to adjust untill I gave up and stuck them in the fridge, and on a cold plate to serve. I really need a hard icing, and not a rolled fondant please, they look pretty, but no-one eats the icing!!! help

I don't understand. Please, explain the relationship between humidity and icing. What is wrong with stabilized whipped cream as frosting? Everybody loves that.

[southerncook]

I don't know that there's anything wrong w/whipped cream as icing, but writing on it is another matter.
Humidity adds moisture to the icing, the sugar absorbs it from the air and it's looser than if I were doing the cake is say, Arizona. I don't cook pralines and sugar BASED candies (divinity, fudge) when the humidity is high- here that means the temp. is usually on the high side as well. I was looking for an alternative, I think a meringue mix might work for petite fours, but I'd still be wary and try to make them on a cool dry day.
btw, that's the trouble w/breadmaking here too...flour measurements can change by 1/2 cup depending on the weather. you just have to know what it's suppossed to feel like.

[aruzinsky]

Originally Posted by southerncook

I don't know that there's anything wrong w/whipped cream as icing, but writing on it is another matter.
Humidity adds moisture to the icing, the sugar absorbs it from the air and it's looser than if I were doing the cake is say, Arizona. I don't cook pralines and sugar BASED candies (divinity, fudge) when the humidity is high- here that means the temp. is usually on the high side as well. I was looking for an alternative, I think a meringue mix might work for petite fours, but I'd still be wary and try to make them on a cool dry day.
btw, that's the trouble w/breadmaking here too...flour measurements can change by 1/2 cup depending on the weather. you just have to know what it's suppossed to feel like.

The technical term for absorbing moisture from the air is "hygroscopic." If it also becomes wet, it is called "deliquescent." Pure sugar, sucrose, is not hygroscopic. Fructose and various impure forms of sugar such as brown sugar are hygroscopic. I am unaware of any ingredient in whipped cream that is hygroscopic.

As for hard frosting, the best that comes to my mind is almond paste or apricot kernel paste, which casual eaters will believe is marzipan. You can buy a 5 lb. can at a wholesale bakery supply quite cheaply (at least I did). Of course, you should check the ingredient label for fructoce or corn syrup which is hygroscopic.