BIG birthday cake

[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

 

[kansasgirl]

I think that you could go either way with putting two together, or stacking them. I am thinking though that you could really dress up a cake with fresh fruit and flowers instead of an icing since I have found that most people pick off the icing and eat the cake. I love this cake and have always gotten kudos for it. It has a glaze instead of a thick frosting which might work well with fresh fruit, flowers, etc. You could always frost it though it you wanted to.

White Texas Sheet Cake
1/2 c shortening
2 c granulated sugar
2 egg whites
1 ts salt
1 ts baking soda
2 c flour
1 3/4 c buttermilk
1 ts vanilla extract
1 ts almond extract
1 butter, melted
1/3 c buttermilk
1 ts almond extract
1 pound confectioners’ sugar
1/2 c coconut, toasted
1/2 c almond slices, toasted

Preheat oven to 350F.
1.Mix shortening, sugar and egg whites together until fluffy. Add baking soda, salt and flour. Mix to combine.
2.Mix together 1 3/4 cups buttermilk, vanilla extract and almond extract. Add to the first mixture.
3.Bake in greased, and paper lined jellyroll pan for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before removing from pan. Glaze cake while slightly warm.
4.Mix butter, 1/3 cup buttermilk, extract, and confectioners' sugar together. Glaze cake while warm. Sprinkle with coconut and almonds before serving.

 

[southerncook]

thought...
the girl loves cheesecake..i have 3 sizes of springform pans, what if I make 3 cheesecakes and stack them? could put dowls under the alum.pan bottoms, make cutting easy and not destroy the cakes. experts? advise, please.

 

[southerncook]

or do you think I'd do better w/a recipe like Kansasgirls, and just dress it up? I'd go either way, but if I do a traditional cake, I need a good HARD icing to go on it...helps to keep the wax off!!!

 

[marmalady]

To keep on your cheesecake thought - why stack them? Just make three different kinds of cheesecakes, and arrange them on pretty platters, or look for a 'cake tier' if you can find one (sometimes wedding supply places have them).

 

[PA Baker]

I agree with marmalady. If you don't stack, you can have three different flavors of cheesecake easily available to please all of your guests. You can decorate them similarly so that they are connected, at least in theme (hope that makes sense!). Here's a link for tiered cake stands: http://www.vanhorn-hayward.com/ Let us know what you decide on!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Another possibility, stack three sheet cakes. I posted a cream-cheese frosting that would do well as the icing between layers. It has a good cheese flavor and is very soft, yet firm enough to hold the layers together. There is also a chocolate shell recipe that would work for the "hard icing" you request. You could make it by substituting white chocolate for the semi-sweet morsels. Just measure by the white-chocolate by weight.

Another easy way to serve your guests would be to make jelly-rolled cakes. Each could be of a different flavor, with different flavored icings. Arrange them side by side, like logs.

The tiered cheesecake idea is great. Marmalady always has very good ideas.

One more idea from me. Many weddings and parties are now substituting pies for cakes. The advantages are that you can have several flavors. Also, the pies are their own decoration. They are also less expensive than cakes. Display them on several cake stands in a beautiful display.

Hope these ideas help.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Psiguyy]

Depending on the crowd, I would be careful about stacking cakes. Kids love a piece of cake with nice sweet frosting on it. When you stack, you end up with a lot of pieces that don't look good on the plate.

 

[kitchenelf]

I have had a link to this woman's site for years. I just like to look - I am in total awe!!!!!!

Elegant Cheese Cakes

And here's a picture of one

 

[southerncook]

psiguy...all adults, 1 child of the birthday girl
kitchenelf....can't do that!...see it's all in the icing! I'd need to go to school, maybe.
PA baker, I'm thinking about doing 3 differnt things. A reg. cake and a cheese cake and a tart, because I ordered a tiered cake server thanks to the suggestions! I may just put the candles on the regular cake...guys, I have until the 16th, and I work well under pressure, keep the ideas going. thanks soooo much.

 

[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]

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]

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.