Fancy Cakes Are Simple to Make
Make an orange flavored cake with white frosting and purchase orange slice candy to arrange on the top. Gather several of the candy pieces in the center then place some of the pieces around the edges of the cake bottom. This arrangement looks nice with lemon cake and lemon candy too. Or, make a strawberry flavored cake with white frosting and arrange fresh strawberry slices on the top of the cake.
For a child’s birthday make a two-layer round cake with white frosting. Purchase animal crackers to place around the outer edges of the cake. Space the animals equally apart and use frosting in tubes to draw a cage around each animal. Choose colorful frosting to give the cake a circus look.
Cut a straw into four equal pieces. Use a second straw to cut one piece that is twice the length of the other pieces. Place the large straw in the center of the cake. Arrange the four smaller straws equally around the top edge of the cake. Use a coffee filter to make the big top. Dampen the filter and let food coloring drip onto it. Use one color or many. When dry, position it on the straws and use a tiny bit of frosting to hold it in place on each straw. Under the big top place a novelty clown, balloons or edible confetti.
Foil makes it much easier to make many different cakes. Shape foil into designs like a heart or a loaf pan. Use small foil shapes to make individual cakes for kids. Bowls that have unique shapes, like grooves, are the perfect start to your cake pan. Turn the bowl upside-down. Stack three pieces of foil together and lay them on the bowl. Shape the foil as the bowl is shaped making sure the foil is pushed into grooves and other designs of the bowl. Remove the foil and spray the inside of it with non-stick cooking spray. Set the foil pan on a cookie sheet before pouring in the cake mix. This will make it easier to transfer in and out of the oven.
Another trick that will help you make unique cakes is done with a small amount of cake mix and a baking dish. Pour enough cake mix into a rectangular baking dish to cover the bottom well. After cooled turned out onto waxed paper and use cookie cutters to make designs. Frost the tiny cake pieces and set aside. Frost a cake of any shape then use a spatula to help you pick up the small shapes and stick them to the sides or top of the cake. This gives a unique look to your cake particularly if you use different colors and sprinkles on the small designs than you did on the cake itself.
Cakes that have an ice cream center are delicious but expensive. You can easily make your own with a couple of cake mixes and some foil. You’ll need a large pan that is bowl-shaped and oven-proof. Metal pans with metal handles, used to make chili or stew, is the perfect choice. Mix one cake mix according to the directions on the box. Pour all of the mix into the well-greased pan. Mix a second box of cake mix and use half of it to fill a round cake pan.
Turn a plastic bowl upside-down and use a piece of foil to cover the bowl. Shape the foil as the bowl is shaped. The size should be a few inches smaller, in diameter, than the baking pan. After the shape is good add a few more layers of foil so that the bowl shape of foil will be sturdy. Spray the outside of the foil bowl shape with non-stick cooking spray. Push the foil down into the large pan. Make sure, as you’re pushing it downwards, that the cake mix doesn’t seep into the foil bowl shape. Place a couple of pieces of old silverware into the foil to keep it weighted.
Bake both cakes but remember the smaller cake will finish cooking before the large one. After they’ve finished cooking allow to cool. Gently remove the foil from the large pan. Turn the round cake out onto a cake dish or plate and spread a small amount of frosting on the top of it. Where the foil was there will be a large opening in the other cake. Fill with ice cream and smooth the bottom well. Turn the cake, with ice cream, onto the round cake. Frost as usual.
You can even make your own wedding cake with ease. You’ll need three different sizes of cake pans and some cardboard. Go to a store that sells wedding supplies to purchase columns for the cake layers. Some department stores carry them in their craft department, along with other wedding cake decor. Prepare two cake mixes and divide them between the three pans. After baking remove cakes and cool. For round cakes cut the cardboard into circles a mere inch larger than the pan itself. For rectangular cakes allow an inch more than the perimeter of the cake pan for the cardboard pieces.
Use paper doilies on the cardboard pieces and turn each cake out onto its respective pan. Spread frosting onto the largest cake and decorate how you will. Stores carry everything from edible frosting flowers to silver sprinkles for the cake. Position four pillars, one on each corner if it’s a rectangular cake, or spaced equally apart if it’s a round cake.
Frost the next layer, decorate it and position it on the first set of pillars. Placing a small bit of frosting on each pillar helps keep the cardboard from sliding. Place the pillars on the second layer that will hold the top layer. Frost the last cake and position it on the pillars of the middle cake. Decorate the top with man and wife, silver bells, or another novelty. There are lots of great cakes you can make on your own if you use a little foil, some edible decorations, and a little imagination.
