How to bake a themed cake for your next party
It’s time to plan your next birthday party and you’re trying
to find out how you can save money. One of the first ideas that probably comes
to mind is making your own cake, which seems like a great plan. If you want to
make your cake match your theme, however, it can be much more than you
bargained for. Here are some tips for making your themed cake a success and a
recipe you can follow:
- Choose your theme wisely
Of course, your theme needs to be appropriate for the party,
but you also need to keep your cake in mind when making the decision. Your cake
theme needs to fit your baking and cake making skills — or lack thereof — or
you’re going to end up dissatisfied with the result. If you don’t have a lot of
experience you might want to pick a simpler theme. Making a mushroom cake for
your Mario party is going to be much easier than trying to pull off a sculpture
of Mario himself. Pick an appropriate theme, and then pick a cake that is
within your skill set.
- Get the tools
Regular cake making doesn’t require any specific tools, but
you might need a few specialized items if you’re going to go all out on your
cake. If you’re going to be creating custom frosting designs, then you’ll need
to get some frosting bags and various tips to use to get the effects you want.
Likewise, you might have to get a custom cake pan if you aren’t comfortable
carving out your own shapes. Think about how you’re going to put together your
cake beforehand and make sure you have all the tools you need in advance.
- Follow the recipe
It doesn’t matter how great your cake looks if it doesn’t
taste good. The following recipes for cake and frosting are versatile enough for
most situations, but you might need to seek out special recipes online if you
need to work with a certain kind of cake or dietary restriction.
Yellow cake
You’ll need:
- Two 8-inch round pans
- 8 egg yolks
- 1 cup butter
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 2 cups cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Heat the oven to 350 degrees then grease and flour the pans.
Sift the dry ingredients (flour, sugar and baking powder) together and set it
to the side for later. Mix the butter
and sugar together in a bowl until you get to a creamy consistency. Then, add
the yolks one at a time while beating the mixture together. Add the vanilla,
then mix in half the dry ingredient mixture, then half the milk, then the other
half of the dry ingredients and the last of the milk.
Divide the mixture between the two pans and bake for 25 to
30 minutes. When you remove the pans from the oven, let the cake sit for 15
minutes or so before you remove them to cool on racks. You can increase this
recipe to your needs depending on the size of your cake.
Buttercream frosting
You’ll need:
- 1 cup shortening
- 1 cup butter
- 3 pounds powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup milk
- Food coloring of your choice
Mix the butter and shortening together with a mixer in a
bowl until you get a creamy consistency.
Add in the sugar, vanilla and milk then mix until creamy. Split up the
frosting and color it to your needs and get to decorating!
If you choose the right theme, get the tools and use these
recipes your themed party cake will be a breeze. Have fun and enjoy the tasty
cake!
Author’s bio: Melissa is a party planning expert and amateur
pastry chef who writes about throwing awesome parties and finding the best Super
Mario Bros party supplies for your next themed party.
Thanks to Melissa for this great, informative post!
Posts
