hello everyone,

I'm a regular mother of three who loves to bake. we were in Saudi
Arabia last year, so I no longer have the troops to bake for.
however, my Mom's group is having a bake sale to raise money (25% of
our profits go to a local charity) and I need some advice.

I usually bake cookies, cupcakes, muffins etc. This time, I'd like to
try my hand at creative children cakes. I will be using cake mix due
to my lack of experience baking cakes. I have a Huge Freezer so I'd
like to get a head start. I signed up for six cakes. 3 adult, 3
children themes.

my questions a how far in advance can I bake and freeze them? the
sale is in May.

can I bake, frost and freeze? or should I not frost?

how can I avoid crumbs when frosting? the cakes are so moist, they
just cling to the frosting when I try to frost them. should I have
tried to freeze it a bit?

I'm also going to try lollipop cookies. do I bake with the sticks in
them? do I need to soak the sticks? some recipes call for "gluing"
the sticks to the back of the cookies with royal icing. some call for
using popsicle sticks.

any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Diem

On Mon, 14 Mar 2004, Diem Sellers wrote:

> hello everyone,
>
> I'm a regular mother of three who loves to bake. we were in Saudi
> Arabia last year, so I no longer have the troops to bake for.
> however, my Mom's group is having a bake sale to raise money (25% of
> our profits go to a local charity) and I need some advice.

Good for you.

> I usually bake cookies, cupcakes, muffins etc. This time, I'd like to
> try my hand at creative children cakes. I will be using cake mix due
> to my lack of experience baking cakes. I have a Huge Freezer so I'd
> like to get a head start. I signed up for six cakes. 3 adult, 3
> children themes.

How big are the cakes? I usually bake two half sheets and make one layer
cake. This will serve 30 to 50 people (depending on how many people go for
seconds and how big you cut the pieces). If you are doing just six 8x8 or
9x9 cakes then this shouldn't be too big a task. Just make enough batter
for everything. Don't make one cake, then another, then another, etc. Make
enough batter for six cakes and pout all six at once. If your oven will
not handle that do enough for say three or even two at a time. Actually,
I'm assuming you have dozens of pans too... I guess if you don't it could
take a bit of time.

I've not used cake mix so I cannot say how long they will last frozen. I'd
guess you want to make them fairly close to the date. I find I can make
the frosting a few days ahead of time.

If I was going to make a cake mix, I'd contact the manufacturer of the mix
and ask them. They would have the best knowledge since they know exactly
how much of what is in the cake.

> my questions a how far in advance can I bake and freeze them? the
> sale is in May.

Ask the manufacturer. Personally, I believe in fresh so I make my cakes
the day before and store them in a fridge. I've never tried freezing a
cake. People have taken my cakes, froze them, ate them a week later and
they have been fine.

> can I bake, frost and freeze? or should I not frost?

I'd frost them later. Bake the cake, make the frosting, store everything.
A day or two before the event frost the cakes and put them in a fridge (or
do it the day of then bring them right to the event).

> how can I avoid crumbs when frosting? the cakes are so moist, they
> just cling to the frosting when I try to frost them. should I have
> tried to freeze it a bit?

Let the frosting get warm so it spreads easier. Have the cake cold so it
is less crumbly. Put a very thin layer of frosting on the cake. Chill the
cake. Now with the thin layer of frosting you should find it is less
likely to crumble when you add the rest of the frosting.

> I'm also going to try lollipop cookies. do I bake with the sticks in
> them? do I need to soak the sticks? some recipes call for "gluing"
> the sticks to the back of the cookies with royal icing. some call for
> using popsicle sticks.

Not tried this. If the recipe calls for "gluing" the sticks with royal
icing then you want to make the cookies and attach the sticks later. You
don't bake royal icing.

If you are going to use popsicle sticks then you should be able to bake
with the sticks in place. Assuming the recipe calls for 350 degrees, the
sticks should not burn.

--
Send e-mail to: darrell at cs dot toronto dot edu
Don't send e-mail to

thank you so much for your advice. People in this ng are so talented
and have so much info.

I will call the manufactuer regarding freezing the cakes. They are
just regular sizes, no more than 13x9 cut up to make different shapes
like dinosaur or mermaid, or pony etc.... I do have plenty of regular
shaped pans, so it won't be a problem.

what is the best type of frosting that will hold up well?
buttercream? do you have a recipe that will make a lot of it? i love
the way commercial cakes are frosted with more of a light whipped
frosting, rather than the sickly sweet kinds. however, I am making
one "adult" cake that is chocolate with kalua whipped cream layers
topped with ganache. the rest are regular carrot cake recipe and
angle food cake rolls and perhaps one lemon flavor. the kids flavors
will just be vanilla or chocolate.



thanks again for all your tips.

ds


(Darrell Grainger) wrote in message >...
> On Mon, 14 Mar 2004, Diem Sellers wrote:
>
> > hello everyone,
> >
> > I'm a regular mother of three who loves to bake. we were in Saudi
> > Arabia last year, so I no longer have the troops to bake for.
> > however, my Mom's group is having a bake sale to raise money (25% of
> > our profits go to a local charity) and I need some advice.
>
> Good for you.
>
> > I usually bake cookies, cupcakes, muffins etc. This time, I'd like to
> > try my hand at creative children cakes. I will be using cake mix due
> > to my lack of experience baking cakes. I have a Huge Freezer so I'd
> > like to get a head start. I signed up for six cakes. 3 adult, 3
> > children themes.
>
> How big are the cakes? I usually bake two half sheets and make one layer
> cake. This will serve 30 to 50 people (depending on how many people go for
> seconds and how big you cut the pieces). If you are doing just six 8x8 or
> 9x9 cakes then this shouldn't be too big a task. Just make enough batter
> for everything. Don't make one cake, then another, then another, etc. Make
> enough batter for six cakes and pout all six at once. If your oven will
> not handle that do enough for say three or even two at a time. Actually,
> I'm assuming you have dozens of pans too... I guess if you don't it could
> take a bit of time.
>
> I've not used cake mix so I cannot say how long they will last frozen. I'd
> guess you want to make them fairly close to the date. I find I can make
> the frosting a few days ahead of time.
>
> If I was going to make a cake mix, I'd contact the manufacturer of the mix
> and ask them. They would have the best knowledge since they know exactly
> how much of what is in the cake.
>
> > my questions a how far in advance can I bake and freeze them? the
> > sale is in May.
>
> Ask the manufacturer. Personally, I believe in fresh so I make my cakes
> the day before and store them in a fridge. I've never tried freezing a
> cake. People have taken my cakes, froze them, ate them a week later and
> they have been fine.
>
> > can I bake, frost and freeze? or should I not frost?
>
> I'd frost them later. Bake the cake, make the frosting, store everything.
> A day or two before the event frost the cakes and put them in a fridge (or
> do it the day of then bring them right to the event).
>
> > how can I avoid crumbs when frosting? the cakes are so moist, they
> > just cling to the frosting when I try to frost them. should I have
> > tried to freeze it a bit?
>
> Let the frosting get warm so it spreads easier. Have the cake cold so it
> is less crumbly. Put a very thin layer of frosting on the cake. Chill the
> cake. Now with the thin layer of frosting you should find it is less
> likely to crumble when you add the rest of the frosting.
>
> > I'm also going to try lollipop cookies. do I bake with the sticks in
> > them? do I need to soak the sticks? some recipes call for "gluing"
> > the sticks to the back of the cookies with royal icing. some call for
> > using popsicle sticks.
>
> Not tried this. If the recipe calls for "gluing" the sticks with royal
> icing then you want to make the cookies and attach the sticks later. You
> don't bake royal icing.
>
> If you are going to use popsicle sticks then you should be able to bake
> with the sticks in place. Assuming the recipe calls for 350 degrees, the
> sticks should not burn.