Calling all cake masters - birthday cake disaster

[Shellybean02]

I was on cake duty for my sister's birthday. Had the best idea ever: star shaped, three layered tie dye ice cream cake! Sadly, I couldn't even get to the star part because the cake fell apart when I tried taking it off the pan... Not a cake master so please don't judge How would I go about with doing this next time (if there is one for me ) Thanks BYC people!

 

[drumstick diva]

Did you have the cake pan greased (if directions said so)? Did you wait till the cake was cooled? I have found lining the pan with Reynolds release - aluminum foil makes a difference. Put a plate over the top of the cake,and holding top and bottom plates, flip it over. Generally you can feel the cake release into the other plate.

Have you tried nonstick cake pans? I'm not a great baker but, some things I have learned by much trial and error. Sometimes our oven burns the edges and the middle of the cake and still wet. So I generally make cupcakes and have 100% better results. Maybe you can make a cupcake cake. I have seen pictures on google of them, much easier to handle and decorate.

 

[Ballerina Bird]

I swear by baking parchment; I always line pans with it. For a shaped pan like a star, you can just trace around the bottom and cut it out. Butter or oil the pan bottom and smooth the parchment over it. Once you put the parchment in, greasing and flouring the sides and bottom is a good strategy as well.

If your store doesn't have baking parchment, waxed paper works, too.

 

[appps]

So does icecream cake mean the same thing over there as here? Your freezing not baking at all? If it does then I'm GUESSING that warming the outside of the pan just slightly would help it slip out more easily?

 

[Shellybean02]

I wanted to have two tie dye cakes shaped as stars so I could put ice cream in between the two when the cake cooled. I would then frost it. Next time I'll try the tin foil/parchment on the bottom of the pan, plus the cake-removal-with-plate technique and waiting for the cake to cool... It was just SO soft the whole thing crumbled into bits within seconds (whoopsies)

 

[Ballerina Bird]

Interesting -- a cake that is fragile and crumbles can also be a structural problem relating to how the batter was mixed. If you are into baking and want to learn more about how it all works, I really recommend Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible, which uses an almost scientific approach to explain how batter turns into cake and why things go wrong. It's a really old book but classic, and has delicious recipes and beautiful pics.

 

[Shellybean02]

I went with a box of white batter with coloring, maybe I should try another brand of white cake mix and just use my own coloring. Maybe even make my own white cake batter! Cakes are really interesting, just wasn't very prepared that day -_- I'll do my research and look into getting that book. Does it cover decorating as well? Really need help with that part lol

 

[Ballerina Bird]

I went with a box of white batter with coloring, maybe I should try another brand of white cake mix and just use my own coloring. Maybe even make my own white cake batter! Cakes are really interesting, just wasn't very prepared that day -_- I'll do my research and look into getting that book. Does it cover decorating as well? Really need help with that part lol

Rose Beranbaum is like the queen of decorating! She has a lot of very detailed instructions and wonderful photos to help with various decorating techniques. Really creative cakes.

 

[Shellybean02]

Then I guess I have to look to her for help

 

[Ballerina Bird]

Then I guess I have to look to her for help

I hadn't thought about Rose Beranbaum in a while, so I just looked her up online and she seems to have been running a blog for several years called realbakingwithrose. That might have some useful info as well.