Old Dogs Can Learn New Tricks!

Next Wednesday will be last class of the Wilton Cake Decorating Methods Course 1 Decorating Basics and I have learned alot not just about decorating but also about baking a great cake.  I thought I'd share some of those tips with you.

1.  The box or recipe says set the oven to 350 set it to 325 it takes longer to bake but it cooks more evenly.

2.  Coat your cake pans with a pan release mixture.  Wilton makes a product called Cake Release you can find it at Michale's.  You can also find recipes for a mixture that work online.  I Googled "pan release" and came up with the below recipe.  Just coat your pan before you pour in your batter and your cake will come right out no problem!

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup all-pourpose flour

1/2 cup vegitable/canola/corn oil

Use a mixer and blend them all together.  Put it in an air tight container and you can store it in the cabinet or on the counter.  If you go to use it and it looks like it is separating just whisk it up.

3.  Go get some Wilton Bake Even strips.  You can find them at Michale's they run about $9.00 and so worth it!  You soak them in cold water don't ring them out just run them through your fingers to get the excess water out, then wrap them and use the included pin to secure them around the outside of your cake pan.  By keeping the edge of the pan cool the edges do not get over done and the cake cooks evenly!

4.  Use two boxes of cake mix instead of one and over fill your cake pans so the cake will cook over the top of the pan.  Then use a cake leveler and the edge of the cake pan to level the cake evenly before turning it out onto a cooling rack.

Over fill the pans, wrap them with bake even strips, and coat the inside with pan release

Let the cake cook over the top of the pan and use the pan as a straight edge when leveling the cake

Nice and level!

Look how pretty it turned out!

5.  Only leave the cake in the pans for 10-15 minutes after it comes out of the oven that way it won't stick to the pan when you try to get it out.  If it does stick you can stick it back in the oven for a few minutes to losen it up again.

6.  When icing the cake put the cut side down to avoid crumbs in your icing.

7.  Use Wilton tip 789 to get the icing on the cake fast and thick.  Then smooth it out with a spatula.

Hopefully these tips will help your cakes turn out beautiful!

Bye y'all!