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Bakers I need Help!
I'm going to try to make B's Birthday cake. Eeeek! 1 week from Thursday!
Anyway I have 2 small 6" rounds that I'm going to stack for her smash cake. I'm thinking I will just use a box mix for her cake (funfetti anyone? 
haha I know many of you love it) But I'm wondering does anyone know will I need a whole box mix for it? Or will I have extra? And how long do I bake cakes that small? I think the pan said 1/2 hour but that seemed long to me. Maybe I'm wrong.
Next I'm going to make a cake for the guests and 1 tier is going to be 12" X18". Is that 1/2 sheet? I don't know. How much cake batter do I need for that? I'm thinking of using a recipe off Ambers blog. http://mrsdlovestoeat.blogspot.com/2010/05/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-cupcakes.html but I want to use it as a cake will this be enough batter? How long do I need to bake it for at that size? What about if I were to end up using abox mix? Is 1 box enough for a pan that size?
And what do you recommend using to dye frosting? What is your go to frosting recipe?
I know thats a lot of quesiotions and I'm a pain so thanks in advance!!!
Re: Bakers I need Help!
I'm guessing 1 box should be fine - how much does the box say it makes in cake pan? 1 or 2 9" round?) What does the box say for time for cupcakes? it's like 20 something minutes, right? I'd start with the time it says for cupcakes plus 5 minutes. Then start testing the middles (unless after that time they don't look anywhere near done). Then just keep going at 2 minute intervals until they're done. That's usually how I deal with things where I don't have a known baking time.
As for the sheet cake - I *think* 12x18 is a half sheet. Amber may be the best one to tell you if that's enough batter for a 12x18. To be on the safe side, I might make 1.5 batches (not sure I'd double it -might be too much).
baking that, I'd start with probably +10-15 minutes cooking time for cupcakes and follow the same method above of testing the middle every 2 minutes at the end.
To dye frosting, I just use food coloring. Amber's cream cheese frosting is delissssssssssssh
I have no input on the bake time, but Kara's advice sounds pretty on par.
For frosting you can't go wrong with butter cream. My mom always added a little vanilla extract and it turns out fantastic. I always use the gel based coloring because you get fantastic color and it doesn't mess with the consistency of the frosting.
Good luck on your baking adventure
Thanks ladies! Kara that is great advice I appreciate it!
I'm really hoping I don't screw this up. I have such high hopes!
Pretty much all of this! You will have extra batter from the box mix if you have two six inch cake pans. I would double the choc chip cupcake recipe instead of doing 1.5 batches to ensure the proportions are correct.
I also recommend the gel food coloring, so it does not change the frosting consistency. Although I looove cream cheese frosting, you might want to do a buttercream so you don't have to worry about refrigerating.
2012 Reading Challenge
I'm a fan of box mixes!
I know that's a bad confession around some of our fabulous bakers here.
For frosting I always do powdered sugar, butter, milk and vanilla. Very similar to Amber's recipe.
Also ditto on the gel food coloring. Also (no idea what colors you're thinking) but there are some 'no taste' food colorings out there. Especially important if using a lot of red as it adds a terrible flavor to the frosting...made that mistake once!
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2012 Reading Challenge
Hey, I happen to think the yellow box mix is better than any homemade yellow cake I've had!
2012 Reading Challenge
and funfetti is a box mix. I have no shame in liking and using box mixes