[krsnow]

I have seen a lot of the beautiful cakes you girls are making and I am just wondering if you are making them from scratch or using a box mix. I want to make a train cake for my LO and am not sure if I should experiment with actual recipes or just go with a box. I am afraid I will run out of time with all that has to get done. I'm having tons of guests too so this cake is going to be huge.

For box mixes, what type\brands are your favorites?
Any tips for what type of cake works better with molds? Im guessing pound cake?

[inyourhonor]

I make everyones cakes from scratch except my moms. She likes box cakes haha.

If you're going to have a ton of guests I suggest just going with box cakes. You do 3 things to make the cake and you're done. With from scratch you have to put in EVERYTHING! I can get frazzled making one cake for 5 people with as much as I need to do sometimes haha.

I would say to create less stress for you, box would be the way to go. We like Duncan Heinz. That is what I buy for cupcakes or for my moms birthday I do make my own frosting though.

[mshah]

I also tend to use box mixes if it's a basic cake. Sometimes if I want to do something fancy it requires scratch, but box is easy and never fail way to go. I also like Duncan Heinz. I then also make my own icing, but I've had some good luck with buying premade and tweaking it a bit by adding some salted butter (those icings are just way too sugary for me). A nice way to make it look made-from-scratch is by making it a layer cake by stacking them on each other and adding a filling between the layers (dulce de leche or plain icing is an easy one). For a mold you can go with a pound cake, but really the key is greasing and flouring the pan really, really well. Those Nordic Ware pans you see alot have a ton of super fine detailing that never comes out. If you want to do a pan mold I recommend a large, simple one that the details are bigger on.

[inyourhonor]

on greasing and flouring the pan! I made the mistake of asking my husband to put the cake mix in once (and this was by scratch) and he didn't know you should do that and well.. lets just say it half stuck, half crumbled.

[~Devon~]

Going with a box is probably going to be the easiest on you. Ditto the other ladies, grease and flour the pan!!

[I<3HelloKitty]

I made my own icing, but I went with a boxed cake just because I knew it was going to take me a while to decorate the cake and I wanted to save time. It worked fine with the Hello Kitty molded pan. Just be sure to do like the other ladies said and grease and flour the pan before you pour the batter in.

[rainbow_brite19]

Box cake, for sure. I am not a baker and didn't want to experiment with a scratch cake for something as important as the first Bday! I used Duncan Heinz and it came out yummy. I also floured the pan a bit first. I went with canned frosting too (again, no skill with making sugary stuff) but I chose buttercream so it wouldn't be too icky sweet.

[krsnow]

Thanks for all the suggestions ladies! I am going to go with Duncan Heinz!

[Lv2Mommy]

Definitely box mix. Although I love to bake, I usually have too many distractions (i.e. 6 kids) and am short on time.

[mommydiva]

I tend to do box but I make cakes/cupcakes so rarely that when I do I tend to do angle food since that is mine and DH's favorite.

I would love to do a from scratch one but not sure if I have the skill...lol

Oh I usually use pilsbury or dunan heinz.

[rachel_anne]

I used a box mix for Holdens birthday cake and the cupcakes for his party. I've never baked a cake from scratch, I'm really not a good baker. I used Betty Crocker rainbow chip mix and rainbow chip frosting for both the cake and cupcakes, cause its my favorite (and Holden doesnt have a preference yet lol)