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Whether you try a new recipe with a friend or you bring a neighbor a homemade treat, baking is most rewarding when shared. Sheet cake: it's quick to frost, easy to decorate, travels well, and can feed a crowd.
Prepare your pan Once you've chosen your recipe, it's time to start baking. After you've prepared the pan, preheat the oven to 325 °F (or the temperature called for in your recipe), and gather your ingredients.
This will give you an idea of when you should start checking your cake for oneness. This means the sheet cake version should take about 45 to 52 minutes to bake.
Remember to check your cake early and often, as these general rules simply help estimate the bake time. Chocolate cake isn’t as easy, so we’ve written a blog post with tricks for how to tell when it’s done. The key to making sure your cake is perfectly baked is to use your senses.
A paring knife or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out mostly clean. For the Classic Birthday Cake made in a 9” x 13” pan, bake it for 45 to 48 minutes at 325 °F until it tests done.
If your recipe calls for filling (rather than frosting) between the top and bottom layers, you’ll probably want to skip it. You’re welcome to try if you’re feeling adventurous, though; if the original recipe calls for a single layer of filling, you’ll want to make a double batch for your sheet cake in order to ensure there’s enough to cover the entire surface.
For you lovers of American-style buttercream, start with about 12 tablespoons of butter (or shortening) to end up with the right amount of frosting. My go-to decoration includes edible flowers, berries, and natural sprinkles.
We’ve partnered with the Upper Valley Haven in White River Junction, Vermont, a non-profit organization that serves people struggling with poverty. The Haven provides food, shelter, education, and other support to those in need in our community.
As bakers, we want to share the joy that comes from having something sweet to celebrate a special day. We thought we'd put our Classic Birthday Cake recipe to good use and bake birthday cakes for children at the Haven as a fun way to spread happiness.
Birthday cakes for the Haven As employee-owners, we’re each allotted 40 hours of paid volunteer time per year, with 10 of those hours dedicated to volunteering for organizations focused on hunger relief. By baking for the Haven, we can use our volunteer time to bring some happiness to children in our community.
Here are some snapshots of the birthday cake baking we've done throughout the year: Our employee-owners get creative in the kitchen each month, personalizing the cakes with a variety of decorating methods. Bakers who wanted to avoid using a piping bag but still add writing to the cakes came up with some outstanding solutions.
In these cases, our bakers make a seasonally-themed cake and everyone enjoys a special treat just because they can! We're truly honored to provide the children with something that makes them feel celebrated.
After graduating from St. Lawrence University, she became an employee-owner at King Arthur and is a proud member of the Digital Marketing Team.