How to Create a Party Cake From an 8 Inch Round Pan

Eight-inch round cake pans are perfect for making party cakes because they are large enough to feed a crowd when two or even four are stacked on top of each other. You can make a party cake using any recipe you like---such as pound cake, angel food or chocolate. Keeping the cake rounds uniform and sturdy enough to frost is the key to making a successful layered party cake.

Things You'll Need

• Boxed cake mix
• 2 eight-inch round cake pans
• For homemade cake:
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 3/4 cups flour (2 1/2 for chocolate cake)
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (for chocolate cake only)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions

Bake With a Pre-made Cake Mix

1. Select a pre-made cake mix at the grocery store. Purchase two packages.

2. Prepare the cake batter according to the directions on the package. Most mixes will require you to add eggs, oil and water. You can also add vanilla or almond extract, coconut, or chopped nuts to give the cakes a unique touch. Grease the cake pans with a spray-on oil or line the pans with parchment paper. Fill each cake pan three-fourths of the way full with batter. Bake according to the instructions on the cake-mix package. If you only have two cake pans, repeat this step so that you will have a total of four cake rounds.

3. Allow cakes to cool before frosting and assembling. When stacking cakes, slice off and discard the mounded tops of each cake round so that the surface is even. Spread frosting between each layer and stack the rounds securely by pressing down gently to fuse the cakes together. For the purposes of structural soundness, four layers of cake rounds is the maximum number you should attempt. Decorate the layer cake or leave plain. If the cake is intended for a child, add sprinkles and candles.

Bake the Cake From Scratch

1. Cream 1 cup of butter until smooth. Add 2 cups of sugar and mix until fluffy. Add 4 eggs and incorporate well.

2. Sift together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Mix 2 ¾ cup flour, 1 tsp. baking powder and ½ tsp. salt (and cocoa powder if you are making a chocolate cake). Mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and add 1 cup of milk and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Do not over stir. Divide the batter into two greased eight-inch rounds, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. This recipe makes two cake rounds, so if you wish to make a four-layered cake, double this recipe.

3. Allow cakes cool before frosting and assembling (follow the directions outlined in Step 3 of Section 1).

Tips & Warnings

• When frosting the cake rounds, you can either use a store-bought frosting or make a simple frosting such as a butter cream, which is made of whipped butter and powdered sugar.

• If you make a white cake base, you can add food coloring to give your cakes extra pizazz.

References

• Birthday Cake Recipe