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Learn How to Make a Number Cake For Your Next Celebration
Number cakes are a fun twist on the classic birthday cake and are a fantastic way to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries or other important milestone events. But unless you have a specialised shaped cake tin for every number, making them can be a bit of a puzzle!
At Spotlight we love baking and decorating (and eating!) delicious cakes, so we've got a few secrets to impart about how to make a number cake (or two) out of the basic cake pans like the circle, square and rectangle pans we all have in our kitchens. We also have some handy ideas about decorating your number cake, as well as other useful hints you'll want on hand!
Quick Links
- What Kind Of Cake Should I Make For A Number Cake?
- What Do I Need To Make A Number Cake?
- The Complete Chart For Number Cakes
- How To Decorate A Number Cake
- A Number Cake Example: How To Make A Number 2 Cake
What Kind Of Cake Should I Make For A Number Cake?
While you should always try to make the guest of honour's favourite cake for their birthday or event, some types of cakes may not hold up to being sliced and shaped the way you will need to in order to make certain numbers. Cake types to avoid include:
- Tea cakes: These cakes (also known as butter cakes) are usually served warm straight from the oven, so you won't have time to cut and shape them before your window to enjoy them runs out.
- Self-saucing cakes: These delicious cakes release a gooey sauce when cut which you will lose when cutting and shaping your cake into a number! Unless you are creating a number cake that doesn't require shaping, avoid this type of dessert.
- Ice cream cakes: Unless you plan on assembling them right before they are eaten (stressful!), ice cream cakes will melt before you can successfully cut, shape and decorate them.
On the other hand, here are some good, solid types of cake you can cut, carve and shape to your heart's content!
- Vanilla cake: Solid, dependable and simple enough for even the fussiest of dessert eaters, basic vanilla cake is soft, moist and springy with a light, delicate flavour. It cuts well and will take on any flavour of icing you decide to put on top!
- Mud cake: Wonderfully dense, a mud cake will be moist and almost fudgy in texture, quite similar to a brownie except with a cake-like crumb. This density makes it ideal for carving and shaping, as it won't lose shape or too many crumbs in the process.
- Pound cake: One of the easiest cakes to make, a pound cake will result in a firm cake that has only been flavoured by butter and sugar. The density is attributed to the lack of baking powder or baking soda, leaving a solid cake that is easy to cut and shape.
What Do I Need To Make A Number Cake?
While the ingredients you need to make your number cake will depend on what kind you are making, there are a few tools we recommend having on hand to make shaping your cakes into numbers easier.
Cake Tins: A Baking Essential
Cake tins are an essential tool when baking any cake. At Spotlight, you can find a great selection of speciality number cake tins that will have you baking a number cake with ease. But if you don't have one of these number cake tins on hand, you can bake a cake using a round, square or rectangle cake tin to make each type of number. Find out more about cake tins by reading through our helpful buying guide.
Baking Paper and Liners
Lining your cake tins with baking paper will help you release your cakes from their pans without them sticking or breaking apart in the tin. By preventing your cake from sticking to the tin, these liners also make your cleaning process that little bit easier.
Sharp Knives and Cake Levellers
In order to create distinct shapes, you want to make sure you create clean cuts through your cake. A sharp knife will help you create the distinct lines required to cut the shapes needed for your number cakes without having to hold (and potentially squish) them. To make your decoration process a little easier, you may also use a cake leveller. If your cakes are rising into an uneven shape, cutting them with a cake leveller will help you create a flat surface and provide you with a perfect base for your cake decorations.
The Complete Chart For Number Cakes: Cutting Pieces to Create A Number Cake
If you're planning on making a number cake without the use of number cake tins dedicated to a specific digit, you can use square and round cake tins to create virtually any number. There are three shapes we use when making number cakes - master them all, and you'll be able to make any number cake easily!
- Circles and half circles - Use a round or bundt tin to create the round cakes needed to showcase curves in numbers. If using a bundt tin, the hole needed will be baked into the cake. If you only have a round tin, you will need to use a round cookie cutter and/or a knife to cut the hole out yourself. You can then slice the circle into halves, thirds or quarters to create the perfect size curve you need for numbers like 5 and 2.
- Rectangles and squares - You can easily make these shapes out of straight-edge cake pans. Rectangular cake shapes are ideal for numbers with long sections like 1, 4 and 7.
- Triangles or trapeziums - These shapes are super useful for joining sections together, such as the circle and straight parts of a 9, 6 and 7. They can be made by cutting the corners off square and rectangle cakes, or you can cut them out of spare pieces from circle cakes.
Check out the graphic below on which cake shapes are needed to create every number from scratch.
How To Decorate A Number Cake
- Icing & Fondant - One of the most common types of cake decorations as it allows other decorations to stick securely to your baked creation.
- Sprinkles, Cachous & Pearls - Typically used to bring a pop of colour to your cake and instantly transform your cake into a fun and funky dessert.
- Lustre Dust, Glitter & Leaves - Shimmering and sparkling, lustre dust, glitter and leaves help you to create an elegant looking cake.
- Cake Toppers - Available in a range of designs, these cake decorations are perfect for themed birthday parties or events.
- Icing Flowers & Decor - The perfect finishing touch to your cake, icing flowers and decor bring a whimsical and adorable charm to your cake.
- Food Pens and Writers - Allow you to write any message you want on your number cake. These pens are great for when you want to write a personalised message for events or for the birthday guest of honour.
- Birthday Candles & Sparklers - No birthday or celebration is complete without glowing candles and sparklers. At Spotlight, you can find a great range of candles including number candles to match your number cake.
A Number Cake Example: How To Make A Number 2 Cake
One of the most difficult number cakes to make is one featuring the number 2. To make one, you will need to bake both one round cake and one rectangular cake. The first cut you'll need to make is on your round cake - cutting a circle out of the cake using a cookie cutter to create a round cake with a hole and then cutting one quarter of this round cake and rearranging your pieces in line with the chart mentioned previously. You will then need to cut the rectangle cut to complement the size of your cake pieces and position at the bottom to form the base of your "2". Now it's time to decorate how you wish!
Although it may seem tricky, our helpful video tutorial and handy step-by-step project will guide you through the process and have you mastering how to make a number 2 cake for your next event.
Bake Delicious Number Cakes With Spotlight
Now that you know the best ways to bake number cakes, it's time to bake, decorate and celebrate special occasions in style! Purchase cake decorating products and accessories online including essentials such as fondant, cake toppers and birthday candles. Shop our full baking and chocolate making range, in store or online today!
You can find useful recipes and cake decoration inspiration for free on our cake and confectionary projects page. You'll love our other great articles such as 5 Essential Skills To Make You An Icing Pro and Seven Baking Essentials You Need To Know About. And for a little help in choosing the right products, read our cake decorating tools and cake topping buying guides online!
