Making a "Number 5" cake - and need advise!

[OldishMotherHubbard]

Hello,

I have hired a number 5 cake tin for a cake for my daughter's 5th birthday, and was told in the shop I hired it from that I needed a "3 egg mix".

My daughter wants a chocolate cake, and I am just wondering if anyone has done this before and what quantities I need, also what temperature to cook it on and length of time to cook.

Also wondering if I should do one cake or make two and sandwich them together? (Thinking that one big one might be too dry?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks.

For a basic sponge you can weigh the eggs, and then use the same weight of butter, flour and sugar. Add a teaspoon of vanilla essence, a pinch of salt and a splash of milk to loosen it up and that should work.

Ah - I see you want chocolate - in which case take out a tablespoon of flour and put in a tbsp of cocoa powder and omit the vanilla.

You need to line the whole tin, btw, which can take an age so allow plenty of time for that.

When I've used number frames I have made one cake and then cut it horizontally to fill it as 2 cales would have been too tall.

Have a trial run with 'vanilla' as a number cake can be very unwieldy when you try and lift of the top after you have sliced it. You really need one of those triple fish slice thingies - you move a thing in the handle and the 3 slices fan out to make a bigger one.

For choc cake I prefer to use chocolate - same weight as egg, use plain flour and increase baking powder to 1tsp per egg, instead of 3/4 tsp.

If you feel the number tin is too difficult, make a round cake, and then cut the centre out. Then make another in a 10x7 rectangular tin, you'll have enough to cut it down the middle and fill and then make the upright bit and the top.

Make a template to turn it into a 5. Lots of excuses for playing with newspaper and scissors.