12" square cake

[Maggie111]

It's my Dad's birthday and I want to make a big cake for him. I've made large celebration cakes before but nothing as big as 12" and I'd like to make something quite smart looking (for once! My food normally tastes yummy, but looks "rustic" - I always run out of time at the end )

I've just bought a 12" cake tin, with a heating core and a leveller. I'm not sure on recipe though?

Does anyone have any advice or useful links?

If I bake it the day before, how do I keep it airtight? I'm thinking I might just go easy and make a vanilla sponge with jam and buttercream - and have a buttercream finish, with a little shell piping around the bottom edge. I have a cake topper already. If I decided to use fondant instead - how much would I need?

All advice will be appreciated! I will have a 3 month old by then to look after too - so I'm not looking for anything super ambitious or beautiful, just simple and delicious!

We have a recipe we pass on to customers who ask. It is a Madeira and is a basic 1 egg mix which you then multiply up, depending on the size of cake you are baking:
1 Medium Egg
2 ozs SR Flour
2 ozs Caster Sugar
2 ozs Butter
1 oz Plain Flour
Zest of half a lemon
1 tsp Lemon Juice.

This does 15 square inches of cake.
12" square is 144 sq inches, so I would multiply by 10. Bake at 160 deg (conventional oven) for 45 - 50 minutes, or until golden.

I wouldn't normally attempt one of that size because the inside takes a long time to cook, but with a cake cone you should be OK.

Lovely thank you!

Going to make my practice cake today wish me luck!

M111, I hope it goes OK for you. Please let us know how it goes. Just remember, if it doesn't go well, there is always trifle to be made, and it will freeze.

I use that recipe too, though my biggest so far is 11" square! Let me know how it goes, would love to see it work out bigger.

BTW, when do you need it for? This recipe freezes really well, so as long as its within a couple of months, you're not wasting all that cake for a practice if it bakes well first time. Just wrap it in a couple of layers of baking parchment before you freeze it

I use a madeira recipe and just make sure you do more than you need and then trim the top of the cake to level it...don't try to bake it level, the finish wont be as good. Keeps for a good week wrapped in cling and freezes great....infact even if I needed mine the next day I always used to give it a night in the freezer....found it made it easier to slice and improved the texture. coat with thin coat of buttercream (crumb coat) then fondant on top for a really smooth finish.
I also always tie newspaper around the tin so the outside of the cake doesn't get too dark before the centre is cooked.
Good luck!!! x