Birthday cake help please..

[paranoidandconfused]

I am going to make dd a birthday cake for saturday and I have a few questions as last year things went rather badly
he cake was raw in the middle and sunk and the icing was really runny and see through...all in all it was a bi of a disaster

But no to be put off I am giving it another try this year

Has anyone got a foolproof cake recipe (me being the fool) and becasue I'm doing a barbie cake where the cake will be the barbie's dress I will be making two cakes a normal one and one in a pyrex dish to get a dome shape for the top...would this need a different cooking time?

Buttercream recipe also needed and would I need to keep the cake in the fridge as I don't think I would have that much space in there, but obv I don't want it to go off

and finally I will be using that ready to roll icing or fondant...are these the same things? when they say to use clear alcohol to stick it together or decorations to it do they mean like vodka or is there something special you can buy?

Also when I have made the cake do I have to refridgerate it?

Thanks so much in advance for any help as I said so I am a complete novice and need all the help I can get

Hi

Can answer a couple of your points.

OK with cake being raw. Make sure the oven isn't too hot and remember if it burns on the top you can always cut that bit off. Put a knife or skewer into cake to see if it is clean when you take it out. IF it's clean then you have a cooked cake.

Try a Delia sponge cake recipe - 99.99% foolproof. give yourself plenty of time to cook the cakes and a bit longer. IF it takes less time then you have time to do something else.

Buttercream will keep in the fridge but will go hard so take it out at least an hour before using.

I use water to stick the icings together and always do all the icing the night prior.

Pyrex dish may need slightly different time but if it's the same amount of cake then will be similar.

You can fridge or freeze cake before you ice it. I would make the cakes tonight and then freeze or fridge them if you make them tomorrow. Won't do any harm.

Ice on Friday evening at the latest in case you need to get anything else on Saturday.

Good luck. I had to make a lightning mcqueen last week for my ds so I know it's a nightmare

thanks!

I will have a google of Delia in a min

right so hopefully cake baking will be a success I keep the cake in the fridge until I am ready to ice

Do I need to put buttercream over the full cake before I ice to make the ready to roll icing stick to the cake

If I was to make the cake tomorrow keep it in the fridge till Fri and then ice on friday night would it still be ok by Sat/Sun?

I bet Lightning McQueen was complicated lol....Ds is into starwars I can see his being awkward

yes you can keep it in the fridge and it will be easier to put the icing on if you have buttercream all over it. Although if your house gets warm, put the buttercream on and put it all in fridge for half an hour whilst it cools down rather than it melting across the kitchen.

My DH has asked for a star wars cake and i've told him it'll have to be a picture on top and not a scaled model.

thanks again hhmmmm time to rearrange my fridge shelves to fit it all in lol