Tips & Tricks

Shape-A-Cake Strip Mix

Forming Strip Borders

- Press the bottom of the Shape-A-Cake strip into the pan while forming a shape, thereby making a seal. The seal will help support the strip.
- Combine strips by firmly pinching the two strip ends together.
- Provide extra support to long, straight sections of the strips with additional strip segments, thereby "thickening" the strip.
- Pour batter to reach no higher than 2/3 of the way up the strip. Otherwise, the batter may spill over the strips while baking.

Separating the Cake

- After baking, gently slide a knife between the cake and the strips, cut the baked Shape-A-Cake strips into segments, and carefully separate the segments from the cake.

Shape-A-Cake Clay

Clay Handling

- If the Shape-A-Cake clay becomes sticky, simply coat the clay and/or your hands with powdered sugar.

Forming Pop-Out Shapes

- Remember that the baked Shape-A-Cake clay will stay in the pan as the cake is removed. Be sure to form shapes that will not "trap" the cake as it is removed from the pan.
- Think of the shapes formed with the clay similar to those in a cake pan. It will be easier for cakes to separate from the baked clay intact if large, simple shape contours are formed in the clay instead of complicated, small shapes.

Forming Clay Walls

- Make sure that walls formed with Shape-A-Cake clay are at least 1/2-inch thick. (If possible, use 1-inch thick walls.) Otherwise, the cake batter may leak through the walls.
- Make sure that the clay walls are at least one inch taller than your cake batter. If the cake batter is too close to the top of the clay walls, the cake batter may move the top of the walls as it bakes, such that the top of the resulting cake is larger than the bottom.

Baking the Cake

- The cooking time will increase while using Shape-A-Cake clay. The extent of the increase in cooking time will increase as more of the clay is used. Check whether the cake is done by lightly pressing on the top of the cake. If it springs back, the cake is done, but if it stays indented, it should bake longer.

Removing the Cake

- If making a 3-D cake, use a knife to carefully separate the baked cake from the sides of the pan, gently pushing in towards the center of the pan. Do not separate the baked Shape-A-Cake clay from the sides of the pan. Put a platter on top of the pan and invert.
- If part of the cake remains in the baked clay, try removing the remaining portion from the baked clay and positioning on the warm cake.
- If making a 2-D shape, cut the baked clay into segments. Carefully separate the segments from the cake.

Clean-Up

- To remove the baked Shape-A-Cake clay from the pan, cut the clay into segments and remove using a spatula.
- If thin walls were formed using clay and the batter leaked through the walls, remove the baked clay while it is warm or hot. Otherwise, the combination of the cake and the baked clay may make it difficult to remove.

Shape-A-Cake Decorating Clay

Decorating Clay Handling

- If the Shape-A-Cake decorating clay becomes sticky, simply coat the decorating clay and/or your hands with powdered sugar.

Cut-Out Decorations

- Lightly coat a surface with flour. Press or roll out the decorating clay on the surface. Lightly coat the top of the decorating clay with flour. Use cookie cutters to form colorful cut-out shapes ready for eating

Most importantly, have fun and stretch your imagination to see what cakes are possible using Shape-A-Cake Products!