American style cake in the UK??

You really need an electric mixer for the icing, cakes turn out better too if mixed by an electric mixer. A handheld one works just find though, you just have to work in small sections and lightly put it to the mixture, not too deep.

Granted it'll be much easier on your arm if you have an electric mixer, but even if all you have is a good old wooden spoon, homemade icing always tastes great.   

for the cake (mix) itself, a mixer is helpful.  But you do not need one for the frosting!  puh-leez!
And yes, fresh eggs are easy to come by here; I'd recommend them over any egg 'product'.
But I'm kinda wacky that way; I bake cakes from scratch, not adhering to any particular nationality.

When my mom makes frosting she just dumps a load of butter in a bowl, mixes it until it's soft, dumps in a box of icing sugar, and adds vanilla to taste. 

When my mom makes frosting she just dumps a load of butter in a bowl, mixes it until it's soft, dumps in a box of icing sugar, and adds vanilla to taste. 

I think our mothers may be related! 

I personally prefer homemade frosting to the Duncan Hines/Betty Crocker stuff in a plastic tub, but that said.  If this is your first time making a cake and it's just for your own tastes, start with the mixes.  It will give you a good idea of what consistency to expect and how to tell when it is done etc. 

My only tip is to buy two of the tubs of frosting.  They have it measured out to the last gram and if you aren't careful you will run out and not be able to correct any little mishaps.

Good luck.

I will try the Betty Crocker tubs of icing first then

Duh, I forgot I'm going to need to mix the cake mix too  Maybe I'll get my husband to mix it for me ! His arms are stronger! So, I can use either a wooden spoon or whisk for mixing but an electric mixer would be easier on my arm and might mix the ingrediants better together, right?

And do you think I could still do your recipe scarlett, without the lemon juice? Make it first with lemon juice, try it, then make it without, or does the recipe specifically need lemon juice?

So wait, for actual making of icing, I need egg whites - you guys are suggesting I use fresh eggs and not the egg powder.... Egg whites is everything except the yolk right? I may sound so stupid (trust me, I'm not, I just never bake!) but how would I get the egg whites without the yolk?? Or could I buy it like that? Or do I just have to be careful not to get the yolk in there ??

Thanks for the help already! I'm not baking just yet, but I will do soon

Hmm, I might have to ask my mom, but she had this handheld thing where at the end of it, was this blade and she used that for mixing...... It was a long cylinder thing (no whisk) and at the very end of it (you couldn't see what was doing the mixing unless you looked at the end of it) was this round blade type thing. There was a button on the side, so when you pushed and held, the blade would go. I have no idea if that's a mixer as well. Of course, you'd have to move this thing all around the bowl in order for everything to be mixed...... I don't know if anyone knows what I'm referring to 

Are your arm muscles atrophied?!?
Seriously, I'm sorry but I'm finding it baffling that this is so difficult for you to do.  Please let me know if I'm missing something.

Rationing, to my knowledge, ended some time ago, and egg whites/fresh eggs/from real chickens are more than perfectly acceptable.

I'm really sorry (again), but I'm boggled that we're now on page three of how to bake a cake.
And I truly do hope it works out for you.  I'm totally serious when I request that you please post the outcome, as we'll all be dying to know how it turns out!

Right. I'll tap in here if I can

For the recipe given here it seems you can absolutely take the lemon juice out if you want to. In fact, if you want a recipe that has very few ingredients, go for the one on the sugar box. It's just the powdered sugar, butter and milk. Both the recipe here and the one on the box give yummy results.

Don't worry too much about getting a mixer. Yes they help and are handy but you can use a wooden spoon just fine. That's what I use and the cakes came out great. After this thread I had a craving for carrot cake (Betty Crocker kind) and made it from the box and it was great. Wooden spoon and all

Egg whites are just the clear part without the yellow yolk. I am not sure you can buy them just as is over here but if not, you just crack the egg open so it's 2 halves and then carefully pour them back and forth over a bowl so that the whites are going into the bowl and yolk stays intact going from shell to shell. Not an easy thing for a beginner but I am sure you can do it

As for that contraption your mom had, not sure exactly what it is. I am curious

You need a spoon. Any kind of spoon. I usually use a dessert sppon. Not that I'm a cake guru or anything but trust me on this. A spoon is fine or you may like to use a whisk to get more air in into your cake, which should help it to rise (just the normal ballon kind of whisk, no batteries or electrical supply necessary).  It's ok if you don't have particularly strong arms. My grandma has been making cakes for over 60 years and she's no shot put champion.

Eggs are eggs are eggs and they all come with yolks. Break it into a cup, scoop out the yolk with a spoon and set it aside or throw it away. 

As for the frosting, cream together butter and sugar, add flavouring and/or colouring, again using a spoon. Spread onto your cake. Voila!

Honestly, if you just want the flavor of an American cake, and you've never baked a cake, I would just buy the box of Betty Crocker cake mix and a couple of tubs of Betty Crocker icing. Follow the directions on the back of the box, bake it in a rectangular baking dish (I prefer glass, but any will work), let it cool, and ice the top with the stuff from the tubs. There are no egg whites involved, no lemon juice...just cake mix, oil, and eggs.

Once you get comfortable with baking, then you could maybe start to experiment with making two round cakes with the icing in the middle, or using homemade icing.

Honestly, if you just want the flavor of an American cake, and you've never baked a cake, I would just buy the box of Betty Crocker cake mix and a couple of tubs of Betty Crocker icing. Follow the directions on the back of the box, bake it in a rectangular baking dish (I prefer glass, but any will work), let it cool, and ice the top with the stuff from the tubs. There are no egg whites involved, no lemon juice...just cake mix, oil, and eggs.

I think, in this case, this is probably the best idea.
Just follow the instructions on the box!
If you cant do that, then...  buy a cake instead and just give up.

I think some of us forget that doing something we have never done before can be a bit overwhelming. Especially trying to do it in a new country.

I say give the box cake mix a try. It's not the end of the world if it doesn't work and you will have learned a bit how to do it so the NEXT time, it will be better!

 

Let us know how it turns out! And post a picture!   

I think some of us forget that doing something we have never done before can be a bit overwhelming. Especially trying to do it in a new country.

I say give the box cake mix a try. It's not the end of the world if it doesn't work and you will have learned a bit how to do it so the NEXT time, it will be better!

 

Yes! I should have added that I think baking is hard! I love to cook, and I'm decent at it, but baking is a bit more difficult. Don't get discouraged if it doesn't work the first time! We've all had our disasters! 

Elizabeth - well I guess you could say my arms are 'atrophied'. I have a muscle condition, Muscular Dystrophy to put it simply without the fancy smancy medical term 

Basically all my muscles in my body are weaker than any normal human beings. The heaviest I can lift onto a counter is a gallon of milk, I can't run, nor beat things with a mixer as fast as many chef's'/bakers can. I look normal, so I get alot of shtick about people thinking I'm playing it all - but I assure you, I do have a pretty good head on my shoulders and am as smart as any normal slightly more matured 20 year old woman! I'm not cocky, I just say matured because of the lifestyle I've had to lead due to my disability and how society looks at things.

I have never actually baked from scratch.... of course I've popped those frozen pillsbury square cookies into the oven, and have made cookies from a cookie mix, but I've not actually had to buy the vanilla extract and all that other stuff to try and make something like icing or had to make cake, which I find complicated! I guess I've always found things like cake and roasting chickens complicated because these certain things take time and patience and something as simple as taking the cake out too early or too late, can ruin everything 

That's probably why we're on page 3 of 'help tet make a cake' cause I've never done it before, heh. I will definitely make the cake from the box - I know it's much easier than I'm thinking it is, but it's something new that I've not tried before. Heck if I can make cookies from a box, then I sure can make a darn cake! I just don't want to mess it up you see!

And I was asking about the icing, because I was unsure if the Betty Crocker tubs were the same as the icing we have on USA birthday cakes, the fluffy soft kind..... I'm sure I could've saved everyone some trouble if I had just TRIED the icing from the tub first, so I thank you for all your help as it is