American style cake in the UK??

So I ordered my loose based 8" cake pan, a piping set, a bun/cupcake pan, and a spatula from LakeLand My electric mixer that I got from Argos, is suppose to be arriving (amongst other furniture) today..... But it'll take a couple days for my pans to get here. I've put some Supercook decorations on the groceries to come Sunday, so if they have them in stock, I'll be making my cake early next week

Getting a piping set for £11 might've been a bit much, but I figured, if I'm going to make my first cake, I want it to look good and not just flatly iced 

I plan on doing two layers.... Do you think I should just stick with one?

I have a tub of Betty Crocker's Whipped Vanilla Frosting that my mom sent over via Surface mail (she mailed it in December and it barely got here early this month!) The thing is, the expiration date is April 2007  And I don't know if it'll still be good.... She seems to think so, and I guess ordering one on the groceries won't hurt if the one I already have turns out to be bad. I'm hoping once I taste it, I'll be able to tell if it's gone bad or not.

Heh, I like cake and crave for many american foods you can't get here in the UK, but my brit-husband is trying to loose weight, so I guess my 'wanting to bake things' hasn't really come at a good time 

Do two layers - it's much more satisfying.  It's not that much harder.  But wait, if you've only got one cake pan, then how were you going to do two layers?

The frosting will be fine.  I don't think that stuff ever goes bad.  We keep our half used tubs in the fridge for what seems like forever.

Don't be discouraged if you can't use the piping set - they're not that easy to get the hang of right off.  Regular plain icing is fine.

I was going to bake the first layer, then let that cool while the second layer is baking...... I know that means a longer wait for frosting things, but it'll still work out fine right?

I was going to bake the first layer, then let that cool while the second layer is baking...... I know that means a longer wait for frosting things, but it'll still work out fine right?

I remember doing it that way once back in my starving student days when I only had one pan. It is a bit of a pain, but it'll work fine. 

So, I baked my cake today or rather yesterday since it's now 1 a.m. 

I only broke one yolk when trying to get only the whites, but I had already done one egg, so I had to dispose of that and start over..... Other than that, everything went fine! It took 30 minutes to bake and about 45 minutes to cool  My piping isn't perfect, but I'm happy with the way it came out. I'm not sure how to cover up the edges of the cake, as you can kind of see the rim poking through.....

Click on images to see the bigger sizes  The picture of the finished product, is it's original picture size when you click on it, so you can see the detail.


 

Congratulations!! It looks like it turned out great! After this thread and the cake blog one, I really want some!!!

I should probably mentioned what I used I guess 

I used a Betty Crocker Super Moist White Cake Mix that was sent over from my mom and had an expiry date of June 08, 2007  It was still good. And the frosting was Betty Crocker Whipped Cream Vanilla Flavored. That had an expiry date of April 2007, but a good stir and that was still good too. I used three Large egg whites, 1 1/4 Cups water and 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil, which is listed on the cake mix box.

I used a Loose Based 8 inch Non-Stick Cake Pan (from LakeLand) and greasing the pan with oil, pretty much made the cake just come right out of the pan easily. For spreading the frosting, I just used a butter knife  I also had bought the 8 piece piping set from LakeLand to do the piping with.

The flower, silver beads and little sprinkles are from the brand Supercook that I got from Sainsbury's

And thanks scarlett  !!

Well done! I'm so pleased that it turned out! 

Well done!   Seeeeee, it wasn't difficult, was it?  Just a matter of following the instructions on the box!

Well done!! I'm impressed and very jealous. I'd love a slice of that 

It looks great!!

Is your husband going to want cake every day now?!? 

Haha, thanks everyone! 

And my husband would have me cook all the time if he could have it his way!  He's trying to loose weight though so I think he, of course would want me to bake him things, but he's trying to refrain.

Your cake looks amazing. Great job!

God I'm STARVING now!
Well done!

Congratulations - it looks great!