1/2 a cake???

[dfchelbay]

We're trying to be budget conscience and not be wasteful. We like dessert in our house, especially cake. Since there is only three of us, a whole cake is too much, and in the past just goes to waste. It ends up in the trash...not finished. So, I'd like to make half as much of a boxed cake mix. I can easily divide all the liquid ingredients in half, but what do I do when it comes to the eggs? All recipes call for three eggs. Since I can't divide an egg in half, can I use one egg or should I use two eggs? How will this change the texture or taste of the cake when done?

Please give me your baking thoughts and expertise. Thanks.

 

[DISdreamin']

We're trying to be budget conscience and not be wasteful. We like dessert in our house, especially cake. Since there is only three of us, a whole cake is too much, and in the past just goes to waste. It ends up in the trash...not finished. So, I'd like to make half as much of a boxed cake mix. I can easily divide all the liquid ingredients in half, but what do I do when it comes to the eggs? All recipes call for three eggs. Since I can't divide an egg in half, can I use one egg or should I use two eggs? How will this change the texture or taste of the cake when done?

Please give me your baking thoughts and expertise. Thanks.

Honestly, I'd break up three eggs, blend them, and then remove half that mixture. I'd then try freezing the half that was extra (not sure how it would work, but I'm sure it would be okay for scrambled eggs or french toast!).

 

[dawson5]

why not just make the whole cake and then take half and freeze it?

I've never done it but I would think using the whole egg instead of half you would be alright. When I make pancakes and I make 2 1/2x's the recipe I end up using a whole egg instead of a half and it doesn't make any difference at all. Think of your brownie recipe, when you add an extra egg it makes it "cake like." Or you could make the whole cake and give half to a neighbor.

 

[elgerber]

You could also use eggbeaters, I believe 1/4 cup is 1 egg, so you could use 3/8 of a cup.

 

[dfchelbay]

why not just make the whole cake and then take half and freeze it?

I've never done it but I would think using the whole egg instead of half you would be alright. When I make pancakes and I make 2 1/2x's the recipe I end up using a whole egg instead of a half and it doesn't make any difference at all. Think of your brownie recipe, when you add an extra egg it makes it "cake like." Or you could make the whole cake and give half to a neighbor.

Would you freeze the wet mixture...or the baked cake? Which do you think would turn out better after freezing?

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Why would you break all three eggs if you only need 1 and 1/2? I would put in one whole egg, then break another and beat it, then use half of that. Cook up the leftover and feed it to the dog! To me at about 10 cents each, keeping 1/2 of an egg in the freezer is a little silly. JMO.

You can bake a one layer round and cut it in half to make a 1/2 layer cake.

 

[RachelEllen]

Couple Options:

1) Cook from scratch. Not really that hard, and, if you use moderate ingrediants, it will be cheaper than a mix. You can bake half a recipe in a six inch round pan, and it will still look like a complete cake!

2) Half the mix, for the eggs, use 1 whole egg and 1 egg white. You won't notice a difference.
If you don't want to waste the extra yolk (we do this for health reasons, not budget), use the yolk and freeze the extra white. Egg white freezes great. Yolk, not so well. Next time just the egg and the defrosted white.

3) Freeze the cake (already baked.) You just want it airtight. I just a layer of saran wrap covered with a layer of tin foil. It will still taste good a few weeks later. If you don't use it in time, or it got freezer burn, turn it into some other dessert. You can chunk it up and mix it with pudding, for example, for trifle.

 

[dawson5]

I would freeze the cooked cake, no icing. Like RachelEllen said about plastic wrap and then foil, go one more step and put it in a ziploc bag also or one of those ones that sucks out the air.

I also found a neat recipe that might help, it was called mudballs or shamrock mudballs. You take the cake and ice it, add chocolate milk and mix it up. Then form balls and roll them in jimmies/sprinkles or other little things (always thought oreo crumbs would be great). It had to be kept cold, so I would think you could make up a bunch and freeze them. I would have to look for the recipe, that I think is the basics. My kids got a kick out of them.


I found the recipe!!! yay!

http://www.foodcreate.com/recipes/holiday-and-entertaining/st-pattys-day-mud-balls.html

 

[MSSANDRA]

Cakes freeze great and will stay good for months in a freezer in an air tight container. I would invest in a good cake container for freezing. My mom bakes almost all her cakes, all homemade however, weeks or even months ahead and freezes then. Thaw and they are just a good as fresh baked!

the batter could not be frozen as the cake would not rise. If you break the cake mix up, add 2 eggs to each batch and you will get a bigger cake.

 

[sylvenmaid]

I would make cupcakes instead. Then freeze as many as you want. This is what I do with cake mix. I never make them into cakes. Or do as some have said by baking 2 rounds and freezing the 2nd one after it cools off. Less work.

 

[prncess674]

I would make cupcakes instead. Then freeze as many as you want. This is what I do with cake mix. I never make them into cakes. Or do as some have said by baking 2 rounds and freezing the 2nd one after it cools off. Less work.

I live alone and always make cupcakes and freeze them. I then just take out one at a time, or however many I need. This also helps control how many I can eat since you can't eat frozen cupcakes.

 

[JandJ]

I second the cupcake option I've taken a couple cake decorating classes and our instructor told us if you freeze baked cakes or cupcakes to do so in tightly wrapped plastic wrap. I unwrap them before defrosting because sometimes the cake sticks to the plastic wrap as it comes to room temp. Frost after you defrost. It tastes just as good as fresh baked!

 

[dfchelbay]

Excellent ideas and I will be using them. Also wanted to add that we had over half a cake left after our son's birthday a couple months ago. We made cake flurries out of it. Instead of Oreo or Peanut butter cup, we threw huge pieces of cake into the blender. It was one of the best tasting flurries we ever had. It was that delicious mix of cake and ice cream together. I would highly recommend it for your leftover cakes.

 

[maggiew]

Don't they make little boxes of Jiffy cake mix? I think those make smaller sized cakes or half as many cupcakes?

Maggie

 

[TifffanyD]

I would use 1 Jumbo egg. I think the 3 eggs is usually for large. So 1 jumbo should be more than 1 large.

OK I found a chart that shows 3 large eggs to be approx equivalent to 2 jumbo eggs. It's at this site:

http://www.aeb.org/LearnMore/EggFacts.htm

It's almost all the way at the bottom

 

[tcmata]

I would make cake bites out of the leftovers. Just take the leftover cake and throw it in a mixer until it mushes together. Roll those into balls and dip in melted chocolate. They will hold up refrigerated for a little bit or you can freeze them before dipping in chocolate and take them out as needed.

 

[wmharley]

i'd use 1 egg myself.

 

[a1tinkfans]

We're trying to be budget conscience and not be wasteful. We like dessert in our house, especially cake. Since there is only three of us, a whole cake is too much, and in the past just goes to waste. It ends up in the trash...not finished. So, I'd like to make half as much of a boxed cake mix. I can easily divide all the liquid ingredients in half, but what do I do when it comes to the eggs? All recipes call for three eggs. Since I can't divide an egg in half, can I use one egg or should I use two eggs? How will this change the texture or taste of the cake when done?

Please give me your baking thoughts and expertise. Thanks.

???
Why not just make the cake and then cut it in half, wrap in wax paper then a freezer bag and some day when you are in the mood for desert, pull it out of the freezer. I do it all the time, YUMMY and a great way to have dessert in a jiffy!

 

[pilesoflaundry]

I would skip the mix and go find a scratch cake recipe somewhere like all recipes where you can just adjust the number of servings and it automatically adjusts the ingredients and then half the cooking time.

I have seen a few cake recipes that call for 2 eggs. I think it's pilsbury box mix but I might be wrong.

 

[MSSANDRA]

I just pulled out some homemade pound cake out of my freezer tonight that has been in there about 6 mo. Ds had a science project that involved a huge cake that most of did not get eaten. We froze in single serving packs. That cake tonight is delicious. Just as moist and fresh as when it was baked. It was in an airtight plastic container and I removed the lid to thaw.