The Great Holiday Bake Thread

[WrongPython]

My friend's birthday is on Christmas Eve, and I was thinking of making him a birthday cake from scratch. Any suggestions?

In general, if you're making a baked good or a new recipe for the first time, I would follow the recipe exactly. Successful baking really comes down to the proper portioning and mixing of your ingredients, so I wouldn't recommend changing things up recipe-wise until you're comfortable making a particular type of baked good.

When you're shopping around for recipes, I would first decide what your cake's base flavor will be (ie. vanilla, chocolate, etc.), how many layers you want to make, and whether you need/want any mix-ins in the batter (ie. nuts). From there, I would then find out what type of frosting goes best with your cake (ie. buttercream, whipped cream, etc.) and decide what you'd like your inter-cake layer filling to be (hint: try using jam instead of frosting sometime!). From there, I would go online and see if you can find a recipe for the type of cake and frosting you want.

If you haven't made a cake from scratch before, I would recommend trying to keep things simple. Good luck!