When you say "sheet cake" I think a real sheet pan...16 by 20...if you mean a pan that's 9 by 13....those are available fairly cheaply at the dollar Tree stores...2 pans for $1.. That's what I would to.

Thanks, Lindac, you're right about the sheet pan... I'll edit my initial post, if I can figure out how to do it, and thanks for your suggestion! Our "Dollar Tree'-type store has the pans for $1.00 each.

You need to find a "Dollar Tree" not a dollar tree type...there si a difference. I have bought disposable pans....2 for a dollar.

I always buy the foil pans with the clear plastic higher tops when I make the sheet cakes for bake sales at church.

Thanks!!!

Like LindaC, I figure a sheet pan is 16x20, I have "half sheet pans" that I use for things like Texas Sheet Cake, but I also assumed you meant a "normal" 9x13 pan.

I'm also assuming that you'd like to keep the cakes in the pans, not turn them out and frost the sides? Here we have Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree. Family Dollar and Dollar Tree have the pans 2/$1, but they're $1 each at Dollar General. The problem is that they aren't really sturdy, so you'll still have to transport them on something to avoid cracking your frosting and any decoration.

Other than the hard plastic lids that come with some cake pans, I also don't know of anything that won't stick to the frosting, unfortunately. I tend to make a crusting type buttercream, which will set up pretty well after leaving it uncovered for a few hours. The canned frosting will not set up, ever, it's very soft and sticky, so if you're using that I think you're pretty much stuck with the plastic lids, unfortunately. Unless you could get some boxes about the right size and a bit deeper than your cake, and then cover the boxes with the saran wrap, or whatever you have to use. Maybe boxes free at your local grocery store and cut them down in height? That would also give you a sturdier way to transport the cakes and keep them from getting knocked around.

Very nice of you to donate them, I'm sure they'll be greatly appreciated no matter how they get there.

Annie

Thanks for the additional info and suggestions, Annie! I used to make homemade-from-scratch buttercream frosting -- and I know it was DELICIOUS!!! --- but was told by a few people that the frosting didn't taste like the frosting they were used to having (canned frosting)--and that wasn't a positive on their part!

It's not like they were saying my homemade frosting was out-of-this-world wonderful! They were kindly telling me it wasn't their favorite.

From now on, when I donate, they're getting canned frosting because apparently that's what their taste buds like or are used to having. I stock up when Betty C or Duncan H or Pillsbury frostings when they are on sale for under a dollar.

Smiles,

Sooz

Well....canned frosting is certainly easy. I have used it for kids crafts, making small "houses" of graham crackers and canned frosting....and of course lots cheaper than home made.

My only problem with canned frosting (other than all the chemicals, LOL), is that it never sets up. If you leave whatever you frost with it on the counter overnight it gets firmer, but as soon as you cover it, it just gets sticky again, so I can cover a Texas Sheet cake with foil or saran after the icing sets, or a plate of cupcakes with chocolate ganache or some buttercream frosted Christmas cookies without wrecking the frosting and getting it all stuck to the cover. But the canned frosting never ever does that, it just stays sticky and I end up with frosting all over the saran instead of on whatever I frosted.

So, if you use canned frosting, other than the domed lids or a box deeper than the cake so that you can stretch the covering over the box without touching the cake inside, you can't cover the cakes for transportation without messing up the frosting.

Sooz, you are more than welcome to donate whatever you and they like, that was not a criticism. I just don't know how you can cover them without messing up the frosting of choice. The toothpick method never really worked well for me, the darned toothpicks just poked through the saran wrap!

Annie

Great tip! I hope I remember that.

Also put a row of popsicle sticks along the edge of the pan, between the pan and the cake and use foil to cover the cake. Doesn't sag as much as saran But by the time you do all that you might as well mix some sugar with some butter a dash of lemon juice and spread it on top.

Lindac, in theory I agree with you, but she said that the people she is cooking for does not like homemade frosting, they only like the commercially prepared canned stuff.

As I've always said, taste is subjective, not objective, and if I were donating a bunch of cakes and the recipients wanted canned frosting, well, it's a lot less trouble, even if it is full of stuff like "distilled Monoglycerides, Polysorbate 60, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Soy Lecithin, Xanthan Gum and Potassium Sorbate. " Heck, I don't even know what half of that stuff IS, so for all I know it could be the chemical composition of butter and sugar! And it DOES say distilled, so maybe there's liquor in it too. (grin)

I say give the audience what they want and if they like cake mix and canned frosting, well, then you really don't have to cook at all and you can use the extra time to make a nice dinner for yourself and not dirty your mixing bowl making buttercream.

Let them eat cake! Wait, someone already said that...

Annie

Yeah.....and she got her head lopped off....watch what you say!!
I have spent 9 years making scratch luncheons for the church....I changed the long standing recipe for hot turkey sandwiches from canned cream of whatever soup to real gravy made from pan drippings and broth from the boiled bones...in spite of hearing...."we like it that way"....but they like it a lot better my way!

I think there ae lots who "don't mind" canned stuff....but when faced with real food they don't have to make ( because they don't know how) they much prefer the good stuff.....and in truth, besides not containing unpronounceable stuff, it's cheaper!!

Oh Lindac, I absolutely agree, I always cook from scratch and I shudder to think of the salt content of that "can of soup". I just spent some time in the kitchen tonight grinding my own GMO free wheat to make yet another loaf of whole wheat bread, so I even make my own flour to use when I'm baking bread. I also agree that it's much cheaper to cook from scratch, but if people want cans and boxes and mixes and convenience food, then that's what they are going to eat.

Just like no one will ever convince me to make my cakes from a mix, we won't convince others to cook. Some people just don't want to, they want to "mix something up" or order take out. We're on a cooking forum because we like to cook. Some people just don't.

Annie

No offense taken at all, and many thanks to all who responded and shared ideas and input and experiences! As for the marshmallow on a toothpick--great tip!

Smiles,

Sooz

I am often a church basement cook calling for donated desserts....and I am here to tell you that those marshmallows better be stale or they will slide down and the saran sag onto the frosting.

Thanks for the warning, Linda. Stale marshmallow for cushion, and starch glue for security. Check.

Thanks, lizbeth, I'll be sure to try that. I mostly try to keep the wrap off the top of cheesecake or a fancy decorated cake, and a small toothpick hole could easily be hidden in frosting.

LindaC, that would figure, it would happen to me and I'd still get frosting all over the wrapping. Except somehow or another if I happen to have marshmallows, I can pretty much guarantee that they are stale, LOL. I use them in the summer for bonfires, I used them to try to teach the pigs to use a "nipple" waterer (I failed, but they really, really like marshmallows), I use mini-marshmallows for the bottom of a waffle cone to keep the ice cream from melting out. But, somehow, I always have some left in an open bag and those are stale. Sometimes worse than stale and moving right into "hard". (grin) Then they get melted in hot cocoa.

Annie

Did anyone mention "beer flats"? Although this picture (found on Google images) isn't a beer flat, you get the idea. And you would need to find some way to line it. And it wouldn't hurt to cover up the outside either. And you would need to find a way to keep the foil or plastic wrap from sticking to your cakes. And, and, and....And it would probably end up cheaper to buy the disposable pans with lids.

bbstyx, that's kind of what I had in mind when I said a box big enough to set the cake pan inside of it, but I was thinking of higher sides, higher than the cake itself, so foil or plastic wrap would be over the box, but higher than the cake. Then the cake could be transported in the box, lifted out when the destination was reached or the cake was served/auctioned/sold/whatever.

Annie

"Beer flats" or box bottoms--what a great idea--thanks!! Lining it with wax paper or foil would be easy, or a cake board, or a piece of foil-covered cardboard, and yes, I'll have to cover the printing on the box flats to make things prettier. I have toothpicks and stale mini marshmallows, so that's another problem solved.

Here's a photo of a cake I made for a friend who came over to help us with a project this past weekend. I used the flat we had that held canned dog food.

I'm going to let the event planner (who asked me to donate cakes) about using flats--she may opt to supply disposable 9 x 13 aluminum pans with clear lids, which would be even better! Thanks again everyone!

Smiles,

Sooz

Good luck, I hope they all get there safely. It would be nice if the recipient did decide to donate the pans for you, they'll look prettier, but I think foil lined boxes would be fine too.

Annie