Easiest Way to Make Number Cakes – No Special Pans & No Cake Waste

Number cakes are a popular choice for celebrations, and you don’t need a special pan or to waste any cake to make a beautiful, personalized number cake. Here’s the simplest method that saves you time and cake scraps—without compromising on style or taste! With this method there’s no cake waste or extra cutting needed!

Ingredients/Tools

Baking tray: A regular sheet tray will work perfectly.
Parchment paper: To help you pipe the cake batter in the shape of the number.
Cake batter: Any recipe you like, or a box mix for convenience. I prefer using my moist chocolate cake or moist vanilla cake recipes. I baked 3 layers of chocolate cake for numbers ‘4’ and ‘ 0’ which I used to make my husband’s 40th birthday. For this cake I used my moist chocolate cake recipe with the ingredients adjusted (1.5 x the ingredients listed there).
Frosting: Your preferred frosting that has a piping consistency. I used a chocolate caramel frosting but buttercream or other frosting work as well.
Toppings: Fresh fruit, chocolate, edible flowers, or any decoration of your choice.
A template: You can easily create one using Google Docs, Word, or any other software. I use the “Train One” font in Google Docs for the numbers. You can download my templates with number from 0 to 9 here.

Directions

Watch this video tutorial or read the instructions below.

Create the Number Template

Open Google Docs (or your preferred software), and type the number you want to use for your cake. Size the number so that it’s as big as your page – I used a standard A4 page. I like to use the “Train One” font, but feel free to choose any bold, clear font. You can download my 0 to 9 number templates from here.

Print out the number on a piece of paper. This will act as your guide for shaping the cake.

Prepare Your Parchment Paper

Lay the printed number template under a piece of parchment paper, then place both of them on a baking tray. The template should be visible through the parchment paper.

Pipe the Cake Batter

Prepare your cake batter and transfer it to a piping bag.

Using the template as a guide, pipe the batter along the edges of the number on the parchment paper. Once the outline is complete, fill in the number with more batter, ensuring it is evenly spread.

Lay the printed number template under a piece of parchment paper, then place both of them on a baking tray. The template should be visible through the parchment paper.

Bake the Cake Layers

Carefully remove the paper template from under the parchment paper and bake the piped cake layers in the preheated oven at 350° F (175° C) for about 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Repeat the process to bake three cake layers for each number cake. Ensure each layer is piped separately.

Assemble & Decorate the Cake

Once all your layers are baked and cooled, begin stacking the layers.

Place the first number cake layer on a cake board, add simple syrup for an extra moist cake, pipe a generous amount of frosting on top, add the second layer, pipe frosting again, then repeat with the third layer. I used a chocolate caramel frosting but buttercream or any frosting that has a piping consistency works.