making individual cakes

[Susanwusan]

What's the best way to makes mini cakes using stainless steel mousse rings, and is there a recipe that works best?

[JeanneCake]

are you talking about baking them or assembling them?  Years ago Silverwood made tins for individual cakes (I think Squires Kitchen sold them).

When individual cakes were  popular for weddings years ago, I found the best approach for round ones was to bake a sheet of cake, (level it/torte it depending on the height) cut it using a round cutter and then use two layers of cake and a layer of buttercream filling to assemble.  If you wanted a tiered mini cake, then go with something like 2.75 inch bottom and 1.25 inch top.  The top is kind of useless if you want to know; it's difficult to do two layers of cake and a layer of filling in this tiny round size.  I ended up just cutting rounds of cake for a top tier if the client wanted that look.

 

If you wanted square mini cakes, and you are very steady with a long knife, you could assemble a larger rectangle (layer of cake, filling, layer of cake), chill well and then use a ruler to mark the top and cut the size you want.

[Pete Fred]

@Susanwusan I often make individual cakes in small mousse/entremet rings (10cm/4-inch). I just scale the recipes down and it seems to work fine. I usually seal the bottoms with tin foil, but if your tray isn't warped or the batter too runny, any leaks soon seal themselves in the oven. I've seen plenty of videos of bakeries do this.

[Pete Fred]

Here's an example with the OG chocolate fondant.

[Susanwusan]

Making them individually was my first thought, but the cutting out and assembling sounds like a good idea too.

I'll probably try both ways since there isn't a special recipe for them.