AI'm a beginner. I'm trying to practice making a cake for my daughter's birthday. The recipe that I'm using called for a box cake in addition to other ingredients. I forgot to mix on medium for two minutes, because the baby was crying. How important is it to mix for 2 minutes? I did mix on low, but not long, it looked a little lumpy, I put it in the oven, and realized that I didn't follow directions. Should I start all over? I wasn't sure if it would be too dense or heavy. I'm not sure what mixing does for it. Thanks!

AOh, and I forgot to flour coat my pans. I think I'm more of a disaster than the cake today. Lol!

it's all good--you know what to do next time so your trial cake is a hit for that

and will probably be a miss for the texture due to under mixing and that it stuck like glue to the pan ;)

another idea for you

get a notepad --something you can keep track of and keep it by your favorite chair with a pen

as you sit there from time to time as you can--write down all the steps for making a cake

all the ingredients to add--everything--don't even worry about the correct order necessarily

then at the end you can go back and number the steps in the correct order

or if you have the recipe printed off--use that paper and add to it--but write each step it's own line

so next time you can tick them off as you go--get distracted by the baby--go back to the list--reread rewind find your place and move forw...--oops distracted again by the baby---i know how that goes!!! ;)

that way it might be easier to keep track

plus you can prepare your pans days in advance--just cover with plastic wrap

measure things out in advance

just some thoughts for you for next itme

If you greased your pans the lack of flour on them may not cause a big problem - I guess by now you are taking them out of the oven so you will discover that shortly.

Mixing it for exactly 2 mins may not make a huge difference if it was a few seconds over or under but your mentioning of it being lumpy doesn't sound promising - that implies the dry ingredients did not get properly incorporated with the liquids so there may be pockets of dry mix in the finished cake. When it has cooled give it a try but don't expect too much. Still, if this is your first attempt and you learn where you went wrong see it as a success, you will make a beautiful cake for your daughter with a few more practices. K8memphis's idea of ticking off the recipe as you go is a good idea.