Kathleen, is this the cake pan (see link)?
If it is, it holds a "regular box cake mix" worth of batter. Your boys sound old enough to make this ricotta cake themselves (it's basically
dump and mix) and they would have a blast decorating it too. The end result is very "home-made" tasting, but more important, if the boys make it themselves, the taste won't matter one hoot.
The ONLY problem I foresee is the volume. This will make a larger amount of cake batter (due to the 2 pounds of ricotta and sugar) and will be too much for the tree pan. Measure 6 cups for the Christmas pan and put the rest in another pan to bake. (A regular box mix using standard ingredients makes 5 1/2 C batter).
Bake at 350 degrees and start checking for doneness at 30 minutes. The light press on top should bounce back and the edges should start to pull away from the sides.
Ricotta Cake Mix Cakes:
1 box yellow or chocolate cake mix (the type WITHOUT a stick of butter as an added ingredient)
1 two-lb tub of ricotta (whole or FF; either work)
4 eggs
1 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla.
These instructions below are if the entire batch is cooked in one pan. Makes a thick, moist cake.
Mix dry cake batter and remaining ingredients. Bake in greased/floured pans at 350 until toothpick comes out clean. I've been making this in 13x9" pans and it takes an hour to bake. Layers would take less, but I'm not exactly sure how long. NO ONE has figured out that these cakes have been made from mixes yet.
http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5_view_item.html?m5:item=2200
