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White wedding cake

Tri2Cook

By Tri2Cook
in Pastry & Baking

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Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

Posted
Posted (edited)

As I've mentioned many times before, I don't do cakes. It's just not a talent of mine. Baking the cake/s? No problem. Making fillings, icings, etc.? No problem there either. Assembly? I can handle that too. Decorating? Now the trouble begins. I'm not fun to be around at that point. However, a person who I've been somewhat of a father-figure to for the past 8 or 9 years has asked me to do her cake. I've explained why that's a bad idea. I've shown her the evidence via pictures. She doesn't care. She wants me to do it. So I guess I'm going to do it. She wants it fairly simple, all white with some pearl-looking decors. It doesn't have to be big, only for 40 people. I really prefer not to go the rolled fondant route even though that's much easier for me to get nice looking results with than buttercream. I may end up doing it anyway just so it's not completely ugly but I thought I'd fish for some ideas here first.

edit: removed irrelevant babbling.

Edited by Tri2Cook (log)

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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JeanneCake

JeanneCake

Posted
Posted

What part of the decorating are you struggling with? The idea? Or not having a smooth coat of buttercream? Well, there's always a basketweave finish :smile: if you want to avoid having to smooth the buttercream.

Fresh flowers always look great on a cake; you can add some dots here and there and it will look beautiful.

I worked with someone who was absolutely amazing when it came to smoothing buttercream; her secret was adding fluidflex to the italian meringue buttercream - just enough to make it more supple and easier to smooth.

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Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

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Nope, no struggling with the idea. She was very specific on what she wants. Smooth white cake, 2 tiers, no flowers (though I may be able to sell her on that one) with little piped pearls/dots. I think just around the bases of the tiers but it could be more, I'll have to verify that. It's not until sometime in May so I have time to experiment a little. The problem I have is that it's just not what I do so I don't have enough practice at it to feel comfy. If someone insists I make a birthday cake and it's not quite perfect, I can live with that. I always warn people I'm not a cake decorator. But a wedding cake is a whole different arena. They need to be nice. I've attached a pic of one of my cakes below. I've posted it before but it's just to give an idea of the type of decorating I do as opposed to the type she wants. This is the type of decorating I'm comfy with. I have fun with it so I do it often and stay in practice... but it's not a wedding cake. I'll probably end up doing fondant. I'm not opposed to working with it, just eating it.

gallery_53467_5170_15379.jpg

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

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Italian meringue buttercream is pretty much the only type I use unless someone requests something else so that's not a problem.

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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tmriga

tmriga

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Posted

How about a basic diamond pattern, with fondant pearls at the intersections? You can freeze your buttercream, then make the indentations with the back of a knife or press a skewer in. Just remember that as the frosting gets soft, you will have to put it back in the freezer until it hardens enough to work with it again.

Either buy some edible pearls or make your own with rolled fondant. Here are Earlene's instructions:

http://www.earlenescakes.com/prlinstruct.htm

Send me a PM if you need more help.

Theresa :biggrin:

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

- Abraham Lincoln

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CanadianBakin'

CanadianBakin'

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I imagine your cake is going to be 10 - 12" in diameter. If you want to keep it simple I think I would frost in IMBC, put little pearls all around the bottom edge and then make a large loopy gumpaste bow to put on top. Pearl dust on all the pearls and the bow would dress it up.

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

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alanamoana

alanamoana

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i've said this in several other threads, but i think my photo was lost in some upgrade or other. at any rate, you can glaze with italian meringue buttercream and it is easy and gives you a great look. looks like fondant, but eats like buttercream!

i'll try and post another photo...

edited to add: after multiple failed attempts to upload image to imageGullet, i've given up. trust me, it looks good!

i find beveling the edges of the cake gives a much better glaze. do a crumb coat, chill to set and glaze on a rack. might be good to do a couple of practice cakes first.

Edited by alanamoana (log)
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Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

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That sounds interesting. I'm comfy with glazing things. I did a search after reading your reply and found a thread on it. I'm going to do a test run with it and see what I think. Thanks everybody and keep the ideas coming, I can use all the help I can get with this one.

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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CanadianBakin'

CanadianBakin'

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i've said this in several other threads, but i think my photo was lost in some upgrade or other.  at any rate, you can glaze with italian meringue buttercream and it is easy and gives you a great look.  looks like fondant, but eats like buttercream!

i'll try and post another photo...

edited to add: after multiple failed attempts to upload image to imageGullet, i've given up.  trust me, it looks good!

i find beveling the edges of the cake gives a much better glaze.  do a crumb coat, chill to set and glaze on a rack.  might be good to do a couple of practice cakes first.

Do you just heat it to the same consistency as ganache and pour over? Do you use two coats or just one? That would save so much time and still look fabulous. Would you just use it over a light coloured cake? If I PM you could you please e-mail me a picture?

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

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chocoera

chocoera

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Nope, no struggling with the idea. She was very specific on what she wants. Smooth white cake, 2 tiers, no flowers (though I may be able to sell her on that one) with little piped pearls/dots. I think just around the bases of the tiers but it could be more, I'll have to verify that. It's not until sometime in May so I have time to experiment a little. The problem I have is that it's just not what I do so I don't have enough practice at it to feel comfy. If someone insists I make a birthday cake and it's not quite perfect, I can live with that. I always warn people I'm not a cake decorator. But a wedding cake is a whole different arena. They need to be nice. I've attached a pic of one of my cakes below. I've posted it before but it's just to give an idea of the type of decorating I do as opposed to the type she wants. This is the type of decorating I'm comfy with. I have fun with it so I do it often and stay in practice... but it's not a wedding cake. I'll probably end up doing fondant. I'm not opposed to working with it, just eating it.

gallery_53467_5170_15379.jpg

beautiful cake!!!! is that a fudge icing and ganache on top? and i love the sugar work...i've used "spun" sugar before (isn't that what the pretty cloud is?) but doesn't it wilt pretty quick? but again...beautiful!!!!

Chocoera

http://www.thechocolateseason.com

http://www.thechocolateseason.com/journal/

http://www.bradleyjensen.com

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alanamoana

alanamoana

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Posted
i've said this in several other threads, but i think my photo was lost in some upgrade or other.  at any rate, you can glaze with italian meringue buttercream and it is easy and gives you a great look.  looks like fondant, but eats like buttercream!

i'll try and post another photo...

edited to add: after multiple failed attempts to upload image to imageGullet, i've given up.  trust me, it looks good!

i find beveling the edges of the cake gives a much better glaze.  do a crumb coat, chill to set and glaze on a rack.  might be good to do a couple of practice cakes first.

Do you just heat it to the same consistency as ganache and pour over? Do you use two coats or just one? That would save so much time and still look fabulous. Would you just use it over a light coloured cake? If I PM you could you please e-mail me a picture?

you want it a bit thicker than ganache as you don't want to have to do a second coat if you can help it. you also don't want to completely deflate the buttercream (as it is "lightened" with the italian meringue) or you lose some of the body. you do want to do a crumb coat first. i've only done this on a light colored cake, but the coating was thick enough that with a crumb coat you could probably get away with doing a chocolate cake. again, i think the beveled edges help. you're not going to get sharp edges with this method. also, round cakes are best for obvious reasons. glazing squares (and other odd shapes) is a pita.

yes, pm me with an e-mail address and i'm happy to send you a pic (not the greatest, but you'll get the idea). i think in one of the other threads there's a baker who does this with a lot of her cakes. she works in hawaii and i can't remember her screen name right now.

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Rendee

Rendee

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Posted

Not tring to take away from this site, it is a great site, but for any ideas you may need or pictures, how-tos, etc, you should check out cakecentral.com, thousands of pics, hundreds of ideas. Sorry if this has already :rolleyes: been mentioned, but I am new to this site.

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Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

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chocoera: Thanks for the kind words. The cake is sprayed with chocolate and topped with dark mirror glaze.

Rendee: We have that here as well, and thanks to Rob's (gfron1) hard work, you can find them here.

alanamoana: Thanks for the additional information. It's march tournament week here, there are about 30 hockey teams plus spectators in town, so we'll be slammed at work from start to stop all week. That means I probably won't get a chance to give the technique a try until early next week but I'm definitely going to check it out.

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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gfron1

gfron1

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Larry - whenever I get wedding cake requests my standard response is "I'm not a decorator, and I'll do anything but a wedding cake because a wedding cake is about memories and there are others more adept in that arena." Unfortunately, that normally makes them want me more so I show them my cakes and that still doesn't persuade them. The problem is everyone else's cakes are like Wal-Mart cakes so in a couple of instances I have made the cake and subcontracted the decorating to someone more handy with a piping bag.

Chef, Bulrush & Squatters in St. Louis, MO

BBC Write-up

Smithsonian magazine story

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RuthWells

RuthWells

Posted
Posted
Nope, no struggling with the idea. She was very specific on what she wants. Smooth white cake, 2 tiers, no flowers (though I may be able to sell her on that one) with little piped pearls/dots. I think just around the bases of the tiers but it could be more, I'll have to verify that. It's not until sometime in May so I have time to experiment a little. The problem I have is that it's just not what I do so I don't have enough practice at it to feel comfy. If someone insists I make a birthday cake and it's not quite perfect, I can live with that. I always warn people I'm not a cake decorator. But a wedding cake is a whole different arena. They need to be nice. I've attached a pic of one of my cakes below. I've posted it before but it's just to give an idea of the type of decorating I do as opposed to the type she wants. This is the type of decorating I'm comfy with. I have fun with it so I do it often and stay in practice... but it's not a wedding cake. I'll probably end up doing fondant. I'm not opposed to working with it, just eating it.

gallery_53467_5170_15379.jpg

I would like to know more about that gorgeous cake, please!!

RuthWells

Lemonade & Kidneys

Sweet Pleasures

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