Planning a wedding cake

[nightscotsman]

(And saw the pictures. Nobody -- NOBODY looks good in strapless lavender hoopskirts. Come on, everybody. Say it with me. NOBODY...)

Ha! That's hillarious!

[sherribabee]

(And saw the pictures.  Nobody -- NOBODY looks good in strapless lavender hoopskirts.  Come on, everybody.  Say it with me.  NOBODY...)

Ha! That's hillarious!

No, that's frightening! And any bride who would make her closest friends wear those things should be tarred and feathered.

[sherribabee]

Rose Levy has a couple of useful tables in the cake bible.

I found a copy of the Cake Bible at the Strand for $12 the other night. Skimming through it has been quite educational.

[Samaki]

The Cake Bible is a great guide for doing wedding cakes. I've used it many times.

As for the transportation issue - just to help you keep your options open, when I myself got married I was living thousands of miles from the wedding location. I baked the cake layers ahead of time, froze it, well wrapped, and took it on the plane in my luggage. It worked out just fine.

Lavender hoopskirts?

[PastryLady]

All I have to say is that you are a brave, brave woman. I would probably have to say no personally to a request like this. You don't live in the same state, there really is no way for you to do anything ahead of time, using a foreign kitchen and only about 24 hours to make a wedding cake for over 300 people?!!!!!!! I am having a nervous breakdown for you just thinking about it.

[jersey13]

Don't worry Sherri. I baked a wedding cake here in Montreal, froze it and hauled it with all my equipment to Vancouver for my sister's wedding. I made the frosting there, in a tiny kitchen with my brother in law's mixer. I was up most of the night only to have to get to the hall for 7 am to assemble while my other sisters decorated, etc. The cake was well received and most appreciated. Are there things I would do differently? Hell yeah!!! But it was a good learning experience and when it's for someone close to you, you get over the headaches much faster.

:-)

[Amuse Bouche]

I baked a cake for my own wedding, using fondant, and it was delicious and beautiful. (Granted, it was a bit smaller than you're planning -- the cake I made would serve about 80, with a 12", 9" and 6" layer).

I did more than one trial run -- I practiced at least two cakes with fondant (which I bought, and flavored. One of the guests liked it so much she asked me for the recipe. Repeatedly. So not everybody hates fondant.) I found fondant easier to work with than buttercream -- it takes a lot of effort to get buttercream looking smooth and beautiful, but fondant is a little easier. It helps to get the buttercream very smooth first (but it doesn't need to be beautiful), and it helps to get a silpat to roll out the fondant, so you're not using powdered sugar which can cause the texture to change.

The Cake Bible is great for technique, but I found the actual cake recipes a bit boring. For a wedding cake, you could make chocolate, yellow, or cheesecake. On the recommendations of some friends, I bought Dede Wilson's wedding cake book, which had recipes for all sorts of delicious sounding cakes (pumpkin cake with crystallized ginger and cranberry buttercream, Earl Grey Chocolate Mousse cake, Lemon Poppy Seed cake with Grand Marnier Buttercream). I ended up making the top and bottom layers in Spanish Vanilla cake (an almond cake with chocolate grated into it for a "tweed" effect), filled with bitter orange marmalade, and frosted with Grand Marnier buttercream. The middle layer was a Grand Marnier almond poundcake, filled and frosted the same way. The fondant was flavored with almond oil, and the flavors went together beautifully.

I colored the fondant blue, and topped each tier, then I stacked the tiers (using drinking straws as support) and applied white decorations I made from fondant using a mold).

The end result looked like Wedgwood Jasperware, and tasted fabulous.

In addition to the pans and a silpat, I would highly recommend a cake decorating turntable, which made getting the buttercream smooth much easier.

[sherribabee]

The more I think about it, the less worried I am about my ability to actually do it.

So far, the game plan is as follows:

Thursday night - arrive in Ohio and bake the bottom tier, at mom's house and throw in freezer

Friday morning - get up early and bake the rest of the tiers at mom's house and throw in freezer

Friday evening - crumb coat and apply fondant to each individual tier, drive to reception location and assemble

Saturday morning - add finishing touches (extra piping, etc.), coordinate final details with caterers

Saturday afternoon - go to wedding

[alanamoana]

please don't think we were trying to discourage you (well, some of us might have been ), we just wanted to have you think about all the details and plan them out!

it sounds like you have a good plan...write it out with a schedule. you'd be surprised how fast the time goes by.

good luck with this, we have confidence in your success!

[Tracy K.]

I know this is a little late for the thread, but I'd like to add my two-cents worth. Since you'll be baking the cakes right before the wedding, don't freeze them, simply refrigerate them. Make sure they have cooled completely, then wrap in plastic wrap.

When it comes time to frost/apply fondant, it should ideally be a two step process. Thin your buttercream with milk/cream/water (doesn't really matter) and give the cakes the crumb coat. You must allow this to dry completely or it won't do it's job. The next point concerns your fondant. Rolled fondant got it's start in England as a way to preserve fruitcakes. Usually the British put a thick (up to 1/2 inch) layer of marzipan over the cake and smooth it, allow it to form a crust, then brush with either jam or alcohol (like vodka) just to make the surface sticky enough for the fondant to adhere. The two step process allows the layers of fondant and marzipan to remain distinct.

I have used both buttercream and marzipan underneath rolled fondant. A word of advice--you must use nearly the amount of buttercream that you would use if that were your only frosting, and allow it to set, before you use the fondant. If you do not use enough buttercream (or a thick layer of marzipan) every single bump in the cake will show through the fondant and you won't achieve the silky smooth look you want.

Try to get an acrylic rolling pin for a completely smooth surface--wooden pins will leave marks. You can find them at NY Cake (formerly Chocolate Gallery) in Manhattan on 22nd. My best surface for rolling out fondant is a glass table. Marble would work well too. When you roll the fondant, do not wear anything other than white clothing--little specks of lint can jump off your shirt and mar the fondant.

Some recipes for fondant call for glycerin. Don't add glycerin--it keeps the fondant soft, but also attracts moisture, so your cake might end up with a wet-look, not a matte finish. Do not refrigerate the cake, because this will also cause the fondant to attract moisture. If the fondant is applied properly and seals the cake completely, it is safe to leave out for several days--hey, the British decorate their fruitcakes so elaborately, it might take days for the finishing touches to happen.

If you use sheetcakes to supplement the servings...make certain that they have the fondant on them too--or guests will think they're not getting a slice of the "real" cake.

For me, the best part about finishing a wedding cake is seeing the whole thing destroyed!

[sherribabee]

I know this is a little late for the thread, but I'd like to add my two-cents worth.

Not all all too late, I'll be looking for advice up until the wedding in June.

Lots of good tips in your post -- thanks!

[cdh]

How's the planning going? This thread was suspenseful and fun... now we need the thrilling climax and triumphant victory stories.

[celenes]

Oh boy was I happy to read all the commentaryon wedding cake drama

I am about to do my very first wedding cake July2nd for 150 people. Small I know better nevertheless frightening.

I too have the "no fondant" rule because I have heard such horrible tales about it from the standpoint of working with it and also that is doesn't taste so go. Pretty to look at when you defeat the beast but not sure if I feel like working that hard.

I have also been opposed to freezing cakes until I got a compliment from one of my clients from Easter who said in early May they were still enjoying the coconut cake they purchased from me for Easter. It was made on Good Friday so you know I was frightened beyond belief when he said we are still enjoying your cake I didn't have enough sense on my own to think perhaps they froze it until he said it to me. Of course I didn't let on that I had been clueless

Anyway the wedding cake I am making will be three heart shaped tiers with whipped frosting. I use "Bettercreme" a Rich's non-dairy product that holds up great and people that have tasted it love it. The cake will be setup over a kolor-flo fountain with gumpaste roses adorning the lower edges of the first tier and randomingly placed on the other two. I am a little leary of the wires. Can't I snip them off and just adhere the roses with some frosting. Also I should make note that they are no for consumption right only for decorative purposes.

Wish me luck. I'll post the picture when it is done.

Did I mention I am having my own house warming party too the same weekend!! Nuts I know but the wedding is on Friday and my party's on Sunday. So I think I can swing everything.

[chefpeon]

I must say, as a wedding cake professional, it's been very difficult reading this thread, to

be perfectly honest. I was lucky enough to have been mentored by the best, and so I've

been spared many of the "horror stories" that have been mentioned here. If you've been

taught the "right way", then baking, decorating, and delivering a wedding cake (any

wedding cake) is quite easy. I'm not trying to "brag" or anything....definitely NOT! I'm

just saying I'm extremely puzzled by the hardships that you all write about here.

Bottom line is, I wish I could help all of you. Come out there and teach you.....show you

that there is no reason to freak out...that it all can be done.....stress and worry free!

You have to know your ingredients and what they can and cannot do, and especially how

to work with them to achieve maximum workable results.

Also, I believe that people who are first-time wedding cake makers who know little about

the process they are undertaking and do it in time-crunch conditions, are setting themselves

up for yet another horror-story. No offense people, but I've had many a well-meaning

friend or mother-in-law show up at my cake shop with a cake they've attempted to

construct and realize they were way in over their heads. They'd be crying (literally) saying

they'd pay me whatever it took to get the cake decorated and to the reception. I'm a major

softie, so I never charged them a dime, but I would make them sit with me while I talked

them through it and showed them HOW it should be done. Never mind that it put me behind

schedule on my OWN cakes, but I felt I was doing a valuable service and it was a good

feeling. The gratitude showed me by those people far outweighed any money I could have

charged them for their shortsightedness.

So what's this about a "no fondant" rule? Goodness, I use fondant all the time......it's probably

one of the most easy mediums to use when it comes to decorating cakes. Why are you

having so much trouble with it? I'm not real clear on the hardship there.

I used to work with a PC from Massachusetts. She said the humidity there made fondant a

completely different animal and that it COULD melt off. I believed her, but have never

experienced what heat and humidity could do to it, since I live in probably one of the best

cake decorating climates in the country. Lucky me. I also talked extensively with a cake

artist in Atlanta, and she filled me in on what she had to do with her cakes to prevent heat

and humidity disasters. I am always happy to be enlightened about varying conditions regarding

climate in all parts of the country, because I know someday I WILL have to deal with it and

I'd best be prepared!

My best advice to first-timers:

Do a practice cake first! Then you will know EXACTLY what you need to do when it's time for

the actual event. I cannot stress this enough. You will be SO GLAD you did.

Sometimes, even I do practice cakes. I frequently get requests for cakes that are so unique

in their configuration that I'm not confident enough to wait til the actual day. I do a practice

one, either in miniature or actual size depending on what it is and what I'm trying to figure out,

then I donate the cake to a homeless shelter or a food bank.

Again:

BE PREPARED. KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. DON'T "WING IT".

And of course, I'm here to help. Any way I can.

[celenes]

Chefpeon,

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Please believe I plan to make a practice cake before the actual date of the wedding. I would never wing something this important!!

I know you are not scolding anyone but only offering up your knowledge that I for one appreciate.

I have already made a similar cake minus one tier and a fountain. So I feel comfortable that I will have no problem assembling and transferring etc. Plus I have my instructor in my back pocket (not literally) if I get into trouble.

As for my fear of fondant, I have never worked with it before and I have just heard such terrible stories that I made up in my mind not to try it. However, like anything else practice makes perfect. So the moral to this is I am sure I will try it sometime down the road but not just yet.

I have an opportunity to really show off my talents during the holiday season so I will probably try it out once the weather cools a bit. Not that it gets tremendously warm in Ohio but it can get quite humid.

As I have stated before I operate from my home on a part-time basis but I must admit I have a fairly sizeable client base from last year at this time. So I can only get more more and more experience. Fortunately for me I have lots of folks cheering me on and a great husband who does everything in his power to make sure I have all the training and tools I need to indulge in something that I am very passionate about.

I have seen some very elegant designs since I have joined this forum and I feel both challenged and encouraged to move myself up the ladder by discussing and reading all the great information that people like yourself share.

Thanks again for the insight

Edited June 7, 2004 by celenes (log)

[celenes]

Not sure if anyone will read this because it's been awhile since the last post but here we go.

So I did my test run for the upcoming wedding cake I have to do for a July 2nd wedding.

Things were going well with the cake until I put the final tier on and that's when things began to fall apart. Not quite literally though.

Here's some of the problems I had: The frost was smooth and then it go out of sort as each tier was adding, I am not sure if it was because I kept going over it or not.

I should step back and give the background of the cake and order to get good advice I suppose.

Cake construction: stacked, three tiers, heart shape (6", 10" and 12")

Flavors: Top: Chocolate w raspberry filling, Second: Lemon w lemon filling and Bottom: Cassata custard filling and strawberries. Yes I made the fillings ahead so they were setup nicely.

Frosting: Whipped (Bettercreme product) which sets nicely and doesn't have to be refrigerated for awhile.

Process: All cakes were baked throughout this past week, wrapped tightly and refrigerated.

Bottom tier filled and frosted then placed back in the refrigerator while second tier was prepared. Stacked the second and inserted dowel rods. Third tier frosted and filled and placed on second and one dowel rod insert down the middle all the way down to bottom tier. Sounds pretty on track. So I thought. Placed gumpaste flowers randomly and here's what the result looked like. Terrible. I am in a slight panic. I think I may have put the third tier on backwards or something.

Also as for the flowers is it best to remove the wire or leave it in. On the top I took them off but they began to fall, so I left them on the others. The final cake will not have roses up top, I just did that this time because I did not want to use the actually decorative ornament.

Help!!!

Edited June 13, 2004 by celenes (log)

[Suzanne F]

A quick update on Sherribabee's behalf (I ran into her yesterday): she's alive and well, at least until next weekend when it all happens. She's doing it without fondant, and no fancy fillings. Planning on baking/decorating at the reception site. Her mom has already bought all the ingredients.

I expect she'll fill in the details when she's back here in a few weeks.

[chefpeon]

Bottom tier filled and frosted then placed back in the refrigerator while second tier was prepared. Stacked the second and inserted dowel rods. Third tier frosted and filled and placed on second and one dowel rod insert down the middle all the way down to bottom tier. Sounds pretty on track. So I thought. Placed gumpaste flowers randomly and here's what the result looked like. Terrible. I am in a slight panic. I think I may have put the third tier on backwards or something.

Ok......so it looks like you have a leaning problem, and the source of the leaning is coming from the bottom tier. Your description above isn't totally clear to me.....you said you filled and frosted the bottom tier and put it back in the fridge, then frosted the second tier, stacked it on top of the bottom tier and THEN inserted dowel rods. My question is, you DID insert supports in the bottom tier didn't you? I can't tell by your wording whether you did so or not. If anything, it's the bottom tier that needs the supports the MOST.

Here is where I explain my procedure for stacking cakes in another thread.

It could also be that when you inserted the rod that goes through all three cakes, you did some major "squishing" there. It's hard to say. I personally don't think that final rod is needed, if you use my skewer method as I described in the other thread. There is no danger of squishing the lower tiers if you use skewers.

Once you smooth your icing (or Bettercreme, in your case) on each cake, you shouldn't have to touch it again after you stack it. The more you mess with it, the worse it gets, as I'm sure you have discovered. Learning to stack cakes without marring the icing is something that takes a little practice.

Since you said the cake is a heart shape (hard to tell from the photo) I don't quite know how you figured you put the third tier on "backwards". With a heart shape, there's only ONE way to put it on......how can it be "backwards"?

As far as the wires on your gumpaste flowers.....leave them on!! They are your "insurance". They will stay where you leave them......don't make it hard on yourself! In fact, I find that the wires are fairly long, so for extra strength, I always bend the wire in half and twist it on itself for extra strength.

Hope this helps.......post again if you need any more assistance!

Annie

[celenes]

Annie,

Thank You, Thank You!! I am so happy someone replied. I didn't think I put the third tier on backwards but that's what the hubby said it looked like to him, so I went with.

I just cut up the whole thing moments ago and I am giving it to friends, family and co-workers on tomorrow.

I plain to try again because I really don't won't to have a disaster on my hands come wedding day. Also the client has paid me in full so that means they have great confidence and trust in me. I won't be accused of letting them down either.

I definitely know where some of my mistakes were but not all. I was wondering about assembly the whole cake and then transporting it and I believe I will do that because like yourself I get very uncomfortable with an audience. Even when my husband's is lurky around in the kitchen it distracts me which cause him to get a bit of a tongue lashing You would think after three years of marriage he would know me by now. He's a great guy but sometime

So back to the drawing board, I hope to show a more successful project at the end of week. Wish me luck!!!

[chefpeon]

Yeah.....I'm not real big on looky-loos that's for sure! I hate it when my husband watches

too.....because INVARIABLY....that's when I mess up. Why do I always look like a dork

in front of people? I'm never a dork when I'm by myself.......REALLY! No, really!

Bet you're damn glad you did a practice run, huh?

Just imagine how panicked you'd be if this were the big day!

Give yourself a pat on the back......you done good!

Bet the next picture you post will be wonderful!!!

Keep us posted!

Annie

[MHesse]

So Sherri. The wedding was yesterday.

How big a success was your cake?