Demo: Making a wedding cake at home

[K8memphis]

Oh my total gosh--just been so untogether lately!!! I loose things constantly and I've looked several times for my recipe I quoted for the cake I baked here, so I could double check it which I always do double check but I still can't find it--it's probably right by the dang yardstick somewhere--but I left out 2 T of oil and one and third cups of water--so so sorry!!!

[Patrick S]

I'm chiming in late here, but congrats on the big, beautiful cakes and the wedding, K8. And thanks for saving us a slice!

[onehsancare]

Oh my total gosh--just been so untogether lately!!! I loose things constantly and I've looked several times for my recipe I quoted for the cake I baked here, so I could double check it which I always do double check but I still can't find it--it's probably right by the dang yardstick somewhere--but I left out 2 T of oil and one and third cups of water--so so sorry!!!

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So, does this look right?

Wedding Cake Base

Duncan Hines white cake mix

1 cup self-rising flour

1 cup super-fine sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract,

1 tsp of almond extract

1 cup of sour cream

3 egg whites

1 egg

a little salt

2T oil

1 1/3 c. water

[K8memphis]

Yes that is it exactly. Thanks for doing that! And once again that list of ingredients is a recipe I tweaked but it is a recipe that is very common in cake circles. It's usually called White Almond Sour Cream or WASC--but my variation uses self rising flour and a whole egg.

[celenes]

K8Memphis can you only use the white cake mix or does this recipe work for other flavors too?

Edited June 10, 2005 by celenes (log)

[K8memphis]

It's a nice doctored formula base for other cakes too--you would tweak it around for other flavors. I use other recipes for my other cakes--so I myself only use this in the white mode.

But some people use it in lots of different flavors. My friend Joy used it today and she substituted buttermilk for the water, even though it's got the sour cream and she also used a box of chocolate pudding for chocolate cake. I think she used 3 or 4 eggs and I'm not sure about the almond. She was actually making a checkerboard cake.

There's another friend who uses this for strawberry cake and uses a box of jello and a container of frozen strawberries and substitutes equal parts of strawberry juice for the water---and then stirs in the strawberies too--but this combination never has worked out for me, but it sure works for her. But she used all purpose flour too--I changed my mix to use the self rising.

Yes it is uber flexible--use your own judgment.

[racheld]

I just showed your pics to Hubby, chattering all the while about flowermaking and handmade cakestands, berry filling and tuxedoed strawberries. His comments were most flattering---he's an avid photographer, and said you captured the spirit and the colors and the joy of the day in a way that professionally-posed "bride stands here" photos never can.

There's a special feeling and a special warmth to having such a part in creating a beautiful, tangible symbol of your child's wedding day...I've done it four times now, and thank you for re-creating that time in your words and pictures.

I still say---glad it was you, and I'm so happy for you to have all these wonderful pictures and memories of that hectic, hardworking, can't-find-my-keys rush of cake and flowers and butterflies that make up such a joyous moment in a family's album of memories.

[K8memphis]

Wow, you all have been so super with your comments. I just want to thank you all if I haven't already, Mukbo, In2Pastry, Lydia, JamericanDiva, RuthWells, Curlz, ChezCherie, JSkilling, Tejon, Meredithla, and CherylShuen, thanks for your sweet and enthusiastic comments, quips and kudos.

DiH, thanks for everything! You are truly a beautiful person. I laughed so hard at your comment, geez how long can lunch take

Lexy, umm, when the kids were little I had to 'cake' around feeding troughs & times--later on I did develop that snarl you recommended :)--now I realize it's my husband's kitchen too, but I keep the snarl handy & ain't afraid to use it

RachelD--you think more of me than you should I'm sure, but I especially thank you so much and your husband too for your generous comments.

Matsu and Kjente2, thanks for reminding me to serve you all a slice.

Got for it Tweety69Bird!!!! We can all talk you through it too!!

PatrickS, thank you! And from my dear friend from another board, Clary, who is a fan of yours from Santiago Chile, "Please tell Patrick I love his indecently close up pictures!

Steve Klc, plenty of cake angels to go around!!

Nightscotsman and onehsancare, THANKS for fixing/helping with my recipe omission!!!!

Last but not least, Wendy Wendy Wendy. It was awesome of you to encourage me and all of us to put our stuff out there--hope it helps a lot of people...

...to call a baker or fasten their seatbelts!!!!!

edited to spell check

Edited June 12, 2005 by K8memphis (log)

[racheld]

You're very welcome. And like every good Southern Girl, your thank-you notes went out in a timely manner. Good girl.

Now about the recipes for that melted ice cream cake...intriguing and tempting. Please publish. In fact, do a thingie on the groom's cake alone...all the steps, whether you have pics or not. Just keep this thread going.

The Happy Couple do indeed look so, and our very best wishes to them. And what's the little sombrero on the groom's champagne flute?

[K8memphis]

...In fact, do a thingie on the groom's cake alone...all the steps, whether you have pics or not...

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Oh yes Oh yes, the groom's cake. See I had to mentally push that puppy right outa' my head or so much more of it would have ended up in my mouth, on my hips, you know the drill...

Umm, it was a big thick fudge brownie on the bottom--I put a corrugated cardboard type sheet board in the bottom of the half sheet & quarter sheet pans--cut to fit--just because I wanted zero issues getting them turned out of the pans. I lined in waxed paper Why did I line in waxed paper??? I don't know--it works great for cake, cheaper than parchment but I had to pry it off the (%$#) bottom of the brownie hahahayeahnotfunny. Pry, scrape, blow torch it with my trusty hair dryer. Got it off. grr

So next time, parchment aheh. But umm, I used multiple flower nails and a heating core to help the brownie bake off more evenly -- I'm sure I had the towels around the pans too. The wet towels and all the extra metal help the batter to heat up more evenly. Plus it adds a nice bit of moisture in there too. Y'know how stuff bakes on the edges and by the time it bakes in the middle the edges are over baked and dry. And especially in a half sheet pan that's a lot of extra surface to cook.

So would this not be heavy metal baking???

Anyways, baked that brownie off completely, had the cheesecake batter ready to roll poured it on, re-wet the toweling and baked it again. I just basically hoped & prayed it worked out. I was in uncharted water--not that it hadn't been done before, but it hadn't been done my me before. And that is not a smart thing to do at all for a huge emotional event like this. Even without the emotion --I would always make one first to test it way before the real deal--I just really had such a good handle on the bride's cake. She had picked it out a year previous and never waivered. Y'know--I'm just realizing as I write this, I was totally out of character doing that groom's cake.

I wasn't even positive of the decor until a couple weeks ahead. I had wanted to do maybe a graphic cartoon spiraling up a whimsical cake--because he is a writer--I had thought of a nice sparkley white fondant colorful cartoon strip against a background of deep rich chocolate icing. And they love to go hear bands so I was gonna do a band & a club type of scene. The cartoons would be vignettes of their lives. Then one day I mentioned, 'choco curls & tuxedo strawberries' & he said that sounded cool--so that design was also easy for me too. I'll keep the cartoon & band ideas 'in the file' for another day.

So I got the brownie/cheesecake baked off--maybe I chickened out on the cheescake part a bit--hey it wasn't New York style three inch thick cheesecake, ok? But it was over an inch -- respectable and it made a great 'filling' between the chocolate decadence. But any taller would not have served well I do not think. I mean I think it would squish out not cut & serve cleanly. Besides, I didn't want it to be an oreo cookie on the bottom either.

I can't wait the get to the chocolate curls & strawberries!!!

Edited June 13, 2005 by K8memphis (log)

[Tweety69bird]

Hey K8memphis,

Thank you for your offer to help walk me through my wedding cake... too bad I only saw it today! The cake is all done, delievered and digested, and it all went off without too much trouble... thankfully I had a local buddy a phone call away that was able to answer my questions and calm me down!! I would love to attach pictures for you to check out - if i could figure out how to attach pictures! I've searched around but no luck... can someone please help?? Thank you again for putting all this info on here for people like me to see, I thought of you & this blog often as I was making my creation. It's amazing how much prep work needs to be done, especially with only a little Kitchen-Aid mixer to help me... but it got done, and now I'm looking forward to the next project to tackle... my better half's 40th surpsise birthday cake. I'm planning on doing a cake that looks like swiss cheese and has some mice and other deco around it, and says "Aged to Perfection". I think it'll be cute... will post pics when that's done too if I can figure out what I'm doing!!

Edited August 3, 2005 by Tweety69bird (log)

[K8memphis]

Hey K8memphis,

Thank you for your offer to help walk me through my wedding cake... too bad I only saw it today! The cake is all done, delievered and digested, and it all went off without too much trouble... thankfully I had a local buddy a phone call away that was able to answer my questions and calm me down!! I would love to attach pictures for you to check out - if i could figure out how to attach pictures! I've searched around but no luck... can someone please help??    Thank you again for putting all this info on here for people like me to see, I thought of you & this blog often as I was making my creation. It's amazing how much prep work needs to be done, especially with only a little Kitchen-Aid mixer to help me... but it got done, and now I'm looking forward to the next project to tackle... my better half's 40th surpsise birthday cake. I'm planning on doing a cake that looks like swiss cheese and has some mice and other deco around it, and says "Aged to Perfection".  I think it'll be cute... will post pics when that's done too if I can figure out what I'm doing!!

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I'm so glad your excursion into cakensanity went well and you emerged relatively unscathed, unscarred and married to boot. Congratulations on all fronts!!! Thank you for letting me know I got to help a bit. And who woulda thought it does take that much preparation??!!

Hey, pictures??? Try photobucket.com. Then I resized each photo a bit by clicking on 'resize'. Ideally, I would have wanted to put my pictures here on egullet in my control panel option thing but I never could figure it out though I tried. But once you get them loaded into photobucket, you can just copy the img address from underneath the picture then come over here to where you are posting something and click on the IMG box dealie up above the field you are typing in ^^^^^ up there and that gives you a box to paste the img address into--pretty sure you want to copy & paste the img address--there are three choices under each picture in photobucket and it's one of those. It's really easy. And free to start it.

Hey I like the big cheese cake coming up!!! Sounds way cool!!!

Hoping to see your pictures soon!!!

Thanks, Tweety69bird!!!

(Reminds me I need to do the tuxedo strawberries & curls pictures)

[JamericanDiva]

K8memphis, I can't tell you enough what a fabulous job you've done. I am in the process of making a wedding cake myself and like a do-do, didn't think to document the progress. So far I've made a lot of gumpaste flowers. I do have some more to do, so maybe I'll photograph the process. The cakes will be baked on Friday, decorated on Saturday and served on Sunday. I will try and document the process and start a thread similar to yours. Funny enough I was thinking about the hydrangea cake and couldn't remember which of my Martha Weddings it was in. Then "BLAM!" Your thread popped up again and I was like, "Oh, yeah..." Imma try that cake next, but on a smaller scale. I know meringue is what was used for Martha's hydrangeas, but I like your idea as well. I actually have a hydrangea cutter. I'm sure it would be a whole lot simpler making nothing but hydrangeas than all these roses, stephanotis and other filler flowers I'm doing now.... I'll try and post pics. Once again, Kudos, Lady!!!

[Tweety69bird]

I'm so glad your excursion into cakensanity went well and you emerged relatively unscathed, unscarred and married to boot.

Ha ha ha how I laughed when I read this..... Yes, you are absolutely correct, I came out ok on the other end of this adventure, however, it was a wedding cake for a friend of mine, not my wedding cake!! I just was calling it MY wedding cake because it's my first little baby, and to be honest, watching the bride and groom cut into the cake was to me, like watching someone cut the head off a baby!! I joined Photobucket, thank you very much for that info. FYI, it's the URL address to add in, the first line of the 3 options.

The roses are real, and you can just see a little bit of the drape behind them. The cake was butter pecan with raspberry filling and buttercream.

This one shows more detail of the royal piping. I didn't mask the cake with enough buttercream under the fondant because on the top tier you can see the layers! At least they looks straight! Um... notice the bloody caesar's behind the cake serving to calm my nerves. All in all a fantastic experience... looking forward to the next one!

Edited August 4, 2005 by Tweety69bird (log)

[K8memphis]

Tweety, man that's pretty--I love the lace how it does exactly flow over the borders & stuff--very elegant--and the ruby red petals peaking out of the tulle--gorgeous setting. That's too funny about me thinking it was your wedding--ha! And isn't photobucket user friendly??!!

Diva, thank you again!

[Tweety69bird]

Thank you!!!It is really nice to get all the lovely comments at the wedding, but to get nice comments from people who know how to do this kind of thing is even that more impressive to me. Thank you all so much for your kind words, it really is encouraging and makes me believe that really, you can accomplish whatever you put your mind to.

Oh... yup, Photobucket is super friendly and very convenient.