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LARGE wedding cakes


LCS

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The largest wedding cake I've had to make was for 350. I've seen much larger wedding cakes, but never really bothered to figure out how it's done since "I would never get an order that big".

*ring ring* "Can I make an appointment for a consultation? My wedding is in April and I haven't been able to find anyone who can make an eggless wedding cake! How many guests? About 700".

Me: *jaw drops*

She may simply want a much smaller cake completely for ceremonial purposes since there will be lots of other desserts served. It's an Indian wedding and for many of my Indian friends, cake is not traditional for them so it's often an after thought no matter how lavish the wedding. But what if this bride IS interested in a cake large enough to serve all 700? How is that even accomplished? I picture myself lifting cake layers with hydrolic lifts (ha), icing a 10" high tier with spackling tools, using plywood (ok haha, masonite) halfway through the tiers for support, and PVC pipes for dowels with one large or several smaller central dowels staked all the way through. Definitely assembling on site. But rolling out fondant to 50" evenly? I guess I'll need to buy that sheeter faster than I thought though that would only help me up to 30" (btw, any of you own a fondant sheeters? If so, I have questions for you). And what about the other 100 things I'm probably not even fathoming right now?

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in situations like this, isn't it more common to have a smaller display cake and a large sheet cake from which to serve guests? particularly in the case of such a large number of people...you'd want to get started on the cutting and serving instead of waiting for the bride and groom to do the ceremonial first slice.

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Perhaps you can suggest to the bride that if she does want enough cake to serve her 700 guests, you can make a decent sized tiered cake - lets say for 350 people. Then, supply the kitchen with sheet cakes that they can just cut and serve for the balance of the 350 people.

Don't waste your time or time will waste you - Muse

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The largest wedding cake I've had to make was for 350.  I've seen much larger wedding cakes, but never really bothered to figure out how it's done since "I would never get an order that big". 

*ring ring* "Can I make an appointment for a consultation?  My wedding is in April and I haven't been able to find anyone who can make an eggless wedding cake!  How many guests?  About 700".

Me: *jaw drops*

She may simply want a much smaller cake completely for ceremonial purposes since there will be lots of other desserts served.  It's an Indian wedding and for many of my Indian friends, cake is not traditional for them so it's often an after thought no matter how lavish the wedding.  But what if this bride IS interested in a cake large enough to serve all 700?  How is that even accomplished?  I picture myself lifting cake layers with hydrolic lifts (ha), icing a 10" high tier with spackling tools, using plywood (ok haha, masonite) halfway through the tiers for support, and PVC pipes for dowels with one large or several smaller central dowels staked all the way through.  Definitely assembling on site.  But rolling out fondant to 50" evenly?  I guess I'll need to buy that sheeter faster than I thought though that would only help me up to 30" (btw, any of you own a fondant sheeters?  If so, I have questions for you).  And what about the other 100 things I'm probably not even fathoming right now?

Don't sweat this cake. If you can do a cake for 350, you can do a cake for 700. The only differences are that your bottom tiers will likely be larger than you're used to covering, and that you may need to invest in better supports than you're already using.

The best way to construct anything large like this is to:

a) use the stress free support system http://www.earlenescakes.com/newringsupportset.htm

It's a bit of an investment but they're steel and they lock together....you could probably do 20 tiers with these puppies with no worries.

b) use cornish cake boards under each tier

http://www.creativecutters.com/LISTPRODUCT...&subcat=7&who=3

These are a paper thin sheet of masonite covered in foil, and you couldn't bend them if you tried. Use them under all tiers except the bottom one.....for that you'll want to get a 1/2" thick masonite board from home depot or somewhere.

Both Geraldine Randlesome and Earlene are terrific and very honest businesswomen and you'll have no problems ordering from either of them.

For covering the larger tiers in fondant, use the method of rolling out onto an acetate sheet and inverting. I can give you more pointers on that if you're not used to it, but you've probably heard of that method.

For transporting, move it in pieces, no more than 2 stacked regardless of size, and assemble on site. Transporting each tier individually is preferable.

Don't use a central dowel at all.... it's not reliable. You'll just end up with the dowel tearing a hole through the side of a tier if you have to slam on your brakes while moving it.

If your customer does end up ordering this as one big cake, you should charge a slight premium for the difficulty factor of engineering this thing. The cornish boards will cost more, etc. so you'll want to factor that in. I wouldn't charge extra for having to rent a larger vehicle though.... if you take the order you should be able to deliver it.

And just make sure the bride knows the display table has to be strong enough for her to jump up and down on; otherwise it won't support the weight of such a big cake. Don't want the reception hall providing a flimsy card table!!

Good luck!!!

:smile:

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in situations like this, isn't it more common to have a smaller display cake and a large sheet cake from which to serve guests?  particularly in the case of such a large number of people...you'd want to get started on the cutting and serving instead of waiting for the bride and groom to do the ceremonial first slice.

Yes, it is common, but there are people who don't want to be common and want a real show piece of a cake. I read about a "small" Indian wedding of 200 people where the bride ordered a mammoth $10k cake because she wanted a BIG CAKE. I also saw an article where a news personality got married and her cake served 1000 people (I saw the pic and it one tier was about 12" high!) I never thought I would be asked to do something like this, but I realize the direction my career is going in, this type of request is surely to pop up sooner or later.

Sugarella, thanks for the tips! I've heard of the stress free supports and have ordered from Earlene before and Creative Cutters as well. I've never heard of cornish boards. I will definitely check them out! I never though of acetate. I use the same technique (just on a silicone mat) and was concerned finding a mat big enough. My local art store has large acetate sheets in several thicknesses to choose from. One of my friends said she rolled fondant out on a vinyl table cloth once because the fondant needed to be rolled out the size of the table! My real concern with that is being able to roll it out evenly. I was in the Cakewalk last year and now I'm kicking myself for not asking the designers how they covered cakes so large. One was a HUGE cube shape (about 2 feet high!). Looked FLAWLESS.

I would definitely transport each tier individually. Any other way is too scary! Oh and I didn't mean a central dowel like one of those dinky 1/4" ones that you stake through the top to the bottom. I meant the method Ron Ben-Israel uses where you have a thicker/sturdier (perhaps 1" diamter?) dowel that you attach to the bottom and the other end is sharpened. You pre-drill holes through the center of each cake board and cake and put it on the dowel along with the other supports in each tier. For a cake this size, I would not use that as a means to transport the cake stacked, but just as something to hold it together once I set it up. But I guess if I used the stress-free support system, I wouldn't need that?

Good call on the stability of the cake table. It's been quite some time I showed up at a venue and they had a flimsy cake table, but for something this heavy, I would have to be sure to double and triple check that the staff would have a hefty table!

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I meant the method Ron Ben-Israel uses where you have a thicker/sturdier (perhaps 1" diamter?) dowel that you attach to the bottom and the other end is sharpened. You pre-drill holes through the center of each cake board and cake and put it on the dowel along with the other supports in each tier. For a cake this size, I would not use that as a means to transport the cake stacked, but just as something to hold it together once I set it up. But I guess if I used the stress-free support system, I wouldn't need that?

Geraldine doesn't refer to them as cornish cakeboards on her site; she lists them as "1/8" double thick boards."

You can't insert a sharpened dowel into these because they are masonite; there's nothing for the sharp tip to go into or latch onto. The stress free supports really will be enough, provided you use the appropriate sized rings and number of supports for the tiers.

For getting large sheets of fondant even, roll it out on a low table, something you can easily walk around, and bend across so you can reach the middle easily. A very large square coffee table works great for really massive sheets; otherwise a regular table is fine, but it helps to be up higher than usual. (You up higher, not the table.) Roll it onto the acetate using a very heavy rolling pin to start....one of the ones with the ballbearings in the handles. Plop the big pile of fondant in the middle and just punch it down with the rolling pin until it's flat enough to start rolling. Then start rolling by pulling towards you, not rolling away, and keep working your way around the table until it's getting to be about the right size. Then rub your hands across it lightly to feel for thick or thin spots. Then finish the rolling with a regular weight rolling pin. And definitely get help for inverting it! :smile:

You were at Cakewalk? Which one were you? :smile:

Edited by Sugarella (log)
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Not a baker here, but I have to say one of the most memorable cakes I ever saw was 3 separate tiered cakes (low) (high) (low) joined by bridges with the bride and groom "toppers" walking towards each other on the bridges....it wasnt straight across, the smaller side cakes were angled forward a bit...

and this was 19 yrs ago

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So cornish boards are just masonite boards? Where'd that whacky name come from? Cornish? Anyhow, this is what I was explaining that Ron pre-drills holes through masonite boards so the dowel can go through.

Thanks for the tip on rolling out the fondant. I will have to see what kind of low table I can get into the shop. I keep turning down free help because I can't handle having people in my most sacred space, but it looks like I'll have to get over it because you're right, how else will I lift that thing? Haha.

Re: Cakewalk, my cake was the simple argyle/quilted one with lace buttons. There was supposed to be a gumpaste monogram topper, but the photography staff broke it (not just one, but the spare one as well). I was so grumpy because I had several more at home I could have brought, but they never bothered to call me. It was such a simple design that it really needed the topper. Meh.

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Heh heh.... They're made in Cornwall, England, that's why!

Make sure you get the 1/8" double thick boards though because they also make plain cardboard ones that some places sell.

I never saw your cake.... I saw a bunch of photos that someone else took but yours wasn't one of them. There's apparently a bunch I haven't seen. Oh well. :rolleyes:

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