Wedding Cake Help!?!
Answers: My aunt is getting married on August 23, 2008. She has asked me to make her wedding cake, giving me barely 8 months to plan and practice. I love baking, but I've never done anything that even comes close to this. Ive been looking around online for help, but i just wanted to ask you guys for help :) So, how much practicing do you think is necessary? She wants a simple yet elegant cake, nothing crazy or over the top. I dont think she wants any strawberry or fruit flavored filing or anything. There are going to be between 110 and 130 guests, so how big should the cake be? If anyone has an good recipes, tips, whatever, any info would be great! Thanks!
Hi there, that's a big task you have ahead of you. I have a couple of tips that may help.
+ Use a plain rich cake that will store well. You actually have to bake the cake 3 days in advance, and air dry it before applying any icing so it doesn't alter the appearance of the cake when it shrinks.
+ to air dry the cake, leave it in a cool dry place with nothing covering it.
+ for that many guests, i would make a three tier cake. Either go to a specialty cake shop and find those pillars to prop the cake up with, and I would get some extra large round baking tins in three sizes (large, medium, small)
+ do a couple of tests before the wedding. I would first test the sponge / mud cake (in australia mud cake is like a dense sponge cake- its what everyone uses in wedding cakes) and then I would do a test on one cake for the icing, exactly as I wanted to decorate it for the big day. Take note of all measurements so that you know how much you need of everything before hand.
+ Draw sketches of the cake and the decorations
+ Consult with your aunt when you do a test cake.
+ use rollable icing- you can get it from speciality baking stores. Its like a brick of pure white icing that you roll out using icing sugar to stop sticking. then you lay this over the cake and it will give you a perfect, seamless finish.
+ Buy the decorations and just apply them yourself with icing (nobody is expecting you to make these!!!
+ Be confident!
and lastly....
- nobody really pays any attention to the quality of the actual cake when they eat it. Most weddings only 1/2 the guests even eat it. The presentation is the most important bit.
Good luck! You have ages to perfect it, and it will be a very memorable and loving gift your aunt will always remember.
If you want to make a small simple cake, you can, and then have sheet cakes to feed the guests. These will be pre-cut in the kitchen and served at the time the Bride and Groom cut the cake you made. The bride and groom along with the wedding party will eat the cake you made. half of a sheet cake will feed 40-50 guests depending on the thickness of it...
110+ guests the cake must be big, i mean one 15' on the bottom, then 13' inch, 11', 9' inch and then 7 inch cakes laying on top of each other. with frosting, and wedding cakes secret is cutting the tops to give the cake structure. I say watch all the Ace of Cakes shows on Food network, challenge shows and remember dont mess it up, its her perfect day! good luck
I would recomend covering the cake in fondant.
You can make it or buy it premade and color it yourself. This will give the cake the flawless look (as you probably know) and gives you a lot more time to focus on decorating, rather than icing.
I would make a simple cake, maybe something fruit based. A fruitty or maybe fruit flavored vanilla buttercream, then cover in fondant. The decorations could be fresh orchids.
I would also do a 3 tiered cake for 110 - 130 people.
I did one for my daughter, Simple but elegant
It is called paisley...
Here is her myspace page, with a picture...
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cf...
Wedding cakes for beginners:
http://weddings.about.com/od/weddingcake...
Cake recipes:
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?q=...
You'll do great, obviously your aunt trusts you and believes in you. Keep your aunt informed and if you have any questions, don't trust Yahoo! go straight to your aunt, she is the most important person in the picture.
well you have time then, but don't over practice. or you won't want to do the cake when it is time.
roses can be made ahead of time and frozen as can the cake. which is what i recommend. frozen cake is a lot easier to frost. for cakes I just use regular box mix, but I don't follow the directions. I just use 1 3/4 cups cold water and 2 eggs. If it is a white cake use only the whites of the egg. because the yolk will make it yellow. you can figure that a 14" 2 layer round will feed about 25 or so. I don't know if that helps you in how much. the best frosting recipe I found is in the Betty Crocker cook book . Butter cream. It works great for crumb frosting finished frosting and detail frosting .
I don't know much about cakes myself, but my grandmother was in the cake business for years. She often made a simple tiered wedding cake for the ceremony, and then easy sheet cakes to feed extra people. Good luck!
I would go on Martha Stewart.com where they have a step by step on how to bake and decorate a simple wedding cake. It even told you what size pans to use.