Now I can finally sleep…for tonight.
The wedding reception was last night and it was really fun! I haven’t had Indian food in awhile and it was soooo good – traditional favorites with lots of potatoes, chicken, and naan. I could go for some right now. In the buffet room, the cake was cut as the evening wore on, instead of having been pre-cut and placed on plates. It was quite a messy presentation, and depending on when you got to dessert you only got one flavor of cake instead of being able to choose. But regardless most of the 220 portions got eaten.
Here’s a picture of me with the stunning couple:
The cake cutting was first, which was different than other weddings I’ve been to. Too bad the photographer and videographer were the hovering kind so we hardly saw any of it. Hubby managed to sneak a few shots in:
And now some gratuitous cake photos – the cake topper was supplied by the bride, he proposed on a swing so it was very appropriate:
I have to say, I learned so much from this experience. And it was great! I hope I get the chance to do it again.
Filed under Cake, Wedding | Comments (2)It’s done
Wow. Never thought you could learn so much from your first wedding cake. It’s now 2AM and the kitchen is finally cleaned up from the mess that was my kitchen:
Notice the now almost empty 20 pound bucket of spackle, er, rolled fondant on the island.
In total, it probably took me about 20 solid hours to complete this project. I’ve picked up on some useful tips to save me probably at least 5 hours should I ever be hired for a wedding cake again. I’m just hoping that I’ll have the energy to dance at the wedding!
Here are images from the construction, I wanted to do a time lapse but we didn’t have the right equipment for it. I will add the top tier when I get there (you can see it in the background of the last picture):
Yes, building this even came to a point where I had to use a hammer. And no, the cake isn’t as hard as concrete.
Each tier sits on a cardboard plate, supported with wooden dowels that my husband whittled down to size. The design is based on one the bride gave me, inspired by the traditional henna for Indian weddings. It feeds about 220 not including the top tier, which I have the responsibility of collecting post-wedding to store for the happy couple when they return from their honeymoon.
Flavor combinations: Top & 3rd tier – chocolate Kahlua cake with chocolate buttercream; 2nd tier – vanilla cake with strawberry jam filling and vanilla buttercream icing; 4th tier – vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream.
Meltdown 1: Covering the larger tiers with fondant and taking 3 hours to figure out how to avoid completely cracking the edges. I happened to have just enough so that I didn’t have to panic when I had to throw a few pounds of fondant away because it cracked. Shortening and slight chilling pre-fondant helped.
Meltdown 2: Colliding with husband and dropping half the soaking syrup onto one of the tiers. Luckily the cake held its shape and should just be very moist.
Next obstacle: Delivery in a 4-door sedan two hours away. Wish me luck!
Filed under Cake, Wedding | Comment (1)I got 3 inches!
So baking was a success yesterday. Each tier has been filled, tightly wrapped in saran wrap and foil, and placed lovingly in the freezer. In Rose’s book, she notes that cold ingredients and old baking powder cause compact volume. Even though my baking powder isn’t old, I opened a new can. I thought my ingredients were at room temperature, but just to be safe, I was extra cautious yesterday. And it seems to have worked out!
I forgot to take pics pre-freezer. I ended up redoing the bottom tier, so I have a 14″ filled but uniced cake up for grabs taking up room.
You’d think I’d be sick of eating cake by now. I just had a piece of scraps with some of the rum syrup and vanilla buttercream – DE licious.
Lesson #1: Must-have tools
Magi-Cake Strips - Soak them in water and wrap them around the pan for even baking – works wonders for large layers!!
Cake Release – this wonderful combination of oils comes in a squeeze bottle, requires no refrigeration, and you don’t need to butter, flour, and parchment over and over. Just pour a little in the pan and brush all around. A great timesaver!
Large waxed cake boards – use these to invert and transfer each layer. I also cut them up for the base of each tier instead of buying special-sized ones.
Extra stand mixing bowl – the largest KitchenAid can only mix batter up to a 14″ tier. I sped up the process with two bowls, and divided out all the dry ingredients. It went a lot faster and I didn’t have to pull out the same ingredients multiple times.
Extra set of pans – these I didn’t have. It took me an extra half hour to do each layer (2 layers per tier) because I had to wait for the cake to cool enough to take out of the pan, then rewash.
Lesson #2: Level your oven racks
After the first couple of layers, I noticed that there was a slight dip on the front left corner of each one. My husband used his trusty leveler and leveled the oven, then checked the racks. It worked MUCH better afterwards.
Lesson #3: Make a LOT of buttercream and have TONS of ingredients
If you’re using buttercream and are not experienced with making large cakes, make 3 or 4 times the amount that you think you need. You may need to use extra buttercream to achieve the proper tier height, and leave room for mistakes (see last post)! The buttercream can be frozen for months, so you don’t waste anything.
Also have on hand tons of: sugar, confectioner’s sugar, shortening, butter, eggs. Let’s just say I went through 7 1/2 dozen eggs like it was nothing.
Filed under Cake, Wedding | Comment (1)Mistake #1: Not practicing ahead
I wish I had been a little more cognizant of the fact that without practicing ahead, I may very well buy twice as many ingredients because I will inevitably need to make more. My husband warned me this might happen, and my procrastinating self loves to ignore good advice.
My #1 problem: cake volume. I’m using Rose Levy Bernbaum’s Cake Bible, and she is a chemistry wizard. Of course, not having worked with pans this size before (and only some experience with the recipes), I’m doomed to hit a brick wall. I was up last night leveling and icing my 14″ layers to put in the freezer, and it looked AWESOME. Only when I started washing the pan did I realize the total height was only 2.5″, not the required 4″ for a regular tier of cake. At 3 in the morning, you can imagine how devastating this realization would be.
My #2 problem: Only one pan for each tier size. I should have dropped the bucks on another set of pans, but being cheapo, this more than doubles my baking time since I have to wait for the tiers to cool before I can put another one in. I’m also probably compromising the batter volume by having the rest sit out for so long.
So here I sit, waiting for my ingredients to reach room temperature, making more to either add on top of the ones I made, or, if the heavens are with me, for each of the layers to rise to their 1.5″ potential.
Either way, the cake tastes awesome. Thank frickin’ goodness.
So far (don’t know what I’d do without Costco):
-Cracked 50 eggs
-Measured 25 cups of cake flour and 12.5 cups of sugar
-Incorporated 12.5 sticks of butter
-Added 8 cups of milk
-Mixed 5 lbs of confectioner’s sugar, 6 cups of shortening, and 6 sticks of butter into buttercream icing
And after I get these layers baked, I’m halfway there. Except for the 8 additional hours of fondant, stacking, and piping ahead.
Filed under Cake, Wedding | Comments (2)Counts
For the next week, my life is going to follow the following formula:
50 cups of batter
28 cups of buttercream
4 cups of strawberry jam
2.5 cups of Kahlua
120 minutes mixing
290 minutes baking
+1200 minutes pulling my hair out (just kidding!)
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My first wedding cake
Did I mention I also have to bake a sheet cake for a graduation?
Stay tuned for the play-by-play. Time lapse if you’re lucky.
Filed under Cake, Wedding | Comment (1)