Wedding Cake Wonders

I <3 weddings.

It's true.

I love the dresses, the decorations, the colors, the people, the food. Everything.

There's a feeling of magic there.

I blame it on love.

Two weeks ago I catered for my friend Lark's wedding.

She emailed me a few months ago, asking about my pricing for wedding cakes.

I told her $100. She said yes.

But there was one dilemma...I had never made a wedding cake before.

I was super excited but also really scared.

Cake = easy as pie (ha.)

Wedding Cake = INTIMIDATING

A few weeks before I bought all the equipment: cake pans, super-sized cooling racks, cardboard rounds, wooden dowels, parchment paper, foil, flour, sugar, and lots of BUTTER!

The week of the wedding came fast. Fortunately my boyfriend's family let me use their kitchen to make the cakes. That was Thursday. It took about 4 hours to bake all the cakes (there were 6 total--2 layers per tier). And Devin (the boyf) helped me out so much. He is a GREAT dishwasher and sous chef :)

I had leftover batter so we made a 3-layered birthday cake for his little brother Dakota (Cody)'s birthday. Funfetti-style: we added sprinkles to vanilla cake batter. Yum :)

Then we wrapped up the cakes in plastic wrap and foil and stuck them in the freezer.

Saturday rolled around. I drove over to Devin's house and got the cakes. Then the real fun came.

It was around noon and I had about 4 hours to get everything done for the wedding.

I made raspberry filling for the bottom two tiers, fudge filling for the top tier, and an ivory buttercream for the entire cake. The cake was three tiers tall--the bottom tier being 12 inches, the middle tier 10 inches, and the top tier 8 inches. I put 8 wooden dowels in the bottom tier, 6 dowels in the middle tier, and 4 dowels in the top tier.  I also placed a cardboard round between each tier. 

Note: wedding cakes are REALLY heavy. That thing must have weighed like 50 pounds. Ha, okay that is a bit of an exaggeration. But it was a beast.

I used this video to guide me.

Here is the the cake: unfrosted.

Get excited.

Here is the cake: finished.

The wedding colors were light pink, ivory, and...gold, I think.

Check out the antique cake stand: awesome.

Lark wanted the cake to be simple. So I texturized the frosting and dolloped some frosting around each tier's base.

I took some pink roses and baby's breath from the bride's bouquet and placed them on the top tier.

More pictures :)

These are some pictures that I edited on Pixlr-O-Matic. Pretty cool, huh?

The beautiful bride: Lark.
Her dress was adorable. It was an ivory color with lace, bows, and satin. I LOVED it.

Cutting the cake.

And then they shoved it into each other's faces. My personal favorite :)

They had a photo booth at their reception. Everyone who got pictures taken received one copy and they put the other copy in Lark and Kyle's memory book, with a hand-written note. Rad idea.

Some of the food from the reception. Cucumber deliciousness.

Cuppy-cakes.

Fruit tartlets.

The wedding was gorgeous and wonderful.
The cake was a success. People loved it. And that made it all worth it :)

Oh, and I almost forgot! Recipes!


Vanilla Wedding Cake

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 7 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 9-inch (or 8-inch) round pans. (I recommend placing a round piece of greased parchment paper in each pan.)
2. Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. 
3. Cream the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy and light in color, about 2 minutes on medium speed. Add the sugar and continue to mix until fluffy and light. 
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure each is well incorporated before adding the next one. Add the vanilla. 
5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients. Stir in the sour cream. Scrape the sides of the bowl, and beat for 1 minute. 
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and smooth with a rubber spatula. Bake in the preheated oven, 35-40 minutes for the 9x13 pan or 20-25 minutes for the round pans. The top of the cake should be golden. Test for doneness with a toothpick; it should come out dry and clean.
7. Allow cakes to cool for 10 minutes and then remove from pans. 

Raspberry Sauce

• 2 pints raspberries
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Combine raspberries and sugar in a saucepan. 
2. Cook until raspberries are broken down, about 10 minutes. 
3. Remove from the heat and cool.

Best Buttercream Frosting

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a bowl whip butter for 10 seconds. Beat in powdered sugar, until blended.
2. Add the milk and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy.

Chocolate Wedding Cake

• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 9 inch round cake pans. 
2. In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time, then stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Spread batter evenly between the three prepared pans.
4. Bake in oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
5. Allow cakes to cool for about 10 minutes and then remove from cake pans.

Chocolate Fudge Filling

• 1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 3/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Place chocolate chips, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Heat evaporated milk in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until it just comes to a simmer. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate mixture; let stand until chocolate melts, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla, whisk until filling is smooth and well combined.
2. Transfer chocolate filling to refrigerator; let chill until slightly firm, but still spreadable, about 2 hours.