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.

Lemon Raspberry Layer Cake

I have come to the conclusion that I love pretty food. I really enjoy making desserts--not eating them necessarily, but making them. I get excited to frost a cake, to add layers to a trifle, to top off a pie with chocolate curls. My dream is to go to culinary school and become a pastry chef. Eventually I want to open up a bakeshop where I can share my love of baking with the world. At my job at Station 22 Cafe, I am in charge of making all the desserts. Every day I get to go into work and let my creative mind go free. Lately, I have been making White Chocolate Coconut Brownies, Peanut Butter Cups, Bananas Foster Mini Cream Pies, and Snickerdoodle Blondies. And let me tell you, they have really been a hit with the customers. Not that I am bragging or anything :) But seriously, I absolutely LOVE to bake. For Memorial Day, I wanted to make a dessert that reminded people of a beautiful summer day. So I came up with this cake: Lemon Raspberry Layer Cake with Whipped Cream. And boy oh boy was it good.

My brother and his beautiful wife.

Mom and little brother.

Gorgeous sister.

My dad. Isn't he so cute?

Visiting my aunt Yvonne's grave.

Lemon Raspberry Layer Cake

For the Cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk [I prefer buttermilk with the lemon]
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For Finishing
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable [I made a raspberry spread with sugar, lemon, and water]

Getting Ready
Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.
Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Assemble the Cake
Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.
Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.
Spread it with one third of the preserves.
Top with another layer, spread with preserves and then do the same with a third layer
Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and frost with whipped cream.

Serving
The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled.

Storing
The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to two days.