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Weddings today are such a massive expense, and seem to be an excuse for retailers to add a series of noughts to their normal pricing. So it was that when my daughter announced her coming-coming wedding at a time when my money pot was empty, and I was passing the challenge of arranging everything.
Being quite practical I decided that every element that I could do myself I would, this included the cake (never made or iced a cake of this nature before), the flowers (never done anything other than put a bunch in a vase), the invitations (ditto, never done anything like this) and save money on sourcing the dress.
This is the story of the cake, and hopefully it will help you to make your own, and save £ 100's in the process.
As with everything else in the wedding, how it looked more important to my daughter than anything else, and this included the cake. Sheave me a photograph of a three-tier cake from a well known store, with a cascade of orchids, from top to bottom, at a cost of £ 450.00, but in the small print it out that the price was for the cake only , and did not include the floral arrangement. Ironically it was the flowers that she liked.
I was a decent cook, and cakes were my favorite, so I stated that I would make an exact copy, at a fraction of the cost.
She wanted a fruit layer (which would be the most expensive) and two sponge layers, but she very much doubted that I would be able to make it look as smooth and lovely as the picture. "Do you trust your Mum?" – a question that she would be asked many times in the run up to the wedding day, and if I am honest one that she could honestly answer with "yes", but at times I did feel out of my depth.
I would recommend that before you plunge into the production of a tiered cake, with smooth icing that you have a little practice. I was lucky enough to be asked to do a christening cake for a friend, and decided to make this the practice cake.
Step One: – Up to a week before the big day make the fruit cake, if this is to be one of the layers. I have a fool-proof recipe that is absolutely delicious, all courty of Delia Smith, the kitchen whizz! Her website is fantastic, as she scales the recipe for fruit cake, which is not as easy as it sounds. One potential large expense in the preparation of celebration cakes is the cake tin for each layer. To save here I went to a local cake shop and rented the tins at a cost of £ 5 each, as opposed to £ 16 plus each to buy.
My bottom layer was 28cm round, ingredients: – 900g Currants; 350g sultanas; 350g raisins; 110g glace cherries, chopped; 110g mixed peel, chopped; 6 tbs brandy; 450g plain flour; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp nutmeg; 1 tsp mixed spice; 110g almonds, chopped; 450g soft brown sugar; 1 1/2 tbs treacle; 450g unsalted butter; 8 eggs; grated rind 2 lemons.
To flavor the fruit I soaked it overnight in the brandy, covering the bowl with a cloth. When ready I greased the tin, and lit the oven at 240 degrees C (gas mark 1). In a very large bowl I sieved all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl I creamed the butter and sugar until really soft and fluffy (to make it a bit easier I put the butter in the microwave for a couple of minutes on defrost). In another bowl beat the eggs, then I added them to the butter and sugar a tablespoon at a time, beating very well in between. Mine did not curdle, but if yours does you can add a bit of the flour mix.
When all the eggs had been added I then folded in the flour mix, then the soaked fruit and other ingredients (you could warm the treacle tin in water to make it easier to pour). Then I spooned the lovely mixture into the tin, wrapped the outside of the tin in brown paper, and put a sheet on top with a small hole in the middle, to allow the cake to cook without burning.
Do not open the oven within the first four hours. I made the mistake of putting my cake in at 8pm, and was sat up cake-sitting.
Once ready I wrapped the cooled cake in tin foil, then into a tin, and every couple of days poured a tbs of brandy over the top.
Step two: – Three days before the wedding day I made the sponge cakes. I chose a vanilla cake and a chocolate cake, because I had easy recipes. Because I did not have a scaling up note for this, and I did not make a note of the time taken, but it was at least an hour for the middle layer. The key is to put a wooden skewer into the middle, and when it comes out clean the cake is cooked.
I chose these cakes because I had made them before and they were one bowl, easy recipe.
Vanilla: – 2 cups caster sugar; 4 eggs; 2 1/4 cups plain flour; 1 cup milk; 3/4 vegetable oil; 2 1/4 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp good quality vanilla essence. I did the normal – greased the tin and lit the oven at 175 degrees C.
In a large bowl I whisked together the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy, then added the other ingredients, and whisked only until combined and like a batter, then poured into the tin, and baked. Checking at an hour, and taking it out when the skewer was clean. This made a deep 9 inch cake.
Chocolate cake: – 2 cups caster sugar; 1 3/4 cups plain flour; 3/4 cup cocoa; 1 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp salt; 2 eggs; 1 cup milk; 1/2 cup vegetable oil; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 1 cup boiling water. Again, the usual, grease the tin (I made a 6 inch deep cake) and I lit the oven at 175 degrees C.
In a large bowl I sieved all the dry ingredients, then added all other ingredients, apart from the water, and whisked until smooth and creamy. When done I added the boiling water, and mixed until combined. Poured into tin, and cooked, checking at 40 mins, then until cooked.
The next bit was the scary one for me – ICING! All the photographs show this lovely smooth icing, as perfect as you like.
I bought the icing and marzipan from the same local cake shop that I hired the tins from, and asked their advice about quantities needed. They were really helpful, so do not be afraid to ask the professionals, so long as you are buying from them, they should be amenable.
A day before icing I put marzipan onto the fruit cake, thinking this give me a chance to make mistakes that could be hidden.
Step three: – I put some apricot jam into a microwave bowl, until it was melted. Then brushed it onto the fruit cake, to act as glue.
I rolled the marzipan until about 0.5cm, and larger than the cake all round. I had to buy a completely flat rolling pin, which was pricey, but I have used it since, and also a smoother, for the finish (which was worth its weight in gold). Then looped the marzipan over the rolling pin, and placed it in the middle of the cake, then let it go. To my utter surprise, it was spot on the middle. I treated it like wallpaper, and smoothed the top with my hands, then around the sides, smoothed it with my hands, lifting and replacing, until done.
With the smoothing tool in hand, I put some icing sugar on the top, and using small circles, worked until happy.
I could not believe it, but it was great. I left this for 24 hours.
Step four: – Following the same method as for the marzipan I roled out and applied the sugar paste (or fondant icing). What I found here was that I needed plenty of icing sugar on the surface, as the icing stuck a couple of times when I tried to lift it, and I had to re-work it and roll again.
The most important tool was the smoother, without doubt. It enabled me to cover any little dints, as I had this insane desire to prod the icing, to see if it was set. I used buttercream as glue for the sponge layers, and also put butter cream in the middle of the cakes, after slicing in half. A nice recipe is 175g softened butter (in the microwave again), 300g sieved icing sugar and 1 tsp vanilla essence. Using an electric whisk I beat the butter until light and creamy, then added icing sugar a spoon at a time, and finally vanilla essence – lovely.
I was absolutely amazed. It looked great.
I bought a three tier cake stand from eBay, as I did not want to mess with pillows, and each cake was on a board of the correct size.
Next was the flowers, but I could not buy the brown orchids that she wanted, despite being at Liverpool flower wholesale market at the crack of dawn, so I improvised.
I bought crystal tipped pins from a florist wholesalers, a length of crystals linked in a chain, brown ribbon, brown artificial flowers, and brown butterflies (an impulse buy), and made my own version of a wedding cake.
The worst part was waiting for my daughter's approval, as I do not think she really believed I could do it, even though she had committed.
She walked into the house and shouted "wow! That's better than the one in the shop! I love it!" Not knowing my daughter, you will not realize the importance of that statement. Had she not liked it she would have said in no uncertain terms.
I had done an arrangement of orchids on the top layer, with a brown ribbon round it, then I had a layer with crystals dotted around, and finally one with butterflies.
If you would like to see photographs I will happily send them, but my main message here, is do not be afraid. My finished cake cost less than £ 50, as I was able to re-sell the cake stand on eBay after I had finished.
It just takes confidence, time, and belief. The most scary bit for me was the icing, but in reality that was so easy.
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Source by Andrea Winders
