Calling all cake makers - How to make our wedding cake! Please

Thriftygifty

After changing our minds yet again about our wedding cake!!! I've now decided to make it (wish me luck!) We are going for a 4 tier cake with a cake dummy as the bottom tier.

My plan....

Make 3 tiers all fruit can make way ahead.
Cover with marzipan and fondant (how far in advance can this be done?) Leave all cakes plain.
Make sugarpaste Roses thought could make these ahead of time aswell (how far in advance can this be done?)
Put ribbon round bottom of all tiers hiding my lack of icing skills!
My big question is how do I attach the roses to the cake so it looks like they are cascading? Also do I do this on the morning/night before the wedding as the cake will need to be in place before I stack it (using dowles)
My other question is how do people get the cakes looking so deep? Do they put each tier on a thicker board and ice over it?

The more I can do ahead of time the better as I have LOADS to do.

I'm not an expert at making cakes and I know it's a big challenge and i'm prob stupid for attempting it but hey ho! Any advice would be great. Thanks

BloomingTasty

Thriftygifty wrote: »

After changing our minds yet again about our wedding cake!!! I've now decided to make it (wish me luck!) We are going for a 4 tier cake with a cake dummy as the bottom tier.

My plan....

Make 3 tiers all fruit can make way ahead.
Cover with marzipan and fondant (how far in advance can this be done?) Leave all cakes plain.
Make sugarpaste Roses thought could make these ahead of time aswell (how far in advance can this be done?)
Put ribbon round bottom of all tiers hiding my lack of icing skills!
My big question is how do I attach the roses to the cake so it looks like they are cascading? Also do I do this on the morning/night before the wedding as the cake will need to be in place before I stack it (using dowles)
My other question is how do people get the cakes looking so deep? Do they put each tier on a thicker board and ice over it?

The more I can do ahead of time the better as I have LOADS to do.

I'm not an expert at making cakes and I know it's a big challenge and i'm prob stupid for attempting it but hey ho! Any advice would be great. Thanks[/QUOTE
You would be able to marizipan and ice at least a week in advance. Maripan and then leave a day to dry so the oil from the marzi doesn't mark the icing. Again roses can be made in advance make more than you think you'll need. I personally use flowerpaste rather than fondant as it gives a more delicate finish. Attch to cake using royal icing and have extra to add oce at venue. See reark below re transporting.
As for the depth, I always make slightly larger mix than the tin size, for example a 10"mix for an 8" tin. You can then put on a think cake board for extra depth. Else for a really deep cake make 2 and place on top of each other.
If I was you I'd stack the cakes in 2 tiers to transport to venue. Then put together on site and add any extra roses.
Any more questioms I'd be happy to help

flea72

Most people cut the bottom tier for their posed photo, so i tend to put the dummy one in the middle tier. Also bottom tier is bigger so feeds more people.

Cascading flower arrangements require a bit of skill, but im sure theres a youtube video. Flowers can be made months in advance if need be, unless you want them to be edible then that really cuts it down to a week at most.

Deep cake boards add depth, but also add weight, so another reason for putting dummy tier higher up. Keeps it more stable, and easier to transport/stack

thefishdude

what we do well my partner and i help her is get a board that is bigger than cake by an inch allway round so if you doing 8 inch cake get a 10 inch board and when you ice ice over the cake and the exposed board round the edge on top so if you looking down on it looks all ices. the with the side edge of the board ( get think boards) get ribbon and put rpund that edge covering up the silver . this helps to add a little depth to the cake when looking at it you can then if you like get the same colour ribbon but in a thinner size and put round the actuall bottom of the cake its quite effective. never used a fake cake before though we allways make all the cakes real. using plastic dowels cut to size tosupport the cakes on top.

you can make tthen well in adance if you doing fruit cake, my partner does 6 weeks miminum but trys for a good 8 weeks.leavinga time for it to mature and add alchol to it also. the marzipan and icing can be done at last minute if you like but make sure you leave a day between marzipanning and icing the cake.

Thriftygifty

Thanks for all your replys.

That sounds like a good plan using a 10" mix for an 8" tin to get added depth, think I will give that a go.

I've changed my mind yet again about the cascade I think it's going to be to much for me to do so new plan is to make 3 individual cakes then put roses on them then put pillars between the tiers. Leaving me to stack them the day before or in the morning the less I have to do in the last few days before the better.

I get married in just over 10 weeks time, so i'm going to bake all the fruit cakes next week then feed them up to the wedding.

Marzipan them a week and a half before wedding (does that sound ok?)

Then ice them the week before leaving time for the marzipan to dry out.

Then attach the roses with royal icing 5 days before, leaving 2 days for the icing to dry out. And attach the ribbon/lace.

I'm going to make the roses in the next week or so then store them in a tupleware box. I've been and bought supplies just need the sugarpaste now and glue.

Then dowel and put pillars on the day before the wedding!

Going for 3 tiers now, thinking 10" on a 14" iced board. then an 8 inch on a thick board what size board do you think? a 10"? Then a 6" as the top tier again what size thick board do you reckon? a 8"?

Does anyone have any good fruit cake recipes for a 10" 8" & 6" cake please.

BloomingTasty

[QUOTE=Thriftygifty;59264139

I've changed my mind yet again about the cascade I think it's going to be to much for me to do so new plan is to make 3 individual cakes then put roses on them then put pillars between the tiers. Leaving me to stack them the day before or in the morning the less I have to do in the last few days before the better.

I get married in just over 10 weeks time, so i'm going to bake all the fruit cakes next week then feed them up to the wedding.

Marzipan them a week and a half before wedding (does that sound ok?)

Then ice them the week before leaving time for the marzipan to dry out.

Then attach the roses with royal icing 5 days before, leaving 2 days for the icing to dry out.

Then dowel and put pillars on the day before the wedding!

Going for 3 tiers now, thinking 10" on a 14" iced board. then an 8 inch on a thick board what size board do you think? a 10"? Then a 6" as the top tier again what size thick board do you reckon? a 8"?

Does anyone have any good fruit cake recipes for a 10" 8" & 6" cake please.[/QUOTE]

Your timings seem fine, put your ribbon on before attaching roses else you might find yourself trying to dodge roses. Plus you can always put roses over ribbon.

As for the boards, I would usually put a 10" on a 13"board but a 14 would be ok. You could always do 10" on 13" board then put this on to a 14"board to give a nice effect and a bit more height. Just edge the boards with ribbon matching the colours of the roses maybe.
The 6" and 8" cakes I'd put on 8" and 10" boards if your using pillars. If you want to mssg me your email address, I'll happily send you 2 picture of cakes I made last year one with pillars the other with roses.
I can also send you recipe.

tarkytarks

Just a tip but store your roses in a cardboard box rather than a plastic Tupperware one as they might sweat and not dry out properly otherwise.

mrstrw

when my cousin got married my sister did really simple decoration and scattered real rose petals accross the cake. Might be easier if you are running around with the other wedding preparations. Do you have a good cake decorating shop near you? which part of the country are you in? It's always worth going to them and no doubt you will be aided by an expert in the shop. If you haven't found a recipe I can dig out my grandmother's but otherwise i would say make your favorite christmas cake recipe.

Vickyh

If cake making is not your strong point- why not hire a 3 tier cake stand- then you don't have to worry about the pillars?

I would also head to a cake making shop and pick their brains. I made my sons 1st birthday cake and they were really helpful

gollygosh

I iced a 3 tier petal dummy cake for my sister with silk flowers between the pillars on each tier and between each petal (she had the same flowers in her bouquet) then she posed pretending to cut it and we served the guests slabs of fruit cake that had been top iced only by her mil. A real moneysaving cheat for a cake we were quoted £480 for back in '97

Vickyh

I had a lady do mine recommended from a friend 3 tier- 2 sponge, one chocolate, ribbon, and i wanted red and gold hearts on the cake to look like confetti.

£110.00! i know a friend did it her self and spent £140 all together!!