Making a wedding cake for a friend... Help!!

andrewmoorcroft

Here's how to adjust the quantity for different size tins...(assuming that you want the same thickness).
You simply ratio the ingredients by the ratio of the surface areas of the cakes.
Eg; knowing the recipe for a 7" then a 10" is about twice the size, and a 14" is 4 times the size.
This is obvious with square tins... clearly cutting a 14" into quarters leaves 4 lots of 7" cakes.

For round cakes the link may be less obvious. Just ratio the diameter squared!
Eg; (14 x 14 = 196) divided by (7 x 7 = 49)
= 4 times bigger again!

If your cake is mis-shaped like the lower big domed cake in the picture, then cut the top off before icing. If your 2 cake layers do not rise enough then just make another thin one and make it tripple layer etc. Cutting the uneven top off avoids the bumpy bits around the upper rim of the middle cake in the piccy. If you a make a right mess of it you can always wrap the sides with a wide ribbon band! The most difficult to trim bit is at the base of the cake. This is where you can get away with a royal icing pattern and it will not damage the cake when you try and cut it. Do not try and make a silk purse out of a sows ear!

moyilla

Thanks for that!

She has asked me to do the 10" round sponge and "lots" of little cakes now!

Emms

Does she want you to ice lots of little cakes as doing that with fondant icing would take you a very long time!

Emma

muz

It would be a lot quicker to ice the little cakes with swirls of butter icing rather than fondant.

shopaholic1373

try here
http://www.caketoppers.co.uk/index.asp?ItemList=cupcakes-~-special-offers--1076907

Lara

Can I suggest you say to her that you will make a 10" round and decorate it but she can also have a "kitchen" cake. This is left undecorated in the kitchen out of sight of everyone but is a way of ensuring there is enough cake to go round. I would suggest you make a square cake as it is easier to cut especially as it is a sponge and you also get more slices. To make and cover loads of mini cakes is a very time consuming job and my advice is don't do it unless you have time!

Be careful with fresh flowers on top. BSG have said not to put any fresh flowers on cakes from now on as there are so many insecticides being used on flowers they could cause health problems. Make sure no ivy is put on the cake as it is poisonous. If the florist is doing this they should know.

Covapaste is cheaper here in the UK than regalice. Not all sugarcraft shops sell it though - mine doesn't but I know a warehouse that does so buy mine from there. There is also a new sugarpaste called IceCraft that has just been launched & that is very good.

Cake stand - most hotels have them but you can hire one from your sugarcraft shop for around £6.50 for the day. Tin hire is usually about £1.50 per day.

You can marzipan the sponge aswell.

If you just use sugarpaste, place some buttercream all over the cake and put in the fridge to firm the outside a little. Remove and then sugarpaste. This will allow you to work on the surface of the cake to get it nice and smooth. Remember to turn the cake over so the bottom is now the top for a very smooth finish. If the top of your cake is slightly domed in the middle then roll a piece of marzipan into a long skinny rope and put this round the edge of the top of the cake fixed with the apricot masking/jam. Then turn the cake over, flatten down with your smoother and you should find there aren't any gaps because the marzipan will flatten down and it should be nice a level. If you want to ensure it is level then use a spirit level to check.

If you can cover the drum with sugarpaste this will set off the cake beautifully.

Good Luck - I am sure you will be more than happy with your finished product .

moyilla

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

Hi there

If the cake is round it usually works out as 1oz per inch...for a basic sponge-which makes it really easy to work out for any size cake

So it would be 10"round=
10 oz butter
10 oz sugar
5 medium eggs - as each one ways roughly 2oz
10oz flour

If you go to a cake decorating shop..ask for COVA paste..same as regal/fondant icing ie roll out... but it tastes better..but a bit more expensive

just popped back..forgot..you can hire cake tins from the cake decorating shops... not usually expensive..

Hi
So would the cooking time be the same? 30 mins? And the oven temp? Will be making the cake on Sunday.

How would I store the fairy cakes? And also how long would they keep for?

Thank you all:T

andrewmoorcroft

I got something wrong according to my mum! She used to own a cake shop and teach cake making/decorating. Apparently you need a block of sugar paste (commonly known as regalice) which is actually a brand name. Many people incorrectly call this fondant icing which is actually more sticky. She said that icing a round cake is easier than square. You know if you wrap up a square present you end up with flaps/folds on the corners but when you wrap up a round tin you distribute much smaller folds around the tin... Well on your cake you want no folds. It is apparantly easier to stretch the icing gradually around a round cake without creases than around the corners of a square cake. Also bottom of the cake when it comes out the tin is very square/perfectly shaped and firmer so it it a good idea to turn it upside down and put it on the top of the cake. Although it doesn't look as nice (when not iced), it is better to ice and will be covered in icing anyway so your finished result will be the bestest ever!

andrewmoorcroft

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

If the cake is round it usually works out as 1oz per inch...for a basic sponge-which makes it really easy to work out for any size cake

So it would be 10"round=
10 oz butter
10 oz sugar
5 medium eggs - as each one ways roughly 2oz
10oz flour

I'm sure the poster means well but this is wrong. A 5" is 1/4 of the size of a 10" and therefore needs quarter of the ingredients NOT half. A 20" is 4 x the size of a 10" and needs 4 x the ingredients NOT double! If you followed these instructions a 2" fairy cake would weigh 8oz and be around 1ft tall! See my post above about adjusting the ingredients for different size cakes.

celyn90

Hi OP, you can also make them in layers if you are worried about baking something that large. I'd regalice sponge too if you can as the stuff is much easier to handle than traditional icing. I've glace iced one in the past (person specifically asked me not to use regalice as she doesn't like it!), but it was difficult - I had to build a collar out of carboard and flood the top, leave it to set for a day then plaster the sides and cover that up with ribbon!. If you want a slightly more rustic look and don't mind it being cream, you can butter ice them fine too - not good for formal though.

As far as keeping them goes, I find I can make a few days in advance, wrap them in clingfilm to keep them soft and ice them at the last possible minute - works okay and they are still soft enough. Either that or marizipan works fine on a sponge too as Lara says. I'd also second buttercream before icing too as it does help it stick, keeps the edges flat and defined and also prevents crumbs being transferred onto everything.

My last two are on the end of this thread (I'm not a professional either, I just get asked to do stuff like this a lot!): http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=539984

The top one was my sisters - who told me she wanted something formal but modern :rolleyes: - bottom tier is fruit, top two are sponge (one plain, one chocolate) and the bottom one was for a friend (cream one is chocolate, front two are fruit), who said she wanted something natural and random and didn't want them stacked.