Posts
Let's talk numbers. Mr. Bear Cub and I figure about 80 people max will come to our wedding (how did we come to that number? I don't know, cuz we sure didn't use math!). There are some fancy cake cutting guides, but let's be honest with ourselves - we're not going to get all technical about the sugar rations after cake is smashed in my face! Ahem - cake is NOT smashed in my face ;)
I read smittenkitchen pretty often (read: religiously), and I'd seen some pretty smashing (har har!) cakes on her site. What - you've never heard of this lovely site before? Go there - now. I'll wait. (I can certainly lose a hefty chunk of time with those recipes!)
...
Back? Hungry yet? Don't worry, there's still cake! :)
Honestly, I got my first inspiration for "wedding" cake from the pictures on her website (which she sells, btw).
Just look at this doll - the Pistachio Petit-Four cake from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes. I've never really been too enamored with pistachios per se, but Mr. Cubbie certainly loves himself a pistachio-feed (what is it with guys and pistachios? and pie?). The clincher for the two of us with this cake was the marzipan filling. Yes yes - that's ganache on top too. Whatever. You see those lovely little layers in between? That's apricot jam. And then marzipan. And then ganache. And then all over again! I was sold.
Luckily, I had Mr. Cubbie's birthday as an excuse to start my cake-practicing endeavors.
ignore the lame-o cake decorations
note to self: GET PROPER CAKE STAND
I wasn't that great with taking docu-photos back then, though - I think I was a little more preoccupied with hosting a birthday party ;).
SOooooo.. yeah - the icing - it doesn't look that hot. I know. I kinda don't care. We're going for taste here, people. The icing (ganache) called for extra bitter-sweet chocolate, and that just can't be found in the grocery stores here. I substituted with a dark chocolate candy bar. The result was a little lumpy, but everyone said it was delish! I think it's also maybe my lack of experience (hence the practicing).
I served this cake at Mr. Cubbie's b-day party, and it was a hit! I froze the layers 2 days in advance and thawed them on the counter (in the saran wrap!!) the day of. The most common comment I got was how moist the cake tasted. People didn't believe me when I told them it was made from scratch!
One of the most important things I learned from this first trial was this: layered cakes feed a lot of people. We had about 15 people at the party, and after everyone had had (at least!) one slice, there was still over half a cake left! That's at least 30 people's dessert taken care of, and two cakes to go!
There's a couple of things I need to work on, though -
1. fix that ganache! I've since tried making another ganache, and I'm convinced the secret is to keep stirring the chocolate & heavy cream until smooth (I didn't wait till it was smooth. Would you wait, when chocolate's at stake?)
2. level the cakes. This means that I'd have to slice the little "dome" off the top of the cake before it goes in the freezer. Professional bakers usually do this, but it's a little challenging - you might slice off a wrong part of the cake!
3. get the proper sized cake tins. This was technically my first from-scratch cake, and as such, I didn't own any cake tins. The recipe calls for 8" diameter, but for some reason the grocery stores in Chile only sell cake tins as small at 9.5" in diameter! Crazy! The result wasn't bad, but I figure I should give it a go the way the recipe recommends.
4. make marzipan pears. I kinda weaked out on the decoration this time around (see above). There are magical ways to make marzipan pears these days, so I'm not too worried.
As I mentioned before, I'm not too concerned about the decorations. A little marzipan pear here, some lavender twigs there, and we've got ourselves 1 of our wedding cakes!
Besides the traditional cake topper, what are some of your favorite ways to decorate a cake?
Tip for slicing the top of off a cake =)
ReplyDeleteUse a serrated knife and slowly cut in a sawing motion, turning the cake. move SLOOOOOOOOOWLY into the center of the cake as you turn- don't try to slice all the way through the top from one angle or it will inevitably go crooked.
It still takes some practice, but it's the easiest method I've been taught =)
<3 MeiMei
@meimei - what if it's an inverted dome? One of the cakes (I'll post soon about) had an inverted dome - the center sunk in! When I tried to sliced off the "walls", it kind of crumbled... ideas?
ReplyDeletethat sounds like a complicated recipe - but it looks like you pulled it off great! have you read about orangette's wedding? it's what first inspired me to want to make my own cakes.
ReplyDeletehttp://orangette.blogspot.com/2007/07/all-so-pretty.html
@colormegreen - are you making the chocolate cake she talks about on her blog?
ReplyDeleteYUM
ReplyDeleteThis sounds SO GOOD. A nice change from "yellow or chocolate?"
I actually like edible flowers as decoration-- they look so classy. You just have to make sure to get them from a place specifically for eating to avoid pesticides or whatever.
We're having someone make a cake for us (apparently she makes great cakes, but I wouldn't know as it's the fiance's coworker and I've never met her, but C seems pretty confident), and she offered to charge us just materials. Naturally, our answer was yes :)
If your cake sinks in I recommend making it the top layer and filling the hole with icing...mmmmm. For the Ganache, you have to pretty patient with it. Keep it on a low heat (so it doesn't burn and become lumpy) but keep gently stirring it so that the chocolate fully melts. It still sounds like a yummy cake though, chocolate chunks and all!
ReplyDelete