Making a Wedding Cake (cont.)- Guest Blog by B-Twin
Making a Wedding Cake (cont.)
Last year my sister asked me to make her wedding cake – and I started a small series of blog entries for Robin. I sort of fell off the wagon about getting this entry done because I had the bright idea I should make more flowers to make up for the decided lack of pictures. That was the theory.
Given that my sister’s first wedding anniversary is fast looming on the horizon I thought I had better just run with what I have. I hope you will still gain some insight into decorating a cake. :)
To refresh your memories:
Part 2: Decorations
Cake decorating is usually a series of little tasks that need wait time between them. This is especially true when making flowers and leaves from sugar paste. The creation of the decorations took days, mostly as a couple of hours here and there. As a result I forgot to take photos!
You may recall that my sister had asked for jasmine on the cake. And I, fool, said yes. I’ve never made jasmine from sugar paste and the jasmine flowering on our verandah had just finished blooming. Ooops. As a result, I admit, there are some inaccuracies in my depiction!
For moulding flowers most decorators here (Australia) use a special flower or modelling paste version of sugar paste. There are many recipes for different circumstances, such as ones that can handle humidity or ones that can be rolled very thin for fine work.
As a general rule flower paste dries rather quickly, especially if it has been rolled very thin. This can be good if you want a shape to set in a hurry, it can be not so good if you are slow and fumble fingered. Nothing like a good incentive to find the right paste for you and the work you are doing!
There is a huge variety of leaf and petal cutters out there. It really is amazing. For jasmine, however, I decided that all I needed was a simple star-like cutter that is usually used for making the calyx on flowers such as roses.
Each bloom was “wired” so that it could be assembled later into a spray. This is done as soon as the flower is shaped. They can then be left to dry, upright, until the colouring phase.
Making the leaves was a trifle tricky because I didn’t have a cutter that was the exact shape of the real leaves. In the end I used a different cutter and slightly modified each one as I went. A wire was stuck into a small amount of pre-coloured paste and then I rolled out the paste on either side of the wire. Then I used the cutter to make the shape and tidied up with my fingers.
After the leaves were all made they were dipped in liquid colour to give more depth to their colour.
Leaves ready for dipping in liquid colour
Once leaves had been dipped and the flowers dusted with ‘petal dust’ the aim was to try and put them together in realistic combinations (I try to!).
Here is one of the sets of jasmine ready to be put into a final arrangement:
Jasmine spray
(Rose leaves also on the rack.)
I’m not sure if I had mentioned previously that my sister had wanted a Moongate on her cake? The groom thought they looked like a Stargate and so approved whole-heartedly! LOL The Moongate was made out of the same sugarpaste that covers the cake. I had coloured it first and then dusted it. It didn’t turn out quite the colour I had wanted but by then it was too late to attempt another (it took several days to dry).
Final placing of all the flowers, leaves and assorted decorations can take hours. Especially when it is the night before the wedding and you are tired and keep having interruptions…and there is the detail of how difficult hard little sugar flowers on wires are to sit properly.
However, I was able to finish around midnight and then in the morning took these photos before it was delivered to the reception centre.
Wedding Cake!
"Moongate" and jasmine
Except for the flower wires and the ribbon that is all icing/sugar paste. The bride got her moongate. And there was a wee baby in one of the roses sitting on the second tier.
—————
But wait! There’s more! :)
Part 3: The Recipe
This is the base recipe I tend to use. It’s very flexible. I have successfully swapped the flour for Spelt, dried cherries instead of glace ones (that really altered the flavour as they are very rich) and have used Lactose-free milk on occasion. I actually don’t use the pre-mix dried fruit that is available here and so every cake is slightly different depending on what people want – more cherries, less cherries etc. You can easily double or triple the mixture if needed (double would be used for a 12” tin).
RICH FRUIT CAKE
This is the amount you would use for a 20cm/8” cake tin.
Ingredients:
2 lb Mixed dried fruit (sultanas, raisins, currants, glace cherries & citrus peel) – which is bought here in Australia pre-mixed.
2 tablespoons Sherry or Brandy
2 cups Dark Brown Sugar
½ tsp Nutmeg
½ tsp Ginger
½ tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Bi-carb Soda
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Vanilla Essence (I use Extract though)
½ tsp Lemon Essence
½ lb Unsalted butter
½ cup Milk
3 Eggs
3 cups Plain Flour (All-purpose)
Method:
Combine fruit, sherry and sugar in a bowl, Mix well then stand for 2 hours (but overnight is better). Add soda, spices and mix well.
Melt butter in a saucepan with milk, add to fruit mixture. Make sure the milk-butter mix has cooled down a bit before adding the beaten eggs, lemon and vanilla essences and sifted flour.
Bake in a slow oven for about 3-3 ½ hrs.
Tips for making a rich fruit cake:
- Protect the edges of the cake from cooking too quickly by lining the tin with several layers of brown paper, or wrap newspaper or layered aluminium foil around the outside of the tin.
- Be prepared to cover the top of the cake with foil in the last hour or so of cooking.
- As soon as the cake is out of the oven then I always leave it in the tin and wrap the whole lot in a large towel. Remove from the tin after 24 hrs. You want the cake to cool slowly.
- Like all things – PRACTISE. Slightly undercooked cake is still yummy. Just reheat and add ice-cream! Overcooked cake can be made into trifle etc.
- Slow cooking is always better.
- Any unused mix can be frozen and used later (mine doesn’t last that long… it’s yummy!)
- Cooked cake will keep for months if wrapped securely and stored in a cool, dark place. It can also be frozen – just remember to pack it carefully and thaw it out in the fridge.
Rich Fruit Cake
comments
Please join the discussion at Robin McKinley's Web Forum.