Wedding Cake - Modern Weddings for Busy Women

Cake

You've got several choices. The ones I looked into were big traditional multi storey cakes, European dessert tree (profiterole tower) and individual cakes. The first and last are the easiest to make yourself. Ask around for relatives who bake Christmas cakes. They may be willing to bake an extra moist version for your wedding. You can also get chocolate versions, but these have a very limited shelf life (about a week) and are not suitable for multi-storey developments, as they're too soft to hold the columns up! For a multi-storey cake, you will need traditional fruit cake mixture. We got a Christmas Cake recipe and substituted sherry for the brandy, put a little extra in, and added an extra egg (to make it sweeter and keep it moist). If you wish to have a liquor free cake - you'll need to bake it closer to the wedding day, because it's the alcohol that keeps the cake fresh and moist over time. Be aware that you can usually cut the sugar in the recipe by half and still have a nice sweet cake and a slimmer waistline. Please do not attempt to make a wedding cake with artificial sweetener, they just don't come out right (they go flat) and you may have guests who are allergic to chemical sweeteners!

To make small cakes, save about 12-15 210g-230g sized food tins (such as the ones that bean shoots or tuna come in). Wash them thoroughly in soapy water, dry them carefully and line them with "bake sheet" paper to stop the mixture sticking to the tins. Small cakes can be baked in batches - over several days or weekends. 12-15 tins should fit on a large flat tray in a medium sized oven. This way you can re-use the tins several times until you have enough cakes. Another way of doing this is to use several large muffin pans. The upside down result is a smaller cake, with a cute shape like a dessert jelly/jello. The 210g-230g sized food tin cakes are suitable for a couple, the muffin tin, depending on size, may be suitable for one guest.
small wedding cakes picture

Icing

See the cake recipe page. "Plastique" icing powder, mixed to a thick but still runny paste, is the way to go. Ask about for relations or friends with cake decorating experience. A flat sided (bread and butter) knife provides the best application and seamless coverage.

Cake Base

For a large cake or multistorey effort a huge tray, lined with foil, is the best base. For small cakes, a saucer sized cardboard piece, wrapped with smooth foil, provides an excellent base and serving plate. Here is a chance for your fiancé to be involved - ask him to draw around a saucer on a flat piece of cardboard, several times, cut out the circles and wrap them in aluminium foil. See how many he does before boredom sets in!

Decoration

Small cakes can be decorated with a small sprig of maiden hair fern, or a single shiny leaf (camellia or rose leaves look lovely), on the day, or icing sugar flowers (which can be purchased from bakeries and cake supply stores and gourmet food stores, or hand made by talented relations - ask around). If you have time, chocolate leaves are a nice touch and can be made in rose/camellia season and stored until needed. Another lovely touch is fresh spring flowers coated in sugar.

Link to sugared flower recipe.

Link to chocolate leaves recipe.