Wedding Cake: Next Steps

The Wedding Cake for the Engagement party was good, but not great.

The Bride and Groom, whom I have known for years, asked me to make the cake because they really like my "signature" cake that I've made multiple times: The Bomb. They didn't realize that I always assembly it using purchased muffins and pound cake with a really moist filling into a a form (a large, round bowl) then refrigerate it for 2 days to spread the flavors. Basically, it is a quick semi-homemade cake.

So I am going to next make a "Bomb-like" cake with non-pre-fab'd cake and a filling similar to a Tiramisu. The frosting will include chocolate, coffee, butter, egg whites, and a liquor. I will make it in tiers with decorations of ribbon and shaved chocolate.

Wedding Cake: The Math II

Using what I learned about how the recipes work with respect to the number and size of the tiers for the finished cake, I determined that I really need a spreadsheet that automatically adjusts any recipe for the exact required quantities. So, this is what I plan to do to make such a spreadsheet:

The Method for Batter Quantity:

1. Number of  tiers
2. Size of each tier
3. Standard batter quantity per pan
4. Total cake batter required
5. Size of mixer bowl

The Method for Recipe Sizing:

1. For each ingredient, include column for quantity units (cup, T, t, etc.)
2. For ingredients that provide qty as individual items (eggs, etc.) include look up table for standard sizes used.
3. Add a conversion column for normalizing the quantity of the item so that it can be added together to provide the resulting quantity of the finished batter.
4. Add columns for ingredient input for the original recipe, then add conversion columns for .5, 1, 1.5, 2, etc., which converts the quantities of the original recipe for the quantity required for each recipe-size increment.
5. At the bottom of each column for each adjustment, show the resulting batter size based on the earlier normalization.

The Method for Determining the Final Batter Quantity and How Much to Make each Time:

1. Based on the results for the final batter size, distribute that across the quantity required for each tier and group the recipe based on maximum size of the mixing bowl.

Version 2 and 3 of the spreadsheet can include exact ingrediates required for the exact number of batter need for each tier.

Also, frosting needed for each tier is a must.

Then I need to make the spreadsheet user friendly and figure out how to post on this blog for others to use.

2nd Wedding Cake Attempt 20101009: The Engagement Party

After my first attempt at making a wedding cake, I interviewed the taste testers. In general, the cake flavor was good; some thought it was a little dense. The frosting was a hit. Overall, it was too much of one color and one flavor. So today, I am made two cake recipes (coconut and chocolate) and two frosting (coconut and chocolate/amaretto). The bottom 12x4 inch layer is coconut, the top 10x4 inch layer  is chocolate. All inner frostings are chocolate; the exterior coconut covered with coconut chips. Assembling the cake:

My first attempt at a Wedding cake 20100925

So, this blog started, in part, because of a request for me to make a wedding cake. So here are the results of my first attempt.

The bride suggested a coconut cake, so I made Martha Stewart's Dreamy Coconut Wedding Cake (http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/recipe/coconut-cake-2). As I mentioned before, this is for my a couple who will be married next October. For this recipe I used GM 100% Purasnow Cake Flour, with 8.2% protein.


The recipe was complex. I used 6, 8, and 10 inch pans. The flour produced a great firm, moist texture -- perfect for a wedding cake. The color was also beautifully white. However, I would have preferred a higher rise to make it a little less dense (the taste testers, however, liked the texture). As the protein percentage is higher than the other cake flour I purchased from you (KA Queen Guinevere Cake Flour, 7% protein), I don't think a different flour will help. I think the problem is my baking powder. Although it tested good with warm water, it was still fairly old. It should be noted that although the cake recipe was complex for an inexperienced wedding cake baker, the frosting was equally complex. However, the texture and flavor was worth it. What I learned here:

1. I don't like the small amount of difference between the cake pans, which appeared as more of a mound then tiers when the layers were assembled. Instead of 6, 8, and 10 inch pans, I think 6, 10, and 14 inch pans would be better. However, this was a test case, and I made only a single layer for each pan size.
2. Lots of egg whites produces lots of yolks. What am I going to do with all of them!
3. The coconut chips I bought from Nuts-Online for placing on the frosting, while pretty and fluffy looking, were dry and chewy. My daughter described them as annoying.
4. I thought the recipe for 9-1/2 cups of frosting would be too much, so I halved it. What a mistake!
5. I should look deeper into my cupboards as I later found a brand new container of fresh baking powder.

My first attempt at a Wedding Cake (thankfully I have a year to perfect it)