Hi, I'm making my son's wedding cake - informal, family-only cake - but I'd like it to be special for them

We need to feed 22, so am wondering what size I should make. Would like to make a tall cake or 2 tiers. Planning on butter cream "semi-naked" style.

Does anyone have a fabulous-no-fail recipie?
I'm keen for any tips/suggestions as this is my first attempt! (will do a practice cake first).

How far in advance can I make this cake without freezing it?

Thanks

cloudcover - 2019-05-19 16:40:00

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May have some hints :)

Edited by unknowndisorder at 7:52 pm, Sun 19 May

unknowndisorder - 2019-05-19 19:50:00

Well done you for doing this!! I have yet to tackle a wedding cake. If you want a 2 tier cake then i suggest an 8inch and a 6 inch. You could go slightly bigger on the bottom if you need the space but no more than 2-4 inch difference (I feel the proportions then look a little odd) but it does depend on how you plan to decorate other than semi naked. I do cakes for friends and family no more than 3 days in advance if they are a velvet or mud cake...I think a fruit one can be made a little more ahead but tbh I have not made one before. I have a couple of great recipes that I have not had a failure on yet depending on what flavours you are going to do. I have a lemon velvet one which is great, a choc one also great and a couple more that may work. Make sure you use cake discs in between layers and use dowels to support the top tier (1 for every 2 inches, so if it is 8 inch use 4 (but I usually also add an extra one in the middle - making 5 in total). No need for a central dowel but if you are transporting and a little unsure I would probably use a central dowel through both layers. If you would like some recipes let me know via here will try and check back soon.

madj - 2019-05-24 12:19:00

I;d love your recipe for the lemon velvet one please!
OP, For our daughhter's wedding I made 2 normal sized chocolate cakes in a 25cm tin. I split them and did 4 layers with buttercream between, and then iced in buttercream. I made 2 cakes this size and had plenty left over (80 people) if that helps. Today I had to make a cake for work so I made the same 2 chocolate cakes but instead od buttercream, I put choc ganache between the layers and covered it in buttercream, Got lots and lots of compliments, 22 people and we all got a good sized slice :-)

Edited by shepa1 at 9:44 pm, Fri 24 May

shepa1 - 2019-05-24 21:37:00

Lemon Velvet Cake

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour (see note at bottom)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup vegetable shortening at room temperature (can use kremelta but I buy my shortening from a cake shop)
1 tsp good quality vanilla extract
2 tsp pure lemon extract (I just use lemon juice)
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
zest of two small or one large lemons, grated and finely chopped

For the Frosting

4 cups icing sugar, powdered sugar
1 cups unsalted butter
1 tsp pure lemon extract (I use lemon juice, a lot more than this says to give it a real lemony taste)
1 tsp minced lemon zest, optional (I add this)
2 tbsp milk, approximately

Instructions

Grease and flour 2 nine inch round cake pans and line the bottom with 2 circles of parchment paper. Sift together both flours, baking soda. baking powder, salt and sugar, Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the vegetable oil, shortening, vanilla and lemon extract. Beat well at high speed with whisk attachment until light and fluffy
Beat the eggs in one at a time.
Fold in the lemon zest.
Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk.
I always add dry ingredients in three divisions and liquid ingredients in 2 divisions. It is very important to begin and end the additions with the dry ingredients. Do not over mix the batter. As soon as it has no lumps in the batter, pour into the two prepared 9 inch cake pans.
Bake at 325 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.

To prepare the frosting

Mix together the icing sugar, lemon zest and butter until it becomes sort of crumbly.
Add the lemon extract and a little of the milk.
Beat until smooth and fluffy, adding only enough milk to bring the frosting to a creamy spreadable consistency.
Fill and frost the cake. Garnish with candied lemon zest if desired.

To make candied lemon zest

Remove the zest with a sharp vegetable peeler in long strips, avoiding as much of the white pith as possible.
Bring one cup of water and one cup of sugar to a slow boil.
Add the pieces of lemon zest and boil for about 15 minutes. Drain the lemon zest on a wire rack.
When cool, cut them in strips and roll in fine sugar.

To make 'cake flour' take 1C standard flour, remove 2 TBs and replace with 2 TBs cornflour, very important, sift this 5 times. This is as close to true cake flour I have found and works perfectly in this recipe to give the fine velvet crumb texture. The purists would argue this isn't cake flour but the cake is beautiful the way I make it using the cake flour I have made. This cake is great for decorating and stacking.

madj - 2019-05-25 08:47:00

madj wrote:

I think a fruit one can be made a little more ahead but tbh I have not made one before. .

i agree with madj's post... except for this comment about fruit cakes.
Fruitcakes are best made ahead of time. My mother's tradition, to make the Christmas cake at labour weekend.
And then spends weeks feeding with alcohol.
The advantage of a fruit cake for a wedding is that it can be made ahead of time.
But they aren't favoured as a wedding cake any more, because as a cake, it is a less popular style of cake.
If the OP is making a naked cake, then I image that they have already decided not to make a fruit cake.

duckmoon - 2019-05-25 10:17:00