After agreeing to this I think I am a Fruit Cake! Here it goes...Has anyone ever made a fruit cake for a wedding. A client gave me a recipe and wants a four teired square wedding cake that will serve 200 people. I have plenty of time to figure this out...I hope. The fruit cake recipe itself seems fine, but it calls for soaking a cheesecloth in brandy and storing it in a cool place. For how long? And what is a cool place? It says you may soak it several times. So my question is, does it ever "dry" to the point where I can frost it? I know the cake is extremely heavy, so can you fill it? What kind of icing would you frost it with? Would it leak out from the sides of the cake? I hope that someone has experience with this!! Any tips at all would be greatly appreciated! You can always PM me if you want too! Thanks in advance!
Lynn

If the client gave you the recipe, you may want to call and ask questions from someone who is used to making it. I would think a marmalade or other fruit spread would be a good filler. HTH!

Here in Jamaica fruit cake is traditionally made for weddings. I am not familiar with your recipe description though. We blend the fruits before its added to the cake. I made one recently and used fondant to cover it(its the one with the lavendar roses in my pics) Some people use royal icing but its the one made with the egg whites. I prefer the fondant.
I've never done one with a filling because the cake itself is flavorful.
Hope this helps

Here's an article and recipe to give you an overview:

http://www.allinfoaboutweddings.com/recipe_for_a_traditional_wedding_cake.html

Here's the recipe by MissBaritone:

http://cakecentral.com/recipes/2255/english-fruit-cake-spice-cake

I don't think you're nuts.

Sounds like the bride wants something unique.

Truth be told, I'd be available to do some taste tests, if needed.

Is the cake similar to English Fruit Cake (the link to my recipe is in the post above)

If it is you dont need to wrap in a brandy soaked cheesecloth. I simply wrap mine in greasproof paper then foil and store in a cupboard. Once a week or so I open the package and drizzle a little alcohol over the cake. Try and make the cake at least 4 weeks in advance but you the longer it's kept the more time it will have to mature and the better it will taste. It will also slice better.

We don't normally put a filling in these cakes but to decorate they're normally covered in marzipan then royal icing or fondant.

Thanks for all of the help already! I am trying to get in contact with the aunt of the bride, who gave her the recipe. Here is what I have so far...White Fruit Cake

1 c softened butter
2 1/3 c sugar
4 c sifted flour
1/2 c sherry
1 lb chopped walnuts
3 c golden raisins
1/2 lb candied red cherries, halved
1/2 lb candied green cherries, halved
1/2 lb glazed pineapple, cubed
2 c grated coconut

Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in egg yolks, 1 c of flour and sherry. Mix remaining flour and nuts, friut and coconut. Stir into batter.
Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry; fold into batter. Turn into a greased and floured 10 inch tube pan and bake at 300 for 2.5 hours.
Allow cake to cool. Wrap in brandy soaked cheesecloth. Overwrap with aluminum foli and store in a cool place. If desired, resoak cheesecloth with brandy from time to time.

Now that I look at this - there are no eggs in the ingredients list! Anyway, any additional suggestions would be great!

You poor thing, this is turning into the fruitcake from Hades....

Found this recipe which calls for the same amount of flour - it requires 6 eggs.

So you know you need at least that many.

http://tinyurl.com/ykme25

Hope the bride's aunt get back to you SOON!

HTH

I don't fill fruit cakes. They taste great with just the fruit. I cover it with apricot jam, then cover it in almond icing and then the white fondant. It would be rich enough with the brandy soaked cheesecloth. It is tradition here to at least have one layer fruit cake. Have you omitted to type in eggs for your recipe. Good luck.

Thanks, she got back to me - 4 eggs separated. I tried the trial run yesterday - what a heavy cake!! It was a ten inch round, even though I will be working with squares. For those of you that have done this before - do you put a flwer nail or cake core in the middle. I didn't even think about it until it was in the oven. It seems that the outside got a bit too dark forfoe the inside was finished. The golden raisins turned brownish black! oops. I soaked it anyway and it is wrapped and in the cupboard. I am going to "feed" it every week with a good soaking of brandy. Am I on my way?

No you don't. I double line the tins with greasproof paper. It is traditional to fasten brown paper around the outside of the tin but I don't normally bother. If the cake does start to get a little too dark simply cover the top with a square of greasproof paper or some tin foil