What Size Pans Are These And How Do I Do It?
Decorating By yummygoodness777 Updated 6 Jun 2012 , 5:57am by carmijok
Hi, I have been asked to make my first wedding cake. Thankfully she wants something fairly simple to make, no intricate designs at all. I do not yet own nice square baking pans, so I just need someone to tell me what size pans I would need to make a cake like this and how many layers per cake are put together in this. Also, what are some good brands to check out. Any suggestions on pricing for this. She wants it in buttercream, no fondant... Any advice or tips would be appreciated.
Thanks!
...what size pans I would need to make a cake like this and how many layers per cake are put together in this.
What's the serving goal? This looks like a 14"x10"x6" (all with two 2" layers per tier), but you can use the appropriate sizes to meet your serving goal...
http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-wedding-cake-2-inch-pans.cfm
I noticed that you don't have any buttercream cakes in your photo gallery. Are you aware of the challenges of icing square cakes in buttercream? If not, I suggest you start practicing now. You might be a natural, but if you aren't, you'll need the practice.
Thanks guys! She needs to feed 75 total, but I am also making a grooms cake that feeds 40, so she said the wedding cake wouldn't need to serve 75 but I guess atleast 35-40 so that between the two cakes, there would be enough. She is trying to get it as cheap as possible, but I don't want to undersell myself either. She even said that maybe one tier of the cake could be a dummy cake and she does plan on keeping the top tier so if the bottom was a 14 inch, would that feed 35-40 alone? And how much less would I charge to do the middle a dummy? I have never done a dummy before and she wants it in buttercream. Would it look different than the other tiers. For these size pans, how many do each serve? Do u recommend a website with all that info on it I can keep for my records?
Sorry so many questions...I'm new at this 
I noticed that you don't have any buttercream cakes in your photo gallery. Are you aware of the challenges of icing square cakes in buttercream? If not, I suggest you start practicing now. You might be a natural, but if you aren't, you'll need the practice.
DianeLM: I have only done one buttercream cake in a cake class I took and it was round. So, no I do not have much experience with buttercream cakes. I have mainly just done fondant cakes so far. Any tips or warnings would be appreciated. In our class, we smoothed the cake with parchment paper and that worked well, but I just need a good crusting buttercream recipe because in the class we used the CK brand icing, which I wasn't fond of.
Icing square cakes is a royal pain....seriously. I would suggest the youtube videos and lots of practice
I noticed that you don't have any buttercream cakes in your photo gallery. Are you aware of the challenges of icing square cakes in buttercream? If not, I suggest you start practicing now. You might be a natural, but if you aren't, you'll need the practice.
what she says.
I noticed in your pictures that you still encounter the "bulge" in the middle. "simple cakes" usually are more challenging because you wont have anything to hide it. I would suggest you ask for a little artistic freedom to maybe pipe some scroll work on the sides incase you have trouble. As long as you don't charge more, the bride might be willing to do that in the interest of a better looking cake. And like its been suggested before, practice, practice, practice!
I only use buttercream for my cakes. Square cakes are a pain so you will need to practice. Go to Youtube and look for tutorials on how to frost a square cake. My main suggestion is to work with cold cake. Freeze it after baking and then fill and crumbcoat while still frozen. It's easier to work with...especially with square cakes. You need a firm surface and the buttercream when it's cold provides a nice firm surface. Don't put it back in the freezer after your initial crumbcoat...keep it in the fridge and layer your frosting on refrigerating between layers.
Here is what you need in order to calculate servings and cake size;
http://shinymetalobjects.net/cake/calculator/cakulator.cgi
Don't discount the dummy cake very much. You still have to provide buttercream and decorate it. The only cost savings is baking the cake...but you still have to buy the dummy. It's a wash IMO.
As far as pans go, Magic Line is superior...however because their edges are REALLY sharp, they can break off while frosting unless you really know what you are doing...and since you're a novice I would go with Fat Daddios. They have a slightly rounded edge that you can make sharper with frosting.
Look into the 'Melvira' roller method as well as the Viva paper towel method for smoothing. Both can be found on CC...and tonedna has a tutorial on Youtube about the viva towel I think. Both methods work well on crusted frosting that's room temp and soft underneath...good for getting edges sharp.
Make sure your tiers are at least 4" tall.
HTH! 
Thank you carmijok: I appreciate all the helpful advice from all of you. And thanks for the link on serving sizes. All your information should help me a lot!!
I appreciate everyone's advice!!
It's a lot easier to buttercream ice a square cake if you are real generous with the icing. The you can take off as much as you need to.
You can get away with buying one pan if the middle is the dummy--a 12" pan. Cut one layer up for the top tier, and bake 2 layers for the bottom. This way you can see if you really like the brand of pan.
I would guess that there will be some people that want a piece of brides cake as well as a piece of grooms cake, if the grooms cake is chocolate. Make sure the bride understands how small the pieces will be for "as cheap as possible". She may well want three tiers of cake to avoid having her wedding food look "as cheap as possible".
You really do need to practice with squares. I took on a baby blocks cake recently and had never frosted a square cake. I was up until 4:30 in the morning battling with those little monsters trying to get them right. I was ready to shoot myself in the foot. I didn't even get to decorate them as I had originally planned because I ran out of time. Really, practice befor you do an actual wedding cake.
I only use buttercream for my cakes. Square cakes are a pain so you will need to practice. Go to Youtube and look for tutorials on how to frost a square cake. My main suggestion is to work with cold cake. Freeze it after baking and then fill and crumbcoat while still frozen. It's easier to work with...especially with square cakes. You need a firm surface and the buttercream when it's cold provides a nice firm surface. Don't put it back in the freezer after your initial crumbcoat...keep it in the fridge and layer your frosting on refrigerating between layers.
Carijok, You say to crumbcoat while the cake is still frozen? Should you wait till its thaw out before its frosted? Funny I`m doing a square cake this weekend, It`s for family, But I still like to get it as best as I can.
Here is what you need in order to calculate servings and cake size;
http://shinymetalobjects.net/cake/calculator/cakulator.cgi
Don't discount the dummy cake very much. You still have to provide buttercream and decorate it. The only cost savings is baking the cake...but you still have to buy the dummy. It's a wash IMO.
As far as pans go, Magic Line is superior...however because their edges are REALLY sharp, they can break off while frosting unless you really know what you are doing...and since you're a novice I would go with Fat Daddios. They have a slightly rounded edge that you can make sharper with frosting.
Look into the 'Melvira' roller method as well as the Viva paper towel method for smoothing. Both can be found on CC...and tonedna has a tutorial on Youtube about the viva towel I think. Both methods work well on crusted frosting that's room temp and soft underneath...good for getting edges sharp.
Make sure your tiers are at least 4" tall.
HTH!
http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-wedding-cake-2-inch-pans.cfm
The above chart will tell you how many servings per pan.
Squares are a pain but there are many videos out there for help.
If you have time and money, Sharon Zambito's "Perfecting The Art of Buttercream" will get you to where you need to go. It's a great video for learning the basic of buttercream icing. She even includes her recipe.
Good Luck to you,
tokazodo
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Carijok, You say to crumbcoat while the cake is still frozen? Should you wait till its thaw out before its frosted? Funny I`m doing a square cake this weekend, It`s for family, But I still like to get it as best as I can.
You don't have to thaw your cake to crumbcoat or frost. In fact I prefer working with a frozen cake. It holds up better to pressure and won't come off on your knife and it's easier to carve. This is the one thing I learned at the bakery I worked for that made all the difference for me in decorating cakes. Before then I couldn't ice a cake to save my soul.
The cake thaws pretty quickly anyway. I fill and crumbcoat then set it back in the refrigerator (not freezer) to let the crumbcoat set up and then I layer on my frosting.
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