Hi All, I've never posted here before but thought I'd give it a go for some assistance with my brother's wedding cake he's asked me to make.
I've made 3 tiered cakes before but he's asked for 5 tiers, 2 of which he is happy to have as fake tiers.
He's given me some pictures of the sort of thing he is after as you can see in the screenshot from pinterest below:
The cake on the left is the practice I have been doing with the roses.
The questions I have are:
1. What is the best cake to use? He wants a chocolate, vanilla and a fruit cake. For the chocolate and vanilla I would usually make Madeira cakes but wanted to check other peoples opinions for what to do best.
2. How far in advance can I made the cakes?
3. How far in advance can I decorate the cakes?
4. What is the best way to transport? I previously have made cakes completely before transporting (tallest being a 3 tier) but I have read about people putting together at the venue. I don't want to be too stressed on the day and hopefully want to be able to get a lot of the work done and complete days prior.
5. What is the best thing to make the roses out of?
I know that's a lot of questions but I hope people can help me out!
Thanks in advance!
Rosie
Alrighty so I can try to help with a few of the questions...
#2/#3. I bake cakes about 3 days in advance, I've heard of people baking them weeks in advance and then freezing them but I like to make it fresh if possible. So I bake it, level it, and refrigerate all in the same day. The next day I cover it in buttercream, cover it in fondant, and stack them, obviously if it allows. If I need to do some work on a certain tier before stacking it I don't stack them all. The last day is decorating day (my favorite day). You can make the roses weeks/month in advance, they last a really long time.
#4. For cakes that are more than 3 tiers I assemble at the venue, simply because of the weight, but since you're thinking of having 2 dummy tiers then I don't think you need to do that. Depending on which tiers are fake depends on how you support the cake but no matter what make sure you use dowels, have boards between each tier, and a dowel running through the whole cake to keep it stable.
#5. I would use gum paste for roses. A little tip I would give you for your roses would be to use less petals and try thining out the edges with a balling tool to give it a more realistic look. It takes practice but you're definitely on the right track!
Good luck with everything! Hope this helps!
1. What is the best cake to use? He wants a chocolate, vanilla and a fruit cake. For the chocolate and vanilla I would usually make Madeira cakes but wanted to check other peoples opinions for what to do best.
I would use my *original* WASC recipe but then I take it y ou are not in the states so it might not work well for you.......
2. How far in advance can I made the cakes?
3. How far in advance can I decorate the cakes?
There i s *nothing wrong!* with baking 1-3 months ahead and freezing when they are properly wrapped. Freezing actually helps spread the moisture throughout a cake and keep it fresh. Defrost by removing from fzr to frig the night before want to work on them 2-3 days before delivery.
4. What is the best way to transport? I previously have made cakes completely before transporting (tallest being a 3 tier) but I have read about people putting together at the venue. I don't want to be too stressed on the day
I suggest transporting in 2 or 3 sections. The 2 largest tiers put together, bordered and even the rose swag added; the next 2 put together as one and maybe the top tier added or taken separately. It depends a lot on the conditon of the roads/route you take and the vehicle you use - the the type of driver you are:) Then at the venue you just have to put together the section, add borders and roses & you're done.
5. What is the best thing to make the roses out of?
Gumpaste or fondant. Fondant roses are a bit softer than gp but you still can handle them w/breaking them. YOu might want to add some Tylose to the fondant to help stiffen it up a bit. GP can be brittle causing some petals to break when you place them on the cake. Others might not agree w/me on that :) The points 4 & 5 given by the other poster are good:)
I freeze all my cakes, well wrapped in plastic wrap and foil. I've compared, and frozen/thawed cakes taste so much better than fresh. A lot of baked goods do, really. Anyway, I will actually freeze even if I need to work on it the next day, I believe in this so much.
I agree you're on the right track, but the rose petals do need to be thinner.
Good luck!
I always use gum paste to make flowers because I like the thinner petals. They are fragile, though and require care when placing. It helps to use needle nosed pliers for positioning blooms. You are doing well with your roses. Try gum paste and you will be able to get a much thinner petal. I use Nicholas Lodge's recipe: https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/nicholas-lodge-gumpaste-recipe/
Here is an example of one of my roses, but for a cake, I would leave the petals a bit thicker. You can make all of your flowers as far ahead as you like. They will keep indefinitely as long as they are kept reasonably cool (room temp, not refrigerated - the humidity will melt the gum paste) and dry. Purple is probably the least stable color. Keep your finished flowers in a dark place and try adding a little bit of baking soda to your gum paste to help retain the color.
Thank you so much for all your replies! You have all definitely helped.
ive been practicing a bit this weekend and the flowers are looking better (well at least i think they do....) already!
Thank you Sandra! hoping that if i keep practicing they will get better! Ordered some more stuff so will give it another go in a couple of days :D
Kara Andretta has a wonderful tutorial on making roses on YouTube and so does Edna de la Cruz. The first link is Kara, which is all in one video and the next four are Edna's, which are in four parts. I've watched a million rose tutorials and these are two of the best.
It wiped out everything I posted except the last video. Here is Kara's:
Thank you so much Sandra! I will take a look at these tonight and hopefully can pick up some tips from them!
I kept searching Youtube but haven't found 'the one' yet! so hoping these are more handy - thanks again! :)
Tracy at Cotton Crumbs makes amazing flowers and her rose tutorial is very easy to follow. May offer you some further tips should you need them
You ask if you could make a rose without using a wire. I've never done it this way, but in the attached tutorial, she builds the rose on a styrofoam ball without a wire.
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