Tips on making wedding cakes!
30th March 2023
Wedding season is upon us! Are you also receiving requests for wedding cakes and can't see the forrest through the trees? In this blog we will give you some tips for making, transporting and serving beautiful wedding cakes. REad on to find out these tips!
Looking for inspiration? Find all our wedding recipes here.
How do I get marzipan white?
Know that you can not make marzipan with due to the ban on E171 (this is the white dye). White fondant is availabe, so you can make your marzipan whiter by mixing marzipan and fondant together and lining your cake with this. The combinaton of these two is named Marzefon. That way you still have a little more of the flavor of marzipan, but the cake is a lot whiter than if you only use marzipan. Watch how to make marzifon in this video.
Good preparation is half the battle
Make sure you work well ahead! This way you'll have less last-minute stress. For example, did you know that you can store sponge cakes (without decoration and lining) very well in the freezer? Let the sponge cake cool well and wrap them well in foil and they will be good in the freezer for up to 3 months. Two hours before you need them, remove the sponge cakes from the freezer and let them come to room temperature.
Another smart thing to do is to schedule a trial baking day. This is a good time for yourself to see if you run into anything and if the bride and groom have any other wishes after all.
Don't forget the dowels!
When making a stack cake, it is important to place dowels in the sponge cake. This way the weight of the cake will be distributed. If you would stack a stack cake without dowels, it will most likely sink into the bottom. In this video our baker Annemiek explains how to place dowels.
For a smaller 2-layer stack cake, gold/silver cake cartons and dowels will do just fine! If your cake will be higher than two layers then use boards and dowels between the cakes, these boards are thicker than cake cartons and can carry weight much better. Make sure your bottom cake is ALWAYS on a drum.
Also, always spread a little buttercream on the cartons or boards and "stick" your cake on them. This will keep your cake from sliding off your carton/board.
Transporting the cake
The cake can be transported if it is already stacked, but keep in mind that it may shift and the dowels are not secure enough in the cake. Want to transport it stacked anyway? Then choose a tall cake box like this one from FunCakes. Still not high enough? Then you can always use cake box raisers to make the box even higher.
Also, never transport the cake on the back seat, because it is always a bit crooked. Rather, put the box in the trunk and make sure it can't move around too much. Also, don't leave it in the sun for too long, as the cake will get too hot.
It is best to just transport the cake in parts and stack and finish it on location. There is always a place where you can assemble the cake in peace. This prevents stress with transporting, and then you can be sure your cake will arrive in one piece and look exactly as you intended.
On location
Make sure you are well aware of what kind of refrigerator is on location. This is because it is important to be able to put the cake in the refrigerator. It is best to put the cake in a refrigerator that is mpty. This is because the cake is sensitive to other food smells. Take the cake out of the refrigerator about an hour before cutting it so it can come to room temperature (keep in mind the weather, is it very hot? Then you do need to keep a close eye on the cake so that the decoration doesn't melt).
Flowers on your cake
You can choose to use real flowers on the cake. Always use unsprayed flowers, you can ask your florist for this. Never just stick the cut flowers into the cake. The juices from the stems will get into your cake and that has a nasty bitter taste. Seal the cut flowers in melted white chocolate or white Deco Melts and let it dry so it hardens. This way you can be assured that the juices won't go any way.
You can also use special flower pics and stick them in your cake. In these flower pics you can stick the flowers. Please note that if you want to put an arrangement of flowers on your cake, you can't put too many flower pics next to each other because this will give too much damage to the cake and because the flowers have a weight, they can drop or fall off with the flower pic and all.
Never use flowers you cut from your own garden, there are lots of bugs in these that you can't see with the naked eye! Hedera is a no-go, this is poisonous.
