Yes, You Can Make a Wedding Cake 🎂🍰💑

[dsi1]

Yes, You Can Make a Wedding Cake

It may just be the best gift you can give, and more manageable than you think with these expert tips.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/02/dining/wedding-cake-recipe.html

By Natasha Pickowicz June 2, 2023

Ever scroll through a friend’s wedding registry and feel uninspired by the cavalcade of appliances and trinkets? Consider going rogue and asking the couple if you can give them something major: a wedding cake.

With their vertiginous tiers, sculpted sugar roses and fondant as smooth as clay, professional wedding cakes are engineered to look good for long stretches of time — some even come with a sneaky Styrofoam layer — but they can fall short in flavor. A more personal homemade cake subverts expectations, and can feel less formal in the best possible way: big, exuberant and celebratory.

Baking a tiered wedding cake may seem ambitious, but you can break it down into smaller, more manageable tasks over a few days. In this recipe, everything — the tender chiffon cake layers, the sturdy buttercream, the flavorful citrus compote, the sesame crunch — can be refrigerated for days or even frozen for weeks, to no ill effect.

On the big day, the cakes are frosted and transported unstacked to reduce any anxiety-inducing bumpy car rides, then assembled and decorated on site. Elegant, edible décor is added in the final moments.

Worried about teetering cakes? Lots of thin, stacked layers are more structurally sound than a few thick layers glued together with icing. So, here, citrus syrup-soaked cakes and creamy filling are tucked into plastic wrap-lined pans, ensuring straight sides and a flat base.

Nervous about drooping frosting the day of the wedding? These cakes freeze overnight and gently come to temperature on the big day, which helps keep the finish cool and in place. And, because there’s no butter in the batter — the cakes are leavened with billowing egg whites — the layers don’t get crumbly and dry as they thaw under the sturdy Swiss meringue buttercream.

While more labor intensive than its American cousin (butter and confectioners’ sugar whipped together), a Swiss meringue buttercream is ideal for enrobing tiered cakes because of its heft and stability.

To make it, egg whites and sugar are whisked in a double boiler until emulsified, thick and hot; the mixture briefly cools before receiving a generous amount of butter. It’s then whip-whip-whipped until a silky buttercream emerges. Like the cakes, the buttercream (and the citrus compote) can be frozen and thawed at your convenience. Thaw them in the refrigerator the night before you’ll use them, then set them out at room temperature for an additional hour to let them become spreadable. (It doesn’t hurt to re-whip, either, for an optimally buoyant, glossy texture.) The crunch can be pulled directly from the freezer and scattered onto the cake layers.

If you’re not up for that big of a project, you can still offer to make something smaller — but still special — for the wedding.

Inspired by the Victorian-era tradition of groom’s cakes, this tender cocoa and olive oil cake is baked and served right out of its pan. Still popular in the American South, groom’s cakes — typically with a more robust flavor profile, like chocolate and aged spirits — are a cheeky addition to more classical wedding dessert spreads, a chance to get weirder, boozier and more playful.

Instead of thin, alternating layers of cake, buttercream and jam, this sheet cake is soaked with a whiskey- and coffee-spiked milk, then topped with a glossy boiled caramel glaze and a final dusting of cocoa powder.

Like any homemade gift, a D.I.Y. wedding cake is emotionally rich, allowing the effort, the care and the creativity of its maker to come through. Imperfections are inevitable, but they’re also kind of the point.

Sure, ordering a toaster oven is faster — but memories of a homemade wedding cake will outlast any appliance...

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[Dave Smith]

The article is a little different from the subject line. I would think
that a couple should be thrilled to get a home made wedding cake as a
present, but ideas on wedding cakes vary. I am probably old fashioned
about wedding cake because my idea of a wedding cake is a dark fruit
cake with fondant and/or marzipan. My mother made the wedding cakes for
me and my brothers. She made the cake and that had a professional or
semi professional decorate them.

[GM]

Is this the "real" dsi1 - or is it *me*...???

It's kinda hard to keep up with someone who lives in 'the future'...

🫥

--
GM

[S Viemeister]

On 03/07/2023 23:07, Dave Smith wrote:

> The article is a little different from the subject line.  I would think
> that a couple should be thrilled to get a home made wedding cake as a
> present, but ideas on wedding cakes vary.  I am probably old fashioned
> about wedding cake because my idea of a wedding cake is a dark fruit
> cake with fondant and/or marzipan.  My mother made the wedding cakes for
> me and my brothers. She made the cake and that had a professional or
> semi professional decorate them.

My son and daughter-in-law were married from our house in Scotland, and
my cousin's wife made a cake for them like the one you describe.

[Graham]

The village baker always had rich fruit cakes on hand for weddings, xmas
and any other celebration. When he sold one he always baked another to
mature for future sale.

[Cindy Hamilton]

On 2023-07-03, Dave Smith <adavid...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
> The article is a little different from the subject line. I would think
> that a couple should be thrilled to get a home made wedding cake as a
> present, but ideas on wedding cakes vary. I am probably old fashioned
> about wedding cake because my idea of a wedding cake is a dark fruit
> cake with fondant and/or marzipan. My mother made the wedding cakes for
> me and my brothers. She made the cake and that had a professional or
> semi professional decorate them.

You are old fashioned. So old fashioned that the wedding fruit
cake passed out of U.S. custom before I was born, reflecting
our weaker ties to England. White cake has been the standard
for about 75 years.

The cake at my first wedding in 1979 was carrot cake. We didn't
have cake at my second wedding in 1989; instead we provided a huge
bowl of fresh strawberries.

--
Cindy Hamilton

[S Viemeister]

Sadly, we no longer have a village baker, although the Danish
billionaire who has bought up so much of the land around us, apparently
intends to have a bakery where our old one once was.

[songbird]

Cindy Hamilton wrote:
> On 2023-07-03, Dave Smith <adavid...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
>>
>> The article is a little different from the subject line. I would think
>> that a couple should be thrilled to get a home made wedding cake as a
>> present, but ideas on wedding cakes vary. I am probably old fashioned
>> about wedding cake because my idea of a wedding cake is a dark fruit
>> cake with fondant and/or marzipan. My mother made the wedding cakes for
>> me and my brothers. She made the cake and that had a professional or
>> semi professional decorate them.
>
> You are old fashioned. So old fashioned that the wedding fruit
> cake passed out of U.S. custom before I was born, reflecting
> our weaker ties to England. White cake has been the standard
> for about 75 years.

true, as at least i've never had a fruitcake at a
wedding. one time someone made several kinds of spiced
cakes and a lot of people complained. they wanted plain
vanilla white cake.

> The cake at my first wedding in 1979 was carrot cake. We didn't
> have cake at my second wedding in 1989; instead we provided a huge
> bowl of fresh strawberries.

:) carrot cake is on the baking list for sometime the
next few weeks (i'd put it down as a maybe because who
wants to bake in the summer when it's going to be hot?
so i'm hoping she changes her mind).

fresh fruit chunks and a chocolate dipping fountain...
be careful in making the fountain too big or people may
jump in...


songbird

[Cindy Hamilton]

My first wedding was in November. Anyway, we had the hippie
bakery do the cake.
https://www.annarbor.com/neighborhoods/downtown/where-sun-bakery-used-to-be/

> fresh fruit chunks and a chocolate dipping fountain...
> be careful in making the fountain too big or people may
> jump in...

Fruit and chocolate are an abomination.

--
Cindy Hamilton

[Dave Smith]

We have a good bakery in tow and he still does dark fruit cakes and he
makes wonderful wedding cake. Your town could be very lucky to have a
Dane setting up a bakery. I have been to Denmark several times and they
have incredible breads and pastries.

[Graham]

Neither does the village. When I was a kid there were two. The four
grocers have been replaced by one small supermarket that also sells
bread that is delivered daily. There is a new butcher, really a meat
seller, replacing the two, long closed butchers.

[Graham]

Thor only knows what changes I'll see on my next visit.

[S Viemeister]

I rather doubt that Anders Hoch Povlsen will be hands-on at the bakery!
And there would likely be local resentment if he brought in Danish
bakers, rather than hiring locals. Unemployment (and under employment)
is a major problem here.

[S Viemeister]

We used to have a terrific all-purpose business locally - hardware,
groceries, gardening supplies, bus services, a bakery which delivered,
petrol, diesel, and propane deliveries, etc. That business was bought by
Mr Povlsen, and currently, all that remains of it is a petrol pump and a
diesel pump. The nearest supermarket is 40 miles away, in Thurso.

Royal Bank of Scotland closed its local branch, and the nearest branch
of _any_ bank is in Thurso.

The two local Post Offices also were good little grocery shops, one of
them also had a wide range of magazines and newspapers. The one nearest
to me is still in business, and will deliver, the other, bigger one, is
now trying to be a 'deli', and no longer carries any printed matter, but
they do have a big section of alcoholic beverages.

[Dave Smith]

I never expected that we would be working there himself. I was just
thinking that he would want a bakery to stand up to Danish standards.

[songbird]

Cindy Hamilton wrote:
...
> Fruit and chocolate are an abomination.

*shrug* i happen to like about any of it (fresh or
dried fruits), bananas are really good with chocolate
and same for chocolate covered nuts as i also like
pretty much all of those.


songbird

[Bruce]

Noted, Sheldonia.

[Bruce]

So have many European countries.

[Cindy Hamilton]

On 2023-07-04, songbird <song...@anthive.com> wrote:

I'm not all that fond of bananas. Too sweet; not enough acid;
not enough fiber.

I like my chocolate un-effed-around-with:

https://www.amazon.com/Ghirardelli-Premium-Baking-Sweet-Chocolate/dp/B01IRFAZXG
(They're about half that price at my grocery store.)

A one-ounce square after lunch and another one after dinner.

--
Cindy Hamilton

[Bruce]

On Tue, 04 Jul 2023 16:33:47 GMT, Cindy Hamilton
<hami...@invalid.com> wrote:

>On 2023-07-04, songbird <song...@anthive.com> wrote:
>> Cindy Hamilton wrote:
>> ...
>>> Fruit and chocolate are an abomination.
>>
>> *shrug* i happen to like about any of it (fresh or
>> dried fruits), bananas are really good with chocolate
>> and same for chocolate covered nuts as i also like
>> pretty much all of those.
>
>I'm not all that fond of bananas. Too sweet; not enough acid;
>not enough fiber.

lol