DIY Wedding Cake

[britTANNY]

So at first i was just kind of set on maybe doing my own cake, but now that i have over a year to practice i think i am more set on doing it!

Are there any past brides that made their wedding cakes (or family made them)...

I really dont know where to start, all the online tutorials are specific to certain wedding cake recipes and the flavors are weird to me! lol

My main issue right now is finding maybe like 3 different recipes...
Carrot cake for FH its his favorite
White cake but i want it flavorful
and a chocolate...

I found a recipe for both white and chocolate (but for the chocolate i dont really like that they use box cake mix) i think i will try and make this for my little cousins birthday party next week?!

So the long made short does anyone have recipes to share or tips of any kind

TIA sorry this thread is so long and hopefully it makes sense lol

[acidcookie]

I'm not having a cake at my wedding (doesn't really make sense with our Sunday brunch buffet which includes dessert), but if I did I'd make my own. I may still decide to bake something anyway just because I love baking!

I don't know what your baking level of expertise is so sorry if anything is like "duh!"

Since you have three flavors you want, for now just test recipes until you have some you like. Then once you know how many people to feed you can make a big enough layer out of each flavor to feed them all. For decorating, there are a lot of useful youtube videos on proper frosting, and using fondant if you plan to do that. Will you be making your own frosting?

I make all cakes from scratch (except angel food because I can't stand figuring out what to do with 12 leftover egg yolks, lol!), and rely on a couple recipes:

For chocolate, honestly the best I've made and have stuck with is Hershey's "perfect" chocolate cake or whatever it's called. The recipe is on the back of their cocoa powder, which if you don't have you'll need to buy for the recipe anyway. But it's also on AllRecipes: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/one-bowl-chocolate-cake-i/Detail.aspx

The batter is really really wet going into the oven, but I promise it turns out well. You just have to start watching it and doing the toothpick pokes every few minutes starting before the time is up (as you should with any homemade cake).

For white cake, I've had success with this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Simple-White-Cake/Detail.aspx
It's denser than a white cake boxed mix, but cakes from scratch are by nature a different texture than box cakes.

When I've made carrot cake I use a naturally-sweetened recipe (it uses honey & pineapple juice). I like it, but it may not be sweet enough for some. So I don't have experience with any particular traditional recipe but I'm sure AllRecipes can help once again!

[britTANNY]

thank you :)

and i would say i am qualified for duh at the moment :lafhard:

i was planning on doing the bottom white the next chocolate and then trying to manuver the top into like a marble of both and then doing the grooms cake carrot... or at least that is the plan for now!

Thank you so much for the good information!

I made a marshmallow fondant that i really liked but i need to get it just right (i couldnt get it to be not sticky and not tear at the same time so it ended up in a big mess lol) i am not sure on what kind of frosting i am going to use for the crumb coat though i do know i want it white since i want the fondant to be all white :)

any recomendations for frosting to go under the fondant? Maybe something that will help balance out the super sweet from the marshmallow taste?

[acidcookie]

Ooh, a marble would be cool, and not too tough. Just layer the batters and then swirl with a toothpick, kind of bringing the bottom batter up. The hardest part is to stop swirling before it's all mixed lol!

Buttercream is your best bet under fondant since it's pretty sturdy. Of course it's really sweet since it's really just butter & sugar! I adore a boiled/7-minute/marshmallow frosting and it's what I usually top with, but it's more fragile so I wouldn't chance it under fondant. Buttercream won't be perfectly white since butter is yellowish, but it'll be hidden under the fondant. There are buttercream recipes that use shortening to keep them white, but I've never tried those. Seems wrong! haha.

Marshmallow fondant sounds really cool! I find regular fondant to be kinda tough to eat, so I bet this would be so much better!

[britTANNY]

Yea i know it wont be pure white i just dont want like brown under it lol :)
i found all my recipes i was looking for so now i just need to try them out!

and i didnt think the marble would be too hard, plus only me and tanny will see it just in case :lafhard: i made marble brownies which was brownie and cream cheese and all you did was layer then drag or loop it...

thank you so much for all your help!

i like the marshmallow fondant, i just have to figure out the sticky situation and how to make it thinner lol

im going to try and make the white cake tonight :)