Wedding Blog
Back in the summer of ’04, I was housesitting for my brother and SIL during their month-long honeymoon to Italy. As it turns out, the summer of ’04 was also the summer of wedding cakes on the Food Network. Plus they had tivo. It was that summer that I learned (in theory only) the magic of fondant and decided that my wedding cake would be my own creation.
Not only do I want to make my own wedding cake because I like to control every situation, but also… guess what, it’s cheaper (even including practice cakes). After being engaged a couple months, I let on to Mr. Bubblegum that I thought we could take on this challenge. He was skeptical, but he humored me by tagging along while I shopped for all the wedding cake-making accessories I thought I would need. Granted, I had never made a wedding cake before, but how hard could it be?
That weekend, I devoted a day to making a practice wedding cake. I decided to make it on a slightly smaller scale, but I learned some good lessons nonetheless. Here’s how it turned out:
Let me start by pointing out the obvious flaws:
1) The middle layer makes me laugh. I had some fondant issues here. More on that in a minute.
2) The balls around the middle layer also make me laugh. Still the fault of the fondant issues.
3) The bottom layer is actually only one cake layer, because the other layer broke when I took it out of the pan.
BUT I’m optimistic, because here are the lessons I learned:
1) When painting on a design with food coloring, do it AFTER the fondant has been put on the cake. As crazy as it may sound, it is very difficult to smooth fondant onto a cake when there is a wet food coloring design all over it. Hence the “skirting” I tried to do in order to compensate. An obvious failure.
2) Whoever told me to butter then flour the bottom of the cake pan was either a) not right or b) not there to tell me what I was doing wrong. Next time I will just plain grease that pan.
AND here’s what worked well:
1) We left the cake out and tried a tiny piece each day. Even on the fourth day, it was ridiculously moist and delicious. That means I don’t plan to worry about making the cake on Thursday but serving it on Saturday.
2) The general concept of fondant is great, and it’s easy to work with.
Next step is flavor-testing!!
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Wow. Im really impressed! And I think your first attempt looks quite pretty.
Dude, “faults” and all, I’m impressed. I think it looks great!
I’m *really* impressed– I think that cake looks amazing! You might have a new career 
Omigosh, that looks amazing! What a great feat! Cheers, Miss Bubblegum… that is too awesome.
try using the special pam “for baking” spray stuff. I always use it for cakes and muffins. It has flour built right in.
That is pretty dang good for a first try! Are the balls rolled fondant?
wow, neat! i can’t wait to see what the next trials look like.
I’ve been working with Fondant for about 10 months and am coincidentally attempting my first 4-tiered wedding cake this weekend (cross my fingers).
Re: buttering & flouring a cake. It’s to make it not stick to the pan when you take the cake out. You can always just buy a product called “cake release” (avail at Michaels or cake stores) to spread on the bottom of your pans or just email me and I’ll send you a homemade recipe) happy baking!!
very cool.
I’ve had problems with the grease/cocoa on the pan also. I’m glad Red mentioned the “cake release” - I’d never heard of it before.
For your practice cake, how many batches (one regular cake being one) did you make? What size pans did you use?
Thanks!
My mom always puts a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper on the bottom of the cake pan (you just cut it to fit). Then you just run a knife around the outside of the cake and it falls right out. Works like a charm.
Amazing for your first time- You should be super proud!
and I agree with May31’s comment about the wax paper- works marvelously. Sometimes I use that and Bakers Joy!
I really wanted to do this but the timing would have just been insane. So instead, I made all of the gumpaste flowers for the cake, which i could make months in advance (but of course ended up leaving the bulk for 2 weeks ahead).
Good luck and it looks great! Are those calla lillies on top?
Tip on buttering, then flouring - make sure you put more flour than needed on the bottom, then stand over the sink with the pan vertical and keep tapping around like a tambourine until you’ve covered the bottom and the sides. it works really well if you butter the pan, the stick in parchment/wax paper on the bottom, and then butter and flour the paper plus the sides. Also, make sure the cake is completely cool before attempting to take it out.
That’s a mighty pretty cake for a first time. Okay, it’s good for any time.
Use parchment paper.
Unfortunately I didn’t learn this until after my own wedding cake, and I had to redo the bottom layer.
Have you figured out how much cake you’ll need for the amount of guests? I way overestimated and had a ton left over.
Can’t wait to hear more about your cake adventures!
i’m very impressed. did you use a stencil and food coloring on the fondant?
try Bake-Kleen-which is available through Williams-Sonoma. it works better than the Pam and works on all sorts of pans. I do a lot of baking and use shaped pans quite a bit and this stuff is the best I’ve found. It’s what most professional bakeries use.
It does look great for a first try! I second, third, and fourth the wax paper idea. It works great for me.
that cake is awesome! would have never thought that was a first trial cake! i thought it was professional!
Just use Pam for Baking - it works great, has the flour right there in it, and is fat free!
(Like you’re really worried about that with your wedding cake.)
Parchment paper also works really well, and gives you a super flat surface to work with.
Haha, thanks, but Mr. Bubblegum kindly reminded me that it looks better in the pictures than it did in real life.
dddd89 - sorry about that - Simpsons reference. I thinnnk (and anyone feel free to correct me) that Bart was laying a trap for Homer, and the bait was a plate of pie in the middle of the kitchen floor. When Home sees it, he says “mmm.. floor pie..”
moemarsita - yes, the balls are rolled fondant. And the “flowers” (yes, Jen, they were an attempt at calla lilies) on top, also fondant.. finding it hard to track down gum paste without ordering it online.
Sara - this cake used a 12, 10, and 8″ pan. I think the 12″ works out to be about one “normal” cake. If you buy Wilton cake pans, there’s an insert in each size which tells you how many cups of batter to put in. For example, I just bought a 16″ and it needs 15 cups of batter. More to come on this.
Angel - I’m thinking I’ll have a 16″, 12″, and 8″ tiers for about 120 people. I may need to do more research still.
Allie - Yep, I actually just painted through a doily.
And thank you to everyone who gave input to help with my “sticky” situation. I will be doing flavor trials tomorrow and I’m going to try to get my hands on as many of these suggestions as possible. I’ll assign each flavor a stick-suggestion and see what happens! Definitely a post to come.
Maybe try calling up a few local bakeries and asking how much you’d need for 120 people. I also found these websites that might help:
Nice job Miss BG! Looks great! For anyone who is having problems with fondant (although yours looks great), I found a recipe for marshmallow fondant that is SO EASY! I’ve made it several times and it’s much easier to work with than store bought fondant (and super cheap too!). Good luck, can’t wait to see your next efforts!
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Hi Miss Bubblegum!
This comment is super late, but I am looking to make my own cake as well! I was wondering if you would mind sharing your budget (materials + practice runs) You’re a DIY queen!
Jean
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Mrs. Bubblegum, Exeter, NH
Age and Occupation: 24, Actuarial Analyst
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Ressearch & Development
Engagement Date: February 9, 2007
Wedding Date: May 2008
Blogging Since: November 2, 2007
Venue: Dunegrass Golf Club
About Me: I can be summed up by the four things I love most: kitties, cheese, math, and Mr. Bubblegum. I am knee-deep in DIY projects to keep wedding costs low but quality high for the special day when I get to marry my bestest friend.
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