Weddingbee Blog

People, I need cake advice. You know how I want to  make our wedding cake myself? Maybe you don’t, but just pretend you do for this post. Anyway, I did a trial last week, and the results were mixed.

First, the pictures:

(Both pics taken by Mr. E)

Ignore the wilted roses and my sloppily tied bow for a minute. Lets talk about the good bits for a start: The cake itself tasted amazing. We chose to use a chocolate cake recipe that my mother found in a bunch of papers when we were clearing out the garage, and it was soooo good. Rich, moist, and packed a serious chocolate punch. So there are no issues with that.

Except, can you guess what I’m not happy with? Yup, it’s the frosting. Mum and I couldn’t agree what frosting to use, and in the end we went with a simple cream cheese one, but I do. not. like. how it turned out. Way too lumpy and too yellow.

So the obvious remedy would be to change the frosting, but that is proving more difficult than I anticipated. I’m experienced in baking, but I’m really not that experienced with frostings. I love the look of buttercream, and a Google search revealed some very helpful tutorials (specifically here and here if you are interested)…but as helpful as they are, do I want to be attempting something I haven’t tried much before a couple of days before the wedding?

Another option is my grandmother. She used to be a professional cake decorator, so she would seem like the perefect solution…only she is a perfectionist, and she has got it in her head that she is “too old” to do it “right” anymore. Plus she really only works with fondant. I could live with that (I’m losing my fussiness as it gets closer to the wedding). And creations like this are very enticing:

Mrs. Button’s Cake of Gorgeousness

Back in Granny’s day, she was all about lace details on cakes. But that still doesn’t necessarily mean she will decide she wants to frost our cake.

My mum’s idea is to just scrap the DIY cake idea and grab a small white chocolate cake from the local bakery, but that option isn’t totally ideal either. I guess none of them are, and I’m feeling totally confused and overwhelmed about what to do next.

So I want your opinions. What would you do in my situation? Here’s a poll (because I like polls) that lays out my options for you again.

Thanks bunches for voting! As your “reward,” here is the recipe I promised:

Decadent Chocolate Cake

You need:

• 300 g dark chocolate
• 180g unsalted butter
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/4 cup port
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup ground hazelnuts

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit). Line a 23 cm round (I used a 20 cm one, though—about 9 inches) with a double layer of baking paper. Melt chocolate either in the microwave, or in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until smooth.

2. Beat butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in melted chocolate, vanilla, and port.

3. Sift dry ingredients on top of butter mixture, add hazelnuts, and fold through until combined. Beat eggwhites until soft peaks form, and fold through cake mixture.

4. Pour into cake tin. Bake one hour, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool in tin.

It isn’t the easiest of cake recipes, as you can see, but it really is delicious and so worth it. Enjoy!