DIY Bride

If you’ve browsed Amazon or cruised through the cookbook aisle of your local book seller, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that there are lots (and lots and lots) of wedding cake books on the market. Not surprisingly, there are gems and there are clunkers hidden in the vast pool of offerings.

In my book search for this series I found that some cake books are outdated and, well, just plain frumpy. Others are meant to be inspirational eye-candy with no recipes or how-to. Some books deal only with decoration. Some are a combination of decor how-to & recipes. While many books have neat ideas or solid instruction, few books are truly outstanding. Martha Stewart’s Wedding Cakes falls into that outstanding category. A combination of inspiration, decoration how-to, and recipes this book exceeded my already high expectations.

What I loved about this book:

• Beautifully photographed cakes by the fabulous Wendy Kromer are truly inspiring.
• The book is very well-laid out from the basics of cake components and tips on selecting your perfect cake to recipes and decorating instructions.
• The range of cakes is diverse from Martha-esque classic and elegant to fun and whimsical (without being cheesy).
• The yummy recipes are scaled appropriately for wedding cakes, taking some of the guesswork out of the baking process.
• As with all of Martha’s DIY, the instructions are clear and concise.
• The cake display ideas are fabulous, creative, and within the skills/reach of most DIYers.
• Did I mention this is a gorgeous book? It is worthy of display on a coffee table.

Other notes:

• I’ve seen most of the cakes in MS Weddings. While it doesn’t take away from the quality of the book, I would’ve loved to see some brand new cake ideas.
• This may not be the best book for 1st timers. It is, however, a great companion if you’re taking decorating classes or have some experience under your belt.
• The list price is $60.00 though one can find it cheaper via Amazon or other discount retailers. I think it’s worth it because it’ll be on my shelf forever. Your mileage (and budget) may vary.

Your next major cake decision, and one that tortures many a would-be DIY cake maker, is what kind of cake to make. In a later post we’ll go through flavor and filling options but this one’s devoted to the boxed mix or scratch dilemma.

There are few debates as heated in the cake world as the use of boxed mix versus scratch cakes. While I am a strong advocate of the latter, I do want to give a fair look at both sides to help you discover which option is best for your needs.

Box Mix Pros:

• Convenient, pre-mixed packages mean little measuring and no guesswork with ingredients yielding a pretty consistent result from cake-to-cake.
• Packages can be purchased way ahead of time and stored until needed.
• Box mixes are inexpensive, especially when purchased on sale.
• Most people are very familiar with box mix flavors and have fond associations of those kinds of cakes (reminds them of childhood, for example).

Pros of Scratch Mixes:

• Unlimited flavor options. If you can dream it, there’s likely a perfect cake flavor waiting for you to discover it.
• You control the ingredients and can add to or modify recipes to suit your needs. Wheat allergies? Vegan? Organic ingredients only? Carrot cake without nuts? No trans fats? Diabetic options? No problem!
• Freshness. Made-from-scratch cakes don’t need chemical stabilizers or preservatives. (Take a look at the ingredients on a box mix cake.)
• Pride. There’s definitely a satisfaction that one gets from making something that takes creativity, patience and skill that can’t be experienced with shortcuts.

Many box cake devotees argue that box mixes are faster. Over at Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn, they proved that wrong. [Do check out their other article about scratch cakes as healthier than boxed mixes.]

As for cake mix being less expensive than scratch, you may be surprised at what we found in the DIY Bride Test Kitchen. That’s another post, though.

My best advice is for you to do a taste and bake test with scratch cakes and box cakes to find the ones that fit the taste, texture, and budget that you’re aiming for. (Check back for the DIY Bride Test Kitchen results.)

Remember: a wedding cake needs to taste great, no matter how clever or fancy it looks.

This is, hands down, one of the best introductory cake decorating videos on YouTube. Master cake decorator, Sandy Sheppard, shows the basic tools and shares some tips.

How to Decorate a Cake

Do check out Sandy’s other videos at http://www.monkeysee.com/channel/show/56. They’re all excellent!

[Update 2: Yay! You can find the Expert Village cake decorating videos at http://www.expertvillage.com/video-series/473_cake-decorating.htm]

[Update: Well, bummer. The video is no longer available!]

If you’re a visual learner, this great video from Expert Village is perfect for you. Learn how to make a frosting rose, one of the most basic cake decorations.

Cake Decorating Ideas, Tips & Techniques: An Essential Guide to Cake Decorating : Making Rose Designs with Icing : Cake Decorating Ideas, Tips & Techniques

[Update 2: Yay! You can find the Expert Village cake decorating videos at http://www.expertvillage.com/video-series/473_cake-decorating.htm]

[Update: The video is no longer available!]

This video from Expert Village (via YouTube) gives a quick introduction to the basic cake decorating tips.

Cake Decorating Ideas, Tips & Techniques: An Essential Guide to Cake Decorating : Cake Decorating Tools

After you’ve gathered a few design ideas, looked at pan shapes, and determined the number of servings, the next question you’ll need to answer: Stacked, sheet, or tiered?

Why is this important? Not only does it determine the overall design of the cake(s), it affects other choices as serving plates/trays and building materials. The tier style will also determine the kind of cake you’ll need. Some kinds of cakes, such angel food, are too light to be used in cakes that are are decorated and stacked or carved into unique shapes.

The basic types:

Sheet cake: A single flat cake, usually rectangular. [image: Earlene's Cakes]

Stacked cake: Multi-levels of cake, stacked on top of each other. These cakes are sometimes separated by a hidden support system that prevents the cakes from caving in and keeps the layers in place. Many, however, are held together with dowels and are stacked directly on top of each other. [image: Jennifer Wasiak from Brides.com]

Tiered cake: Multi-levels of cake separated by columns or other structural elements with space in between levels. [image: Cater It Simple @ flickr]

Cake Density:

When considering your cake tier style, the next thing is to work out what kind of cake is going to work best for your design.

Light, airy cakes (not good for cake-on-cake stacking or heavy decoration): angel food, sponge, chiffon.

Mid-density, all purprose cakes (can be stacked but will need support): basic butter batters, genoise.

Heavy (great for stacked, carved, and heavily decorated): Pound, fruit cake, carrot cake, pumpkin. [Note: many mid-density cakes can be made heavier by altering the ingredients. We'll get to that in another post.]

One of the most important thing in determining your DIY cake design is knowing the amount of servings you’ll need. This will determine the pan size, amount of ingredients, decor, plates/napkins/forks, etc.

It’s a safe bet to have 1 serving per guest. Some couples go a little lower because not everyone will want cake. I think it’s better to have a little left over than run the risk of not having enough.

A word about serving sizes: The standard wedding cake slice, 1″ wide x 2″ long x 4″ high, is typically much smaller than a piece of cake you’d get at a party or other event. Doesn’t seem very big, does it?

When you go shopping for pans, you’ll need to know how many slices you can get out of each size you buy. For example, a 3″ tall, 8″ diameter round pan will yield about 24 slices. If you’re serving 150 people, what size pans do you need for a 3 tier stacked cake?

Don’t worry; sizing a cake is not as complicated as it seems. There are some fantastic resources for determining cake size that show serving sizes and provide cutting guides to show you how to get the maximum amount of slices per tier.

• Wilton’s Cake Cutting Guide (Weddings)
• Better Homes & Gardens Downloadable Cutting Guides
• PastryWiz’s Cutting Guides

Of course you can serve slices as big as you please BUT it’s important that the person(s) cutting your cake knows how big to cut the slices. Most caterers and cake pros can do standard slices in their sleep. However, your auntie or whomever is left in charge of the cake may not be as slice savvy as the professionals. I highly recommend that you whip up a trial tier and practice cutting with your designed cake person.

armadillo cake,
originally uploaded by debbiedoescakes.

Some of the most-often asked questions you guys submitted for Cake Month were, surprisingly, about the groom’s cake.

This post is dedicated to answering your burning groom’s cake questions.

So, what is this “groom’s cake” thing?

Groom’s cakes have their origins in Southern (US) tradition. Single women, it is told, should be sent home with a piece of the groom’s cake (a fruit cake, by the way) to tuck under her pillow in order to catch that dashing husband they so desperately dream of. In our modern days, the groom’s cake is simply a second cake served either as an alternative or addition to. Many couples offer boxed slices of the groom’s cake to their guests as a favor or on-the-go treat.

Groom’s Cake Rules

There are pretty much no hard rules for the groom’s cake. Couples often elect to go whimsical in the design to reflect some aspect of the groom’s personality. They can be any combination of size, shape, color, and flavor. Have you seen the movie Steel Magnolias? There’s an infamous Armadillo cake in it made with red velvet cake so when you cut it, it looks like flesh.

Groom’s cake serving sizes are similar to that of the wedding cake. If you opt to have one, it’s safe to plan on serving 1 slice of cake for each person though not every guest may want 2 slices of cake (wedding + groom’s) at the wedding. If you’re not keen on serving 2 cakes at the wedding, the groom’s cake can be served at the rehearsal dinner or at a bridal luncheon/brunch the next day.

While the groom’s cake is a fun addition to your cake offerings, it is totally optional to have one.

Now that you’ve decided you’d like to explore making your own cake where, oh, where do you begin? Don’t fret, my friends. In this post we’ll discuss the basics of getting started on your journey to cake bliss.

The Big Decisions

It all starts here, with these 4 questions.

1. What type icing do you want?
2. What cake flavor(s) do you want?
3. How many people will you be serving?
4. What design do you want?

Let’s break each of those down and talk about some options. [Read more below the jump.]

Read More…