Our friends, Bruce and Julia, are getting married on August 7.
You might remember them from the Horsetooth Hike post.
Missing my days as a cake decorator in Laramie,
I offered to do their wedding cake for them.
This is what the process has looked like:
The Devil's Food Cake recipe comes from The American Woman's Cookbook, which Grandma Simon (Mike's grandmother) gave to me several years ago.
Missing my days as a cake decorator in Laramie,
I offered to do their wedding cake for them.
This is what the process has looked like:
1. Ingredients. The cost was about $70, but around $10-15 in cream cheese, butter, jam, and powdered sugar wasn't used. Cost doesn't include the ingredients we already had in the cupboard (vanilla extract, baking soda/powder, salt, etc.)
The Devil's Food Cake recipe comes from The American Woman's Cookbook, which Grandma Simon (Mike's grandmother) gave to me several years ago.
3/4 cup butter or other shortening
1 7/8 cups brown sugar
3 eggs, well beaten
3/4 cup boiling water
3 ounces (3 squares) bitter chocolate
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sour milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Cream shortening thoroughly; add sugar gradually and cream mixture until light and fluffy. Add beaten eggs and beat well. Meanwhile pour the boiling water over chocolate; stir over low heat until smooth and thick; cool and add to egg mixture; blend thoroughly. Sift flour once, measure and combine with remaining dry ingredients and sift 3 times, then add to chocolate mixture, alternately with milk and vanilla combined. Beat well after each addition. Pour batter into greased pans which have been lined with waxed paper. Bake in a moderate oven (350°F.) until done, 25 to 30 minutes. Makes 2 (8-inch) layers.2. Bake the cakes. I made all of the cakes on Friday and Saturday (with the wedding on the following Saturday). This meant freezing them until mid-week when they could be frosted. 2 x 12" round cakes were baked, 2 x 9" cakes, 4 x 6" cakes (two extra 6" cakes are for a separate cake tier to honor the bride's parents, who will be celebrating their wedding anniversary on the wedding date!)
Unfortunately for me, I tried to move one of the 12" cakes from its pan too early and it cracked (big-time) because it hadn't had time to cool. Then, I dropped one of the 6" cakes (not on the floor, so it was still edible, but not pretty to look at) and it broke in half. Mike was happy about this sad turn of events because it meant he got to be a taster. I baked another 12" and another 6" the next morning (Saturday). And, hey! There was enough leftover batter for 7 cupcakes, too (whatdoyaknow...).
The cakes were put on half-sheet pans, on wax paper, in the freezer. Where they stayed without much of a fuss until Wednesday...
3. Frosting. I did a crumb coat of frosting on Wednesday. Because the cakes are chocolate, the crumbs are highly visible in the white frosting, so a preliminary layer needs to be put on and cooled to hide the bits of chocolate cake that shave off, hence "crumb coat."
The frosting recipe comes from the Home Bakery in Laramie. I sneaked around stealing all the good recipes before I quit. In the bakery, we used to have an enormous mixing bowl where you could dump in 16 lbs. of powdered sugar and 9 lbs. of butter and cream cheese, but for a Kitchenaid mixer at home, use this abbreviated version:
Cream Cheese Frosting
3/4 lbs. butter
1 1/2 lbs. cream cheese
4 lbs. powdered sugar
about a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
Cream the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar slowly, a little bit at a time until combined. Add the lemon juice. Let whip for about 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, split each cake down the center and add filling. Julia and Bruce requested black raspberry jam on the 12" and 6" layers, orange marmalade on the 9" layer (kind of a Grand Marnier flavor--Mike's favorite). Detailed procedure: Slice one of the 12" cakes lengthwise clean down the middle, fill with jam, put top back on, spread frosting on top. Slice the second 12" cake down the middle, fill with jam, stack on top of the first cake. Coat both cakes with frosting. Let chill overnight in a fridge or freezer.
4. Final coat of frosting and decorating. I made another batch of frosting and put on the final coat. Using a piping bag and tips, I did the borders and EASY designs on the cake. Shove a dowel down the middle to keep the tiers from slipping off of one another.
Once we get the cakes to the reception, we'll add flowers (sunflowers)--I'll post a final pic over the weekend. The nice thing about flowers is they can hide all the wonky bits of your cake, like where the frosting is uneven or the piping bag slipped.
Ta-da!
Go make a wedding cake!
Here's what the final looked like:
Unfortunately for me, I tried to move one of the 12" cakes from its pan too early and it cracked (big-time) because it hadn't had time to cool. Then, I dropped one of the 6" cakes (not on the floor, so it was still edible, but not pretty to look at) and it broke in half. Mike was happy about this sad turn of events because it meant he got to be a taster. I baked another 12" and another 6" the next morning (Saturday). And, hey! There was enough leftover batter for 7 cupcakes, too (whatdoyaknow...).
The cakes were put on half-sheet pans, on wax paper, in the freezer. Where they stayed without much of a fuss until Wednesday...
3. Frosting. I did a crumb coat of frosting on Wednesday. Because the cakes are chocolate, the crumbs are highly visible in the white frosting, so a preliminary layer needs to be put on and cooled to hide the bits of chocolate cake that shave off, hence "crumb coat."
The frosting recipe comes from the Home Bakery in Laramie. I sneaked around stealing all the good recipes before I quit. In the bakery, we used to have an enormous mixing bowl where you could dump in 16 lbs. of powdered sugar and 9 lbs. of butter and cream cheese, but for a Kitchenaid mixer at home, use this abbreviated version:
Cream Cheese Frosting
3/4 lbs. butter
1 1/2 lbs. cream cheese
4 lbs. powdered sugar
about a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
Cream the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar slowly, a little bit at a time until combined. Add the lemon juice. Let whip for about 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, split each cake down the center and add filling. Julia and Bruce requested black raspberry jam on the 12" and 6" layers, orange marmalade on the 9" layer (kind of a Grand Marnier flavor--Mike's favorite). Detailed procedure: Slice one of the 12" cakes lengthwise clean down the middle, fill with jam, put top back on, spread frosting on top. Slice the second 12" cake down the middle, fill with jam, stack on top of the first cake. Coat both cakes with frosting. Let chill overnight in a fridge or freezer.
4. Final coat of frosting and decorating. I made another batch of frosting and put on the final coat. Using a piping bag and tips, I did the borders and EASY designs on the cake. Shove a dowel down the middle to keep the tiers from slipping off of one another.
Once we get the cakes to the reception, we'll add flowers (sunflowers)--I'll post a final pic over the weekend. The nice thing about flowers is they can hide all the wonky bits of your cake, like where the frosting is uneven or the piping bag slipped.
Ta-da!
Go make a wedding cake!
Here's what the final looked like:
Can I have a piece? I super love chocolate cake and I know how good that icing is.....
ReplyDeleteYour cake was beautiful!