# Making Our Wedding Cake!



## Nicholas Mosher (Jun 18, 2010)

My fiancee and I will be getting married October 9th, and being foodies we plan to make our own multi-tiered wedding cake for roughly 75 people.

The wedding will be non-traditional - semi-formal.  We're aiming for the flavors of coffee and chocolate, and plan for a Mocha colored cake with purple chrysanthemums.

Our project this summer is to develop a cake and frosting recipe that we feel is second to none for our guests.  Any recipe recommendations?


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## getoutamykitchen (Jun 18, 2010)

No suggestions, but congratulations on the up and coming nuptials. The cake flavor sounds delish!


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## ChefJune (Jun 18, 2010)

Not to rain on your parade, BUT.... this is the biggest day of your lives, and I don't know why you want to reinvent the wheel for it.

Rose Levy Beranbaum has wedding cakes down to a science, and they are delicious.  When I was catering, I often turned to her formulae, and I strongly suggest you could not do better. Check out her book "The Cake Bible." and if you can't find it, I would be happy to xerox the necessary pages for your consideration (even tho there are a LOT!)

I do hope you are not planning to do all the food for the wedding yourselves. Not that it's impossible, only that it adds unnecessary stress to an already stressful occasion.


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## Nicholas Mosher (Jun 18, 2010)

ChefJune - Just the cake!   The wedding is actually going to be potluck, with the cake provided by us.  Beer and wine purchased (by us) and served (free) by a licensed friend (along with other beverages).  We know a number of foodies, so the dinner should blow any catered service out of the water.

We plan to spend all summer trying recipes and coming up with a cake we feel is perfect.  Just looking to start trying out recommendations from various cookbooks and foodies on this forum!  I'll look into picking up that cookbook for sure.


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## Mimizkitchen (Jun 18, 2010)

Nick I agree with June, I just recently bought Rose Beranbaum's newest book, Rose's Heavenly Cakes, and I love love love it... One suggestion I have tho, if you buy one of her books, invest in a scale, if you don't already have one... Not only is it much more accurate, it is so much easier... Good Luck to you both and please do post pic's of your beautiful cake...


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## Nicholas Mosher (Jun 18, 2010)

Excellent!  Sounds like she knows her stuff.  Sarah and I are going to see about getting them at our local library or through the inter-library loan system.  From there we just might purchase...


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## Mimizkitchen (Jun 18, 2010)

Nicholas Mosher said:


> Excellent!  Sounds like she knows her stuff.  Sarah and I are going to see about getting them at our local library or through the inter-library loan system.  From there we just might purchase...



Nick go to Barnes and Noble grab a cup of coffee and peruse her books... Have fun!!!


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## Nicholas Mosher (Jun 19, 2010)

Mimiz - We did just that!  After getting our Mocha Choca Yin Yangs we browsed through Rose's books.  Decided to purchase the same book you recently aquired - "Heavenly Cakes".

We also sent for "The Cake Bible" through the inter-library loan program.


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## Mimizkitchen (Jun 19, 2010)

Nicholas Mosher said:


> Mimiz - We did just that!  After getting our Mocha Choca Yin Yangs we browsed through Rose's books.  Decided to purchase the same book you recently aquired - "Heavenly Cakes".
> 
> We also sent for "The Cake Bible" through the inter-library loan program.



I think you will be happy Nick, just pay attention to detail, it's amazing what you can learn..


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## PattY1 (Jun 19, 2010)

Nicholas Mosher said:


> ChefJune - Just the cake!   The wedding is actually going to be potluck, with the cake provided by us.  Beer and wine purchased (by us) and served (free) by a licensed friend (along with other beverages).  We know a number of foodies, so the dinner should blow any catered service out of the water.
> 
> We plan to spend all summer trying recipes and coming up with a cake we feel is perfect.  Just looking to start trying out recommendations from various cookbooks and foodies on this forum!  I'll look into picking up that cookbook for sure.




MHO: If the reception is pot luck, I would have a casual wedding aposed to semi-formal.

Kodos to you for making your own unique cake!


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## Wyogal (Jun 19, 2010)

MHO: it's YOUR wedding, do what you want! And ENJOY!!! Have fun this summer with the plans! Let us know how your cake trials turn out!


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## bakechef (Jun 20, 2010)

I have known a few people that have made their own wedding cakes.  If a couple have the patience to work on a project like this together, then I think it is a good sign about how they may get along in the future.

I love when people think "out of the box" for their wedding, this is a very special day, and why not have it exactly the way YOU want it!


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## Nicholas Mosher (Jun 20, 2010)

Thanks!
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PattY1 - I guess casual is probably the proper word for it.  Being a blue-collar guy, semi-formal for me means dockers, a tucked in button-up, and a sportcoat... 
-----
We're not religious, so the wedding and reception will both be at a single location.  We've booked a large house with an upstairs ballroom that has windows on three sides and a stage for a local fiddle band we like.  It's in a small rural New Hampshire town that (hopefully) will be filled with colored maples and white birch (we chose the peak foliage week).

So a small ceremony w/readings, big potluck, and some Irish/folk dancing.
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We're going to start trying out cakes this week.

Pictures to come for sure!


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## Wyogal (Jun 20, 2010)

sounds VERY cool! I play in a local Irish session here. Sounds like the craic will be great!


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## Mimizkitchen (Jun 20, 2010)

Nicholas Mosher said:


> Thanks!
> -----
> PattY1 - I guess casual is probably the proper word for it.  Being a blue-collar guy, semi-formal for me means dockers, a tucked in button-up, and a sportcoat...
> -----
> ...



When do our evites come???


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## PattY1 (Jun 20, 2010)

Nicholas Mosher said:


> Thanks!
> -----
> PattY1 - I guess casual is probably the proper word for it.  Being a blue-collar guy, semi-formal for me means dockers, a tucked in button-up, and a sportcoat...
> -----
> ...


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## ChefJune (Jun 21, 2010)

Nicholas Mosher said:


> We're going to start trying out cakes this week.
> 
> Pictures to come for sure!


 
One thing for sure:  you're going to have a lot of fun tasting the trials!


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## Janet H (Jun 21, 2010)

We had a wedding something like this and I have some advice... enlist someone to be responsible for handling the potluck on-site. Getting everything out, arranged and keeping the buffet table stocked, clean and lovely takes constant attention.  This will leave you free to visit and focus on other more important issues and more importantly be relaxed and able to enjoy the day. 

Our cake/s was an orange scented cake with bits of candied ginger and black walnuts. We had a pair of these; one with dark chocolate icing and the other with a bourbon butter cream.

Good luck - sounds like you have a fun event planned.


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## Nicholas Mosher (Jun 21, 2010)

ChefJune - Hopefully we won't have to purchase new clothes to fit into by the end of it! 
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Janet - We plan to have a couple people help out on the side.  They will be pouring drinks and handling anything needed for the buffet table.
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Here is one of the cakes we are drawing some aesthetic inspiration from...







And a YouTube link for the fiddle band that will be playing for us!

[youtube]PT8ECo4CwSg[/youtube]


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## Wyogal (Jun 21, 2010)

good craic for sure!!!!


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## Nicholas Mosher (Jun 25, 2010)

Tomorrow we're going to try Rose Levy Beranbaum's "Chocolate Feather Bed" cake on page 273 in her book "Rose's Heavenly Cakes"!

Pictures to come...


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## Nicholas Mosher (Jun 26, 2010)

Sprained ankle... cake baking starts next wekend...


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## mollyanne (Jun 26, 2010)

uh oh...take care of yourself so you're good enough to do an irish jig or two on your wedding day. Loved the youtube of your fiddlers...fun! and your chocolate cake pic is awesome. 

*This pic is just a heads up* 
...and on a more serious note, 
the next one is just a pretty cake I liked.
It looks like a soft satin ribbon but is
probably ganache.
.


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## Number 18 (Jul 22, 2010)

I saw once on food network an engagement cake challenge  The winner had each tire with a different flavor (lemon and raspberry / coffee and chocolate ...cant remember the rest)

this was his design


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## LPBeier (Jul 22, 2010)

I made a cake like that for my niece's wedding.  The structure took my husband a total of 9 hours to build.  They must have done that ahead of time.

Nick, I hope your ankle is better - how is the cake testing coming?


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## Nicholas Mosher (Aug 2, 2010)

Whoops, the thread slipped by a bit - sorry 'bout that!
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mollyanne - Love the squirrel! 
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Number 18 - Looks like it must have a pretty serious under-frame/support!
We're still pondering the actual construction of our cake.
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Cake testing has been going well, with half a dozen trials and a few pounds added to our waistlines... 

We've been cooking through "Rose's Heavenly Cakes" from various sections, and also finding inspiration from other cookbooks we have.

In my head I wanted a butter-based cake, but not being a baker I was way off the mark.  We have found near-perfection (for our desires) in a modified version of Rose's base Genoise, which uses the cocoa butter in lot's of melted chocolate to substitute for the traditional melted butter.  We have replaced certain ingredients however, substituting fresh italian-roast espresso for her fluids, and some brown sugar for white (bringing a hint of molasses).

The net result is a moist and airy sponge cake with a little crumb that is just loaded with coffee and chocolate flavor.  We make our mochas every morning with a teaspoon of brown sugar, so the molasses is our spin I guess.

We're working on the syrup now that is traditionally brushed on genoise to increase it's flavor and moisture even further... I can't imagine.  We're considering doing an "Adult" layer that will include a bit of coffee liqueur in the syrup - perhaps some Kahlua or Bailey's.
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On a side note, we're considering serving a homemade ice cream or gelato on the side infused with a bit of lavender.  It will be made ahead, so it won't pose any additional time constraints.  I recently picked up Mario Batali's new book which is spectacular (one of the only food network chefs that I own books from).  One of his pastry chefs gave up all her gelato recipes!


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## Mimizkitchen (Aug 3, 2010)

Hi Nick, glad that your cake baking is going well for you, sorry to hear about your waistlines... 
Since you and your finance seem to really like your coffee have you considered doing a tiramisu cake using your genoise??? You could then make a mocha buttercream frosting...
Just a thought...


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## Nicholas Mosher (Aug 4, 2010)

Mimiz - Tiramisu is certainly an inspiration for our cake, although we're attempting to incorporate a _deep_ chocolate flavor as the primary component.  The coffee is kind of like Watson to the Chocolate Sherlock.
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Still researching syrups to glaze our Genoise with.  Frostings will be next.


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## LPBeier (Aug 4, 2010)

Nick, I have Collette Peters' (a renound cake artist) mocha buttercream that is to die for.  Actually the base buttercream is awesome and you can adapt it well to other flavours.  It is a meringue based buttercream so it holds up well to sitting out for awhile but is light and fluffy at the same time.  If you are interested let me know and I will PM it to you.


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## ChefJune (Aug 5, 2010)

mmmm I have eaten Colette's creations, and she is _gooood!_


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## Nicholas Mosher (Aug 5, 2010)

LPBeier - I'd love to try it out!


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## Mimizkitchen (Aug 6, 2010)

LP would you PM me your buttercream recipe please, it's sounds like the one I make and I would love to try yours... Thankx


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## LPBeier (Aug 6, 2010)

Nicholas Mosher said:


> LPBeier - I'd love to try it out!





Mimizkitchen said:


> LP would you PM me your buttercream recipe please, it's sounds like the one I make and I would love to try yours... Thankx



I am in the middle of a cake but will PM as soon as I can!


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## Nicholas Mosher (Aug 16, 2010)

LPBeier - Got that frosting recipe?  Looking forward to trying it based on your recommendations!
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Still working on the syrup to brush the Genoise, but hopefully more progress will be made this upcoming weekend.

We decided on a three tier cake, and purchased 12" and 6" pans to accompany the 9" pans we own.

I'm also excited that Whole Foods is now carrying El Rey chocolate again.  Political issues in Venezuela spilled over into the chocolate realm and WF was unable to procure this amazing product.  While they carried the popular Valrhona, I think the "Big V" is an inferior product even to common-place Ghirardelli (or Scharffen Berger for that matter!).  We bought a couple pounds of El Rey to practice recipes with.


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## LPBeier (Aug 16, 2010)

Sorry, Nick, I will PM it to you now.  Was busy with a wedding cake that fell through two days before delivery (long story) and then my father has been needing extra care so I got distracted.


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## Nicholas Mosher (Aug 17, 2010)

No rush!  Sorry to hear about your recent troubles.


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## Nicholas Mosher (Sep 12, 2010)

Still trying out recipes - almost have things hammered down!


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## Nicholas Mosher (Oct 11, 2010)

The cake was wonderful!


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## ChefJune (Oct 11, 2010)

Oh my!  That looks excellent.  Would you care to share the recipe you used?  Looks like you got it _*DOWN!*_


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## FrankZ (Oct 11, 2010)

Did you bring a slice for everyone here?  If not I might have to confiscate it.


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## LPBeier (Oct 11, 2010)

Looks wonderful, Nick, and congratulations!


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## 4meandthem (Oct 11, 2010)

Congradulations to both of you and Best Wishes.

Communication and compromise are your freinds!


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## DaveSoMD (Oct 11, 2010)

Congratulations!  And great job on that cake!!!


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## Kayelle (Oct 11, 2010)

So glad you let us share your happy day and beautiful cake, Nick.

May all your days together be as delicious and beautiful and thoughtful as your wedding cake!!


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## PrincessFiona60 (Oct 11, 2010)

Congratulations Nick!  And the cake looks wonderful!


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## Kathleen (Oct 11, 2010)

Congrats and, to echo others, the cake looks terrific.  I am glad you stuck to your guns to make your own cake.  It will be a good memory.


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