Recipe(tried): Some Wedding Cake Tips for Kristen, Austin TX

Hi Kristen --

It sounds to me as if you have a GREAT start. Good for you for taking on this loving project.

Here are a few tips I have to offer.

Real flowers can be lovely on a cake. Be careful with the real flowers, however. Make sure the flowers have not been sprayed with any chemicals . You do not want your guests to be eating chemicals that might leak into your frosting.

I also crumb frost and freeze my leveled cake layers in advance. If you did not level each layer before freezing them, you can certainly level each frozen layer while still frozen and apply another layer of crumb frosting.

I have not made a wedding cake in a number of years. When I did, I always froze my cake, especially wedding cakes. And, crumb frosting the frozen cakes helps keep in the moisture and makes the final assembly much easier. It is a good idea to crumb frost using the same type of frosting you plan to use as your final frosting. That insures that the crumb frosting and the final frosting work well together.

If you are using filling between the layers - Start with the bottom layer, leveled side up, using the same icing that you will use on the outside of the cake, and create a dam or circle of icing just inside the outer edge of the cake. Creating a dam with frosting will prevent the filling from seeping out when other layers are placed on top. To create the dam, squeeze a circle about 3/4 inches high and 1/4 inch from the outside edge. Place filling in the center, smoothing the filling so it is a bit lower than the outer dam. Do not smooth the outer dam. Place the next layer on and press down slightly. Clean up any icing that comes out the side.
There are a few steps that are essential when assembling a tiered cake. These steps help to prevent the cake from crushing down on itself or from toppling over.

Each layer needs to be placed on a plastic flat cake dish which is only slightly bigger than the cake layer. When you are making a cake for a stranger it is a good idea to put a cardboard between the plastic dividing dish and the cake. This way the bride can take home leftover cake on the cardboard dishes - and you can take your plastic dividing dishes home with you. If making the cake for a friend or family, you can always retrieve the plastic dividers later.

I always pout a blob of icing between the bottom layer of the cake and the top of the plastic cake dish to make sure the cake does not slip off the dish. You must do this between the plastic/cardboard/ and cake if you are using plastic AND cardboard. You do not want the cake to slip off any of the layers. This is very simple. My explanation is longer than this is difficult. Sorry.

Use proper supports, such as dowel rods, cake circles/boards and separator plates between all of your layers in order to prevent the cake from crushing down on itself or from toppling over. The doweling should be the exact height of each of your layers. It is placed inside each cake layer to support the plastic cake sheet for the next layer. The doweling will help make each layer, and the entire cake, sturdy. I used at least four per layer to be sure the support plate is stabilized equally.

Another tip ---- If you place the plastic plate from each of the top layers directly on top of the frosted layer below, much of the frosting from the layer below will come off the lower layer of cake when the above layer is removed. It is a good idea to put a fairly thick coat of sifted powdered sugar between the top of each layer and the next plastic dish.

The Wilton web site has some great instructions for building tiered cakes.
http://www.wilton.com/wedding/makecake/building/index.cfm

Transporting wedding cakes is my least favorite part. When the cake decorations allow, I prefer to do the final assembly of my tiered cakes after I have delivered the layers to the reception site. I always do this if the cake layers are separated by columns. If it is hot outside, be sure you have a cool vehicle in which to transport the cake. This is sooooo important. You do not want your frosting to start melting before you reach your destination. I always had one or two friends ride with me so the driver and drive without watching the cake. And, we always wore jeans and sweatshirts while transporting to help us be relaxed. We changed into our nice clothes after the cake was delivered and setting pretty.

I am almost through here. I apologize for being so lengthy.

I am not much help with your butter cream icing questions because I made my wedding cakes using boiled icing, not butter cream. Many people much prefer butter cream icing. Boiled icing can tolerate heat a bit better than butter cream. There have been some lovely butter cream icing recipes posted here on the RecipeLink. From previous posts, I know many RecipeLink folks are very versed on butter cream icing. Hopefully they will see your post and help with your butter cream icing questions.

As far as frosting your crumb-frosted cake while it is still frozen - I did that many times when my working environment was not HOT. If taking the cake from the freezer to a HOT work area, you risk the cake weeping from the inside out. It is better to let the cake defrost a bit to avoid this weeping. Of course, you can assemble your four crumb-frosted layers on the plastic supports and then let them thaw a bit. Again, I always worked with boiled icing, therefore, my experience regarding the weeping might not apply when working with yummy butter cream icing.

Finally I usually purchased cardboard cake boxes the sizes of each layer of my cakes. That way any leftover cake layer can be placed in the appropriate box, covered, and transported easily.

Keep us posted on your project, Kristen. Again, I applaud you for this loving venture. Have fun with it!