Most cake mixes or recipes are suitable for a wedding cake.  It is up to the bride and groom to decide what kind of cake they want to have.  If you plan to cover the tiers with rolled fondant, choose a firm applesauce, pound cake, or fruitcake recipe.  Foreign method cakes are usually fruitcake.

To Bake the Cakes:

Most lower tiers are approximately 4″ high and consist of two layers, so try to make the baked layers approximately 2″ high.  The small top tier is also two layers, but it is usually 3″ high, so these baked layers should each be about 1½” high.

Nice, level cakes are necessary when creating a tiered cake.  It will make decorating much easier; so follow these tips to achieve them.  After you pour the batter into the pans, lift them a few inches above the table and drop.  Then swirl the batter from the center to the sides of the pan.  Before baking, pin 2″ strips of damp terry cloth around the outside of the pans. (Tear the strips from an old towel.)

After the cakes are baked, cool in the pan for about ten minutes, run a knife around edges and turn out of pan on towel-covered rack.  Immediately put a second rack on top of that layer and turn it over, then remove the first rack (which will then be on the top) to cool completely.  The cake layer will be right side up, with no rack marks.

You should always chill or freeze the baked cakes on racks before applying the icing.  This will make them much easier to handle and it allows you to bake them some days ahead of decorating time if necessary.  If the layers are still not level, it is easy to trim them while chilled or frozen, with a serrated knife.  Allow frozen layers to thaw about an hour before applying the icing.

You will need to attach a cardboard cake circle (or whatever shape necessary), the same size as the cake, under each tier before applying the icing.  This cakeboard makes it easier to move the tier, easier to separate stacked tiers for serving, and it prevents knife scratches on the trays or separator plates when the tier is being cut.  The next paragraph tells how to move the layer and attach circle.

To easily move the bottom layers of your cake; lay waxed paper on top of chilled layer, then place a cardboard cake circle, same size or larger, on the wax paper.  Put one hand below the rack and the other hand on the cake circle, and turn it over.  Remove rack.  Put a few dabs of royal icing or thin strokes of corn syrup on the bottom of the layer (now on top) to hold it.  Attach cardboard cake circle, same size as layer.  Turn it over again and set on a turntable to apply the icing.  Remove circle and wax paper.

NOTE: This method also applies to iced tiers. Just let the icing crust a little before moving.

Learn Cake Decorating the right way.

Perky Petals Tiered Cake Video

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 10:19 pm and is filed under Cake Icing Techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.