Some ambitious brides want to do everything themselves. There’s a lot to do to prepare for your wedding day and if you decide you’re going to take on the task of making your own wedding cake, you’ll want to do plenty of advanced planning so when it comes time to assemble the cake, you can rapidly add pre-made decorations. One way to do that is to create gum paste decorations which can be made weeks to months ahead of time. Then you just have to attach them to the cake once it’s either frosted or covered with fondant. Another fast technique is using designs cut from icing sheets which attach to the cake with a little moisture.
Fast As You Can
1. Buy everything far in advance and always make sure you have extras of anything that could break or run out.
2. Buy fondant instead of making it yourself. This will save a ton of time.
3. Keep the decorations that must be made fresh to a minimum. For instance, if the cake will be covered with flowers that can be made in advance, limit the rest of the design to borders which can be done quickly.
4. If you want to incorporate your wedding theme into the cake, scan an image of the design (perhaps from your wedding invitation) into your printer and print out several sheets of the design on to icing sheets. Use those icing sheets in conjunction with an electronic cutting machine for cakes and cut out pre-programmed designs. Cut enough to go all around all the tiers of the cake. Then they will just get attached to the cake with a bit of piping gel. Add a pre-made or purchased cake topper, a border and you’re done.
5. Make your cake a week in advance and freeze it. If flash froze first, then wrapped, the designs will not be ruined by touching them with plastic wrap. Take the cake out of the freezer to defrost the morning of the wedding.
6. If you don’t want to make the flowers, they can be ordered already made. Then they just get stuck into the cake.
Planning
- Don’t pick your wedding day to try to create something you’ve never done before. If you want to incorporate a difficult technique, practice it far in advance before you wreck your wedding cake learning it. You’ll have enough stress to deal with and messing up your cake doesn’t need to be added to the list.
- Find photos of cakes you like far in advance and determine what techniques are required to make it. Make a shopping list of tools and anything you can buy pre-made, add to your shopping list.
- Don’t forget to decorate the cake board. The most beautiful cakes can be ruined by an aluminum covered cake board. Either use printed icing sheets that match your cake design or the same color fondant to cover the cake board. Trim the side of the cake board with a matching ribbon.
Designing your own wedding cake can’t be a last-minute decision. Get started on the planning months in advance so you have everything figured out, including helpers to get the job done faster.