This is a beast of a post with not one but six recipes and a hell of a lot of photos (that is the main reason I haven’t posted in a while!) So pour yourself a tea and settle in…
For a long time, the FoodNerd family have been building up to a very very very very exciting occasion (with four very’s you can sense how excited I was). On Friday 30th May my only brother got married to one of my best friends. Get your tissues you at the ready. Not only was I kindly asked to be a bridesmaid and do a reading at the service but was asked the huge honour to make their wedding cake. Being the person I am, I obviously cried when asked, like I have done every stage of this wedding.
My bro and now wife wanted non-traditional wedding cakes, in the form of flavours of the cake and the colour of the fondant. I started off by buying the brilliant Victoria Glass’s Boutique Wedding Cakes book for inspiration and guidance. I’ve adapted some of her recipes to fit in with flavours the guys wanted. There were many practices to make sure the cakes turned out just right and I think in the end they were well worth the time and effort. If you are planning on making a wedding cake, many practices are the key even if you’ve made the recipes below as it will be slightly different for tins and ovens used.
Drumroll please…..the flavours I made were…..Chocolate Orange, White Chocolate and Raspberry and finally Lemon Drizzle with Vanilla Buttercream and Passion Fruit Curd. Phew… With my trusty Kitchenaid, I got to work. The wedding was on Friday and as the cakes weren’t traditional wedding cakes, I made them on the Monday of the wedding week and iced on Tuesday which seemed to work well and the cakes were still moist right up to a week after they were made.
(shhh…because the base tier was going to be a sponge, I made two sheet cakes of the other flavours and iced two dummy cakes (made from polystyrene) to be much lighter and not crush the bottom tier. So the recipes are for either for two 12″ round cake or two 12″x 9″ tray cakes.)
Chocolate Orange Fudge Cake with Chocolate Orange Buttercream
- Total Time: 90 minutes
- Yield: 30 People 1x
Description
Makes 2 12″ Round Cakes
Ingredients
- 1200 ml Whole Milk
- 600 g Dark Chocolate
- 1350 g Light Muscovado Sugar
- 450 g Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 12 Large Free Range Eggs
- 3 tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/2 tsp Salt
- 750 g Plain Flour
- 150 g Cocoa Powder
- 6 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
- 3/4 tsp Orange Extract (I got mine from the brilliant Sous Chef – get some here.)
Buttercream
- 400 g Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 700 g Icing Sugar
- 400 g Dark Chocolate (melted)
- Orange Extract (to taste)
Instructions
Making The Cake
- Oven to 180C. Line the two cake tins (12″ round) with parchment and double wrap the outside with brown paper to help with even cooking. In a large pan, melt the dark chocolate, whole milk and a third of the sugar until smooth over a low heat. Remove and cool.
- Cream the butter and remaining sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs two at a time, with the vanilla and salt. Mix in the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda until no streaks.
- Mix in the cooled chocolate mix and orange extract. Split the mix between the two tins. Bake for 1 hour and rotate halfway through for even cooking. Leave to cool in the tin. Cover and leave overnight before levelling and icing.
- To make the buttercream. Melt the chocolate, leave to cool. Beat the butter until creamy, gradually beating in the icing sugar and orange extract. Finally, beat in the cooled chocolate. Leave covered at room temperature.
To Assemble The Cake
- I levelled the chocolate cakes so they were the same height. Placed one of the cakes on the cake stand, then ‘blobbed’ on some of the buttercream. I levelled this with a palette knife. Slide on the other cake, making sure the flattest side was on top. Using the remaining buttercream, giving both cakes a light coating to act as a glue to the fondant.
- I kneaded the coloured fondant before using, and on a HUGE silicone mat, dusted with plenty of icing sugar, approx 1 kg of fondant and measuring the width to make sure I rolled it out enough. Then the tricky bit, lifting off the fondant and transferring to cover the cake. You need nerves of steel and no tears. Using your palms, easy the fondant to cover the cake without any overlaying or folds. This just takes practice- sorry. Trim off the excess fondant to not drag down and crack the surface. Trim the fondant to the edge of the cake to give it a crisp edge. Using your palms, ‘polish’ and smooth the appearance of the fondant.
- Repeat with the other tiers and sheet cakes using the corresponding buttercreams as the glues.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: British
Find it online: https://foodnerd4life.com/recipe-chocolate-wedding-cake/
I used Squires Kitchen ready coloured fondant to cover the cake. This saved hours of trying to match the shade just right. I used Frosted Leaf shade and roughly 5 kg to cover the three tiers and the two sheet cakes. They have a whole range of ready coloured fondants, save your arms and order yourself some here.
I used an ivory lace to contrast against the blue icing which when layered with the other tiers looked nice and crisp.
Recipe Time Again! I went for freeze-dried raspberries rather than fresh or frozen as I didn’t want the colour to bleed or to affect the structure. They also give the cake a great colour and intense flavour to the cake.
PrintRaspberry and White Chocolate Cake
- Total Time: 90 minutes
- Yield: 30 People 1x
Description
Makes two 12″x 9″ sheet cakes
Ingredients
- 400 g Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 600 g Caster Sugar
- 600 g Self Raising Flour
- 4 tsp Baking Powder
- 8 Large Free Range Eggs
- 260 ml Whole Milk
- 60 g Freeze Dried Raspberry Pieces (I got mine again from Sous Chef, get some here)
- 2 tbsp Vanilla Extract
Raspberry and White Chocolate Buttercream
- 400 g Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 700 g Icing Sugar
- 400 g White Chocolate (melted and cooled)
- 30 g Freeze Dried Raspberries
Instructions
To Make The Cake
- Oven to 180C. Line the two sheet cake trays with parchment and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in the eggs, two at a time with the vanilla. Beat in the flour and baking powder, until there are no streaks. Mix in the milk and raspberries. Split the mixture between the two tins, level and bake for 20 mins. Rotate the cakes halfway through the cooking. Leave to cool, cover and leave overnight.
To Make The Icing
- Cream the butter until smooth, gradually beat in the icing sugar, raspberries. Add the white chocolate and beat until fully mixed in. It should be a lovely pink colour. Use on the levelled cakes to sandwich together and cover as the glue for the fondant.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: British
Find it online: https://foodnerd4life.com/recipe-chocolate-wedding-cake/
Last Recipe of the Trio. I like the tartness of the lemon and passion fruit working with the sweetness of the vanilla. I made my own passion fruit curd using my lemon curd recipe but using passion fruit juice instead. But in some really good shops and online you can buy ready made if you are pressed for time.
PrintLemon Drizzle Cake with Vanilla Buttercream and Passion Fruit Curd
- Total Time: 70 minutes
- Yield: 30 People 1x
Description
Makes two 12″x 9″ sheet cakes
Ingredients
- 400 g Unsalted Butter ( softened)
- 600 g Caster Sugar
- 600 g Self Raising Flour
- 4 tsp Baking Powder
- 8 Large Free Range Eggs
- 240 ml Whole Milk
- 8 Lemons Zested
- 2 Lemons Juiced
Filling
- 300 g Passion Fruit Curd (see note above)
Vanilla Buttercream
- 500 g Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 1 kg cing Sugar
- 6 tbsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Oven to 180C. Line the two sheet cake trays with parchment and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in the eggs, two at a time with the vanilla. Beat in the flour and baking powder, until there are no streaks. Mix in the milk and lemon zest. Split the mixture between the two tins, level and bake for 20 mins. Rotate the cakes halfway through the cooking. Pour the juice of 1 lemon all over the top of the cake when straight out of the oven. Leave to cool, cover and leave overnight.
- To make the icing, cream the butter until smooth gradually beat in the icing sugar and vanilla extract. Use on the levelled cakes to sandwich together with the passion fruit curd (as you would a Victoria Sponge) and cover with the buttercream as the glue for the fondant.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: British
Find it online: https://foodnerd4life.com/recipe-chocolate-wedding-cake/
THE FINAL CAKE!!
I was super happy how it turned out, as was my brother and his new wife. I can honestly say I’ve never driven so slowly when I had my mum hold this cake in the back of my car on the way to the venue! I really enjoyed the practice and making of the cakes, there were a few tense moments when it wasn’t so fun. But really pleased to be apart of their big day and wish them a lifetime of happiness. 
Me and my handsome bro with the cake
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