HOW TO MAKE A THREE TIER WEDDING CAKE AT HOME
So, you think you want to make a wedding cake at home? You already know how to bake a cake, so how difficult could it be, right? Well, let me relate my experience to you:
It is all logistics. You have to decide what size wedding cake you want. I decided on a three tier: 12 inch, 9 inch, and 6 inch. Simple, right? You have to have enough time to bake 6 cakes and enough room in your freezer and refrigerator to keep them. Sometimes, life gets in the way and there is no room in the 'fridge or freezer. There also has to be a work station big enough to accommodate working with the frosting: beating it and frosting the cakes...Piece of cake for the professionals at the bakery.
Then, there are the tools: the different size cake pans, rounds, dowels, pruning shears, boxes big enough to transport, a cake turntable, a cake lifter, cake leveler, icing smoother, spatulas, a heating core, and it is highly recommended by me to use the bake even strips. You will also need the ingredients for the cakes and frostings, cling wrap, eggs, etc.
And there is the clean-up! After each layer of cake, the pan, egg beaters, measuring cups, etc. have to be cleaned for the next layer. All total, I made 8 batches of frosting: 2 of cream cheese, 6 buttercream. The equipment has to be cleaned after use.
What I'm saying is that this is no overnight undertaking, but rather a major project!
PART 1
Now that we have all the tools together, we can decide on what flavor cakes we want. I went with Italian Cream Cake for the bottom layer, strawberry for the middle, and red velvet for the top. You can search this blog for the recipes. Use my cream cheese frosting with one 8 oz. package of cream cheese. The filling for the Italian cream and the red velvet was cream cheese frosting, which I make from scratch. The strawberry cake was from a mix, so I used strawberry store bought frosting for the filling. I thought about adding some strawberry jam, but I will save that idea for next time, with a simple 2 layer cake. I put the batter from the entire cake mix into a nine inch pan for one layer of the middle tier, then I made up another box of cake mix and made another layer. So, the middle layer was comprised of 2 cakes!
Since I was unsure about how to bake two 6 inch cakes with double batter without burning it or under cooking it, I opted to bake them separately. I baked cupcakes with the left over batter from each 6 inch cake.
My Italian cream cake recipe is enough batter for 3 nine inch pans, so the entire batter went into one 12 inch pan, using the heating core, and should have used the bake even strips. I made two pans of this recipe.
Then, when each cake is cooled, wrap each layer really well with cling wrap and aluminum foil to keep them moist; and freeze. Even wrap and freeze the core from the bottom layer (it is o.k. to wrap it separately):
PART 2
Then to fill and frost the cakes. I used 5 batches of buttercream frosting, so you might want to whip up 4 - 5 batches before you take the first layers out of the freezer, if you have room in the fridge to keep them.
You want to work with the cakes while they are frozen. Cut your round to fit your cake. Keep in mind, that my middle tier was a 9 inch cake and I could find no 9 inch round. I cut the round to accommodate the size, and also cut a hole in the middle of the trimmed round so I could stabilize the assembled cake with a dowel down the entire middle of all 3 tiers. Build a dam about 1/4 inch from the edge of the cake, then fill in the inside of the dam. For the strawberry cake, I used the ready made frosting.
Then place the second layer on top. Now, you want to add the crumb coat. My frosting on the cake was buttercream; so, that is the crumb coat also.
After applying the crumb coat, measure the height of your cake, and cut your dowels the
same length. Place your dowels strategically to support another tier on
top of this one. I used 6 on the bottom tier and 4 on the middle tier. refrigerate. Repeat for all of the tiers. Place the bottom tier on a very sturdy plate to support all three tiers. I used a 16 inch pizza pan for the base.
PART 3
Frost as many tiers of the cake, the day before the wedding, as your fridge will accommodate. You could even start decorating it, leaving the base of each tier where it sits on the other, to decorate after the cake is assembled. (That will help hide the rounds and add symmetry to your creation.) When the bottom tier and the middle tier are frosted, mark the top of them for assembly by centering and pressing an inverted empty cake pan so you will know where to place the next tier when you are ready to assemble.
To transport the cake, I bought a plastic box. It was large enough for the 16 inch pizza pan and the 6 inch cake, using freezer tape under them to minimize the risk of the cakes sliding all over the place in transit. I already had a cake carrier for the 9 inch cake that was tall enough to accommodate the tier.
It works best if your creation will be in a cooled environment until they cut it. That reduces the risk of the frosting melting. Place the bottom tier on the table, keeping the middle tier on the round, place it where you pre-marked the bottom tier; then, keeping the top tier on the round, place it. Now, measure your dowel and cut to about 1/4 inch below the top of the top tier and place. Frost the cake to hide where the dowel was inserted.
Now, finish by putting the borders at the base of the tiers and you are good to go. Of course, I ran out of time on my first attempt. So, rather than laughing at my finished product, you are welcome to use my experience to maximize the risk of yours being aesthetically pleasing. I named mine "The Leaning Tower", of course! Hey, at least it didn't fall any more than you see in the photo!
We would love for you to share your experience and photos of your cakes with us in a comment.
