Wedding Cake Delivery Test

by Susan Drennan
(Danvers, Mass.)

I made this 5 tier wedding cake for a friend of mine's daughter. She wanted these colors with roses in the tangerine and magenta colors on the top. She also wanted a small grouping of roses at the 2nd tier up with fondant ribbon.

Cake Flavor

This cake was tinted orange and was a vanilla cake with orange creamsicle filling flavored with Grande Marnier.

Combining Fondant

I used Choco-Pan mixed with Satin Ice for the fondant covering. I love this mixture of fondant because you get great flavor with just the right amount of stretch. I find Choco-Pan has a little too much stretch for my liking but great flavor. Satin Ice dries out a little too quickly while working with it and the texture limits the stretch of Choco-Pan. They are a great marriage just like the marriage of my friend's daughter! I roll out my fondant really thin about 1/8" thick because I don't like fondant and most people don't like it either.

Damask Stenciling

It was also the first time I ever did Damask stenciling. This was somewhat difficult as you have to dampen the back of the stencil. Then you put the dampened side against the cake, and holding it with one hand, hope it stays in place. It's a big stencil and it didn't stay in place. Very frustrating! I may cut the stencil next time and try it that way.

Delivering Challenge

I had to drive an hour away to deliver this cake which, I know, really isn't that bad for a delivery, but it was my 1st long distance delivery. I drove with all 5 tiers put together! I did leave the roses off. I was very nervous doing this but I was afraid to bring it in sections because...what if I forgot some tools? What if I wrecked it at the venue trying to put it together? I didn't want to chance it. After getting to the reception Hall and taking out the cake I saw some sagging of the cake in some areas from the bouncing of my truck. They weren't bad but it looked so much better before delivery. Also, I did have some breakage of the roses. I had them in a box surrounded by tissue but it wasn't enough. Each rose should have been surrounded separately. I found this out later when I did another cake. I decided to buy the flowers pre-made so I could find out if I was making mine properly, and how to protect them in shipping. So now I know.

Also, make twice as many flowers as you think you might need. I made one half more. It wasn't enough. Thankfully I brought green royal icing with a leaf tip. That helped a lot to fill in. All the roses and their leaves were made of gumpaste but I then had royal icing leaves thrown in. She never noticed or mentioned the omitted small group of roses that were supposed to be on the side of the cake. Personally, I think it looks fine and perhaps better without them but, alas, they were no more after the ride there.
I learned a lot from this cake and delivery but I sure am glad it was for a friend and not a regular customer!

By the way...I got to eat a piece of this cake and I must say I don't like fondant (usually) but I didn't even notice I was eating it. It was that good! The cake was, too, and that's what people were telling the bride all night. Yay!

Thank you Susan for a fantastic entry to the wedding cake contest. Good Luck!
~Lorelie~

This article was printed from Wedding-Cakes-For-You.com

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