Wedding Cake Practice Run #1

So, attached is the photo of my first attempt at a wedding cake tier. This is an 8" cake tier with three layers of orange carrot cake with orange cream cheese frosting. I just ordered the other pans that I'll need for making a four tiered cake with a larger 14" tier as the base and 10", 8", and 6" tiers on top. The decoration on this cake is just for experimentation. I found out by doing this one that one should pipe from the base to the top instead of from the top to the base. Also, the lattice work (if you can call it that) was an after thought, so I did that design after I did the frosting poops around the base and the top. I would do it the other way around next time. I might actually decorate each tier differently 'cause I would love to figure out the wicker basket technique, but don't want to do it for all four tiers. I may also just be very plain and decorate with orange or gardenia blossoms instead. I've been researching how to make wedding cake for a few weeks and wasn't sure my cake and frosting combo was going to work as my frosting doesn't use a lot of powdered sugar but rather relies on the cream cheese for stiffness. It worked! The things I never knew about making professional (or somewhat professional cakes) are that the cake should all be made in 3" tall pans and then leveled off and cut into 1" layers. The other thing I never knew was about the crumb layer of frosting. Its bloody brilliant, there is a first layer of frosting that goes on to keep the crumbs in and then the cake is refrigerated to set before the final layer goes on. Thats how those wedding cake tiers get so tall and round, its not the cake, but rather the frosting that does that. KEWL!

Enjoy,

Seth