Comments on: Trial and Error http://aweebitofcooking.co.uk/2008/03/12/trial-and-error/ A Scottish food blog Sat, 26 May 2012 16:18:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Wendy http://aweebitofcooking.co.uk/2008/03/12/trial-and-error/#comment-3553 Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:10:44 +0000 http://teach77.wordpress.com/?p=276#comment-3553 Carolyn – Thanks for the links. Your cakes look scarily stunning! The idea of freezing the maderia sponge before icing is one I will almost certainly use. :)

]]> By: carolyn http://aweebitofcooking.co.uk/2008/03/12/trial-and-error/#comment-3540 Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:26:18 +0000 http://teach77.wordpress.com/?p=276#comment-3540 I made and iced loads of a cakes yeras ago – I did pop some of them on the gallery here: http://www.thecooksjournal.co.uk/gallery/display.php?t=bycat&q=13&nr=5&st=0&upto=12&p=1

I only made fruit cakes (but a nice light one) the recipe is here:
http://thecooksjournal.co.uk/kitchen/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=208&p=1284 or I made a madeira sponge – then froze it and iced it from frozen. If you are making more than one tier maybe do 2 different cakes to take off the pressure as the sponge you will be dong the night before.

I used sugarpaste and finished with royal icing – it is far easier to work with and much easier to eat! I don’t think royal icing is an option with sponge.

I can give lots more advice if you need it and can dig out the recipe for other tin sizes and find my madeira cake recipe too.

Good luck

]]> By: The Wedding Cake - 1 « A Wee Bit of Cooking http://aweebitofcooking.co.uk/2008/03/12/trial-and-error/#comment-3536 Sun, 16 Mar 2008 10:40:36 +0000 http://teach77.wordpress.com/?p=276#comment-3536 [...] 16, 2008 by Wendy Firstly, can I say an enormous thank you to everyone who has given me baking advice in the last few days.  It has been greatly appreciated and will, undoubtably, come in very useful [...]

]]> By: Wendy http://aweebitofcooking.co.uk/2008/03/12/trial-and-error/#comment-3534 Sun, 16 Mar 2008 08:44:35 +0000 http://teach77.wordpress.com/?p=276#comment-3534 Stephanie – I’ve never heard of “red velvet” before (really not a baker) but will most definitely look it up. Thank your Mum for me!

Maninas – I thought about that. They do look really really cute but the bride wants what the bride wants! :)

]]> By: Maninas http://aweebitofcooking.co.uk/2008/03/12/trial-and-error/#comment-3532 Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:48:35 +0000 http://teach77.wordpress.com/?p=276#comment-3532 also decorated with flowers around and inbetween the cupcakes perhaps.

]]> By: Maninas http://aweebitofcooking.co.uk/2008/03/12/trial-and-error/#comment-3531 Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:48:11 +0000 http://teach77.wordpress.com/?p=276#comment-3531 How about a wedding cake-mountain made of cutest cupcakes? :D

]]> By: Stephanie http://aweebitofcooking.co.uk/2008/03/12/trial-and-error/#comment-3527 Sat, 15 Mar 2008 14:51:38 +0000 http://teach77.wordpress.com/?p=276#comment-3527 Hi Wendy!

I asked my mom, the pastry chef/cake expert, if she had any suggestions. Here’s her reply:

Stephanie,
Sounds like there are alot of people with good advice. Mine would be; first of all, most wedding cakes are firm so that they hold up. We use one moist(sponge like) cake called red velvet. I’m sure you heard of it. We all cringe when it is ordered, it falls apart so easily. Certainly not stackable. But most of all I
would warn her that royal icing is used mostly for the decoration as it becomes hard and not very eatable. I would use a simple buttercream to ice it.

]]> By: Wendy http://aweebitofcooking.co.uk/2008/03/12/trial-and-error/#comment-3525 Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:03:12 +0000 http://teach77.wordpress.com/?p=276#comment-3525 Joy – Just looked up pictures for US frosting. It’s lovely! The bride is very keen on fresh flowers on the cake. :)

Cynthia – :-D Thank you for the cake offers. I’ve got a few recipes to try out at the moment but will definitely keep your email address handy!

]]> By: Cynthia http://aweebitofcooking.co.uk/2008/03/12/trial-and-error/#comment-3524 Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:58:10 +0000 http://teach77.wordpress.com/?p=276#comment-3524 Wendy, I am so glad that I am that you are my friend! Seriously :) I can only imagine the things you would do for me.

Email me if you want a fool-proof recipe for a pound cake or if you want to try making my Christmas rum cake. tasteslikehome@gmail.com

I’ll be checking the space to see how things are progressing.

]]> By: Joy http://aweebitofcooking.co.uk/2008/03/12/trial-and-error/#comment-3523 Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:17:15 +0000 http://teach77.wordpress.com/?p=276#comment-3523 What a lovely gesture and I’m sure you’re being overly hard on yourself. I agree with Joanna, maybe lots of individual cupcakes could look really pretty especially if you decorate them with pastel coloured buttercream icing. You could make different flavour bases as well.

You might find that making a fruitcake is actually easier than sponge as you don’t have to worry as much about rising/lightness. Also it can be made in advance to mature so you don’t have ut hanging over you.

Although, if the bride wants sponge, you’ve got to give it to her. I wouldn’t worry about not having a mixer, sometimes they cause more problems through overbeating. follow the tips above and make sure that you use a wooden spoon for your creaming and really beat the air in and a metal spoon for your flour folding (really do make a folding action).

I am rubbish with formal icing so I can’t give tips there. Fresh flowers would be a lovely touch though and a lot easier. You could get them to match the wedding flowers. Alternatively US recipes for white frosting might look good and are probably more forgiving because you can make artistic peaks etc.

Good luck!

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