So a friend from work was planning her wedding, trying to stay on budget and asked me a while back to make her wedding cake.
I agreed, feeling good about it.
The more I read, and more experience I have with fondant, the more I am panicking!

Here's the scenario--I'm open to all advice (except to run & hide!):

Three tiers: 14", 10" and 6", two layers each. I have a strong base, cake boards for the top two tiers and Wilton plastic dowels for support. All to be covered in ivory fondant (already order--Satin Ice) with RI flowers and scrollwork. Beads/balls around the seams.

My questions: She wants white cake & a chocolate cake (one of each layer). I've been reading about the WASC, but does it taste like 'white' cake, and because it has sour cream in it, how long can it stay out?

She wants cream cheese filling, which is fine, but mine is very soft and tends to gush out the sides, really messing up any hopes of smooth fondant. Does anyone have a good, stiff cream cheese filling? Even with a dam it tends to bulge.

I really liked using chocolate ganache for a cake I covered in fondant before, but is there a ganache recipe that is NOT chocolate tasting?

I'm thinking I need to assemble the cake at the venue...how much assembling/completion do you do at the actual venue? I ask because there's scrollwork and I need to do the beading around the base of the tiers.

Sorry to be so long winded. Yes, a slap on the hand to me, I know. But I really value the advice I read on here and have learned a lot, so I'm hoping some CCCers have some solutions.

TIA!

im afraid the only question i can kind of answer is the ganache question . . Ganache basically is chocolate and cream, why would you want it NOT chocolate tasting lol? personally, if you dont want chocolate, then dont use ganache, ive never done a white chocolate ganache however, so this might be more suitable. That or you could try flavouring the ganache, ive made chocolate orange ganache before and it was heavonly, very orangy but still chocolately.

Everything you need to know to make, decorate and assemble tiered/stacked/layer cakes:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-605188-.html

Above super thread has popular CC recipes for crusting American buttercreams, several types of fondant and doctored cake mix (WASC and other flavor variations) - and so much more. (Part of the so much more is extensive baking and cake construction help. You might be particularly interested in SPS cake construction.)

Everything you ever wanted to know about ganache:
(Includes overview, master and other recipes including white chocolate.)

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-653967-.html

Cheese cheese frosting/filling help thread:
(Includes shelf stable cc frosting recipe.)

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-672241-.html

HTH

Edna has a crusting cream cheese icing recipe in her site.. that might help with the soft cream cheese icing (mine used to be the same until I started using her recipe)... here is the link

http://www.designmeacake.com/id25.html

Scrollwork like that is just done by practicing really! Just take it a scroll at a time....

The scrollwork on that black and white is GORGEOUS! My scrollwork need a little work--I staretd getting a little overzealous!
Thanks to everyone for their help....here's the final product, my very first wedding cake.

Wow! It turned out beautifully! Congratulations!

The cake is gorgeous! Great job for your first time.

Hmm, just curious on the ganache- could you theoretically use peanut butter chips (or butterscotch ones or whatever) to make a ganache?

Not sure that a peanut butter ganache would go with the cake you're making, but I was just wondering really if you could melt them down with some cream and get a ganache-like result?

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I was SO NERVOUS!
@Torts--ANOTHER good idea from you in regards to one of my posts tonight! You're a smart cookie! (Or cupcake, )

your first wedding cake is beautiful!! i have got my first wedding cake to do in a few weeks, how much work did you do on site??

You did a beautiful job on that cake! I love doing scrolls - kind of therapeutic, IMHO! Other people drink....some smoke....some go for a run (UGH!)...I like to pipe scrolls! LOL!
Keep at it - your work is beautiful, and the more you do the piping, the better you get at it!

[quote="prterrell"]

Ah, thanks for answering that. Hopefully I'll soon be able to grasp more of the chemistry of baking so that I can experiment more!

At least the less-fat issue now makes me feel better when I buy a bag of the Reese's peanut butter chips and *accidently* eat the whole bag before I can put them in a batch of cookies or something!