Are Sheet Cakes Usually Covered In Fondant? 3 Tiered Square Wedding Cake To Feed 150 People, Which Tier Sizes?
Decorating By pastrymaniac Updated 10 Feb 2013 , 5:41pm by kikiandkyle
Hi everyone,
I would like to know if sheet cakes are usually covered in fondant.
I haven´t ever done sheet cakes for a wedding. If I make a false wedding dummy cake to be on display (with the smallest tier being real cake) and the real cakes are in the kitchen how are they filled and covered? Are they still inside the baking trays (filled with one layer of filling) when they are cut by the staff or are they "unmoulded" (removed from the trays) and then filled and covered with fondant? Are they usually filled with just one layer of filling?
In case they are usually removed from the tray, filled, iced and covered in fondant why should the price per serving be any cheaper if we also have to cover the dummies with fondant ? I mean we end up using more fondant than with a regular tiered cake right?
I need a 3 tier square cake to feed 150 people, do you think a 14 inch,10 inch, 6 inch cake would be ok?
Suggestions appreciated please!!
Thanks
Sara
Sheet cakes are normally not covered in fondant unless specifically requested.
Most of us would offer a sheet cake properly filled and iced in buttercream with simple shell borders top and bottom. We would charge our base price for this.
Remember that the servings are calculated by volume so a 2" high cake will serve half the people that a 4" high cake will. The common online serving tables are for 4" deep cake.
If you like, you can offer simple piped (dried royal icing) or gumpaste flowers to garnish each serving of cake, to match the flowers used on the fancy cake. For a price, of course.
If the dummy cake is decorated in fondant , then so should the kitchen cakes be.
When I do this I tort and fill , and cover like I would if I was doing the actual wedding cake , it gets a simple snail trail around the edge. The idea is to make it look like it was cut from the actual cake. I charge the same base price , that I charge for a single tier . Tiered cakes are charged at a higher price. .
My cakes are usually 4inches high ( unless I tort and fill them then they are higher) . So my kitchen cakes are the same .
Thanks for your replies everyone.
So how many layers of filling should my sheet cakes have and how high should they be when filled? 4 inches ?
Anyone else that thinks that a 3 tiered square cake 6, 10 and 14 inch) would not be ideal to feed 150 guests? Should I suggest the bride adding another tier or not?
What should I charge per serving for the whole cake (dummy cakes decoration plus sheet cakes) ?
Again should I cover my sheet cakes with fondant? How do you do it in the US?
This is the square wedding cake I am talking about (black and white with diamond pattern and real red roses underneath each tier):
Is it doable to make it 3 tiered (6, 10, 14 ´´) to feed 150 people? Adding another tier would also mean a lot more roses and my bride´s budget is not that big I think...
In case of making it with 4 tiers what sizes would you suggest?
Suggestions please !
Thanks :-)
Sara
If each tier is 4" high (as many layers of cake as the bride would like, we are only concerned with total height), a "wedding cake" slice in North America is 1" x 2" of the cake area.
Then 14" square cake serves 98, 10" square cake serves 50, 6" square cake serves 18
Most of us would feel comfortable with calling this the right size of cake for your bride, a little extra is a good idea.
OK so about the height of the cake: you can bake 2 layers each 2" deep, and use them like that with one filling. Or slice each layer again to make 4 layers.
Or you can bake 3 layers 1.25 inches deep and make up the height with the filling between the layers. This is very easy even with the largest pans, when you use bakers parchment paper to line each pan.
You should use the silvery-fabric "magic cake strips" to help your cakes bake with flat tops. These are reusable strips.
AZCouture, in which cases do you choose to do undecorated cakes ? Since you do not charge them cheaper (I agree) do you do them only when the bride wants a dummy cake on display or also in some cases of big heavy cakes like this one (to be delivered in the Summer)?
Thanks
Sara
AZCouture, in which cases do you choose to do undecorated cakes ? Since you do not charge them cheaper (I agree) do you do them only when the bride wants a dummy cake on display or also in some cases of big heavy cakes like this one (to be delivered in the Summer)?
Thanks
Sara
I've only needed to do it a couple of times, and they were for extra servings, not because of a dummy cake. Both of the cakes were already pretty big, so yes, it was just because I couldn't fit them in anywhere else.
Is the bride doing dummy cakes to save money? Because by paying for dummy cakes that will in fact be of the right size to feed her guests, as well as paying for sheet cakes, she is paying more than she needs to.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%