Hello all!!
I need a good cake recipe that is gluten free, sugar free (Splenda is ok) and lactose free.
This recipe must be good for carving.
The bride wants a 4 ft tall empire state building replica ALL flavors (carrot, lemon, choc etc)
If you have any ideas please let me know!
So, cardboard, then? 
Seriously, I'd carve the cake out of styrofoam and make some kind of tasteless cake for people to eat.
I've just tried making a gluten-free cake and one of the features of gluten free baking appears to be that cakes are pretty crumbly. I can't imagine that even if you get a cake that tastes OK, it won't carve very well.
Maybe even suggest making the cake normal, then making a small cake for the small number of guests who are gluten/lactose/sugar/taste free.
So, cardboard, then?
Seriously, I'd carve the cake out of styrofoam and make some kind of tasteless cake for people to eat.
I've just tried making a gluten-free cake and one of the features of gluten free baking appears to be that cakes are pretty crumbly. I can't imagine that even if you get a cake that tastes OK, it won't carve very well.
Maybe even suggest making the cake normal, then making a small cake for the small number of guests who are gluten/lactose/sugar/taste free.
I have suggested two separate cakes but she insisted that it's all the same.
To make this konundrum worse the bride wanted to make her own cake for me to use. And she keeps sending me recipes.
GF is expensive to bake so I don't want to experiment.
I like the idea of a completely separate cake and just do the empire state building in styrofoam. Nothig would be worse than having your weddig cake look like the leaning tower of piza or worse.
I really wouldn't attempt something like this using cake someone else has made. If they're not a caker, they really have no idea what a cake needs to be like to stack, carve, etc. You know they won't bake the layers high enough, or enough of them, and you know they won't be at your house in time. I would avoid the whole nightmare, especially if you have no time, money or inclination to try out the recipes in advance.
My most recent gluten free experiment was to double the eggs in a regular recipe, which seemed to improve the structure somewhat.
Here's a recipe for chocolate cake that might be slightly helpful. The batter tastes awful, but the cake is quite tasty.
http://sugaredblog.blogspot.com.au/2008/11/brotherly-love.html
I really wouldn't attempt something like this using cake someone else has made. If they're not a caker, they really have no idea what a cake needs to be like to stack, carve, etc. You know they won't bake the layers high enough, or enough of them, and you know they won't be at your house in time. I would avoid the whole nightmare, especially if you have no time, money or inclination to try out the recipes in advance.
My most recent gluten free experiment was to double the eggs in a regular recipe, which seemed to improve the structure somewhat.
Here's a recipe for chocolate cake that might be slightly helpful. The batter tastes awful, but the cake is quite tasty.
http://sugaredblog.blogspot.com.au/2008/11/brotherly-love.html
Thanks for the link! I told her about structure and that it needs the right kind of cake. I think she understands now. I will be baking for this there is no doubt about it.
Gluten free is NOT an inexpensive venture in ingredients, and it's not something you can just learn overnight
Take it from someone that does bake gluten free - no way can you sculpt with gluten free cake. It does not have the type of structure to be able to carve. Not to even mention making it from Splenda and no lactose!
I highly recommend you refer this order over to a baker that specializes in restrictive diet baking. Gluten free is a completely different science - getting a random recipe online ain't gonna cut it. If you want to take this on regardless, you need to suck it up and spend the money on gluten free baking books to learn the science, buy all the flours and gums, start with a recipe out of one of your books and spend several hours in the kitchen trying to perfect it. Then repeat that as many times as you need flavors in order to get a product worthy of someone's wedding cake.
Good luck
I agree with the previous posters, gluten free is not a cheap baking venture BUT it is possible and can be quite tasty if done right. You defiantly need to read and learn about how to sanitize all your tools you will use before starting to avoid cross contamination and making them sick. As someone with gluten free/lactose free family, I don't blame her for wanting to cook the cake because one small error on your part and she could be hospitalized. If you don't feel comfortable doing the job, be honest and have her seek someone else she would appreciate it in the long run. Also, I would not want two different cakes personally, there are plenty of other times in life when we have to have separate items and if I am planning something people can eat what I'm eating! That's just my two cent!
Thanks everyone. I totally agree with everything that has been said. I have baked GF before. I know that changing the recipe will mess it up because it's such a finicky thing to bake. I was hoping someone would have a good recipe for GF sf lf. But I will have to experiment and find out what works best.
We have carved gluten-free/dairy-free cakes before, it's more difficult than traditional cakes but it can be done. However we have yet to come across a sugar-free recipe we would be comfortable serving to paying customers, and we've done significant R&D in this area.
If I were you I would accept the order (assuming you have procedures in place to avoid cross-contamination) except for the sugar-free part. If you already have a good GF recipe eliminating dairy is pretty easy, just make sure to charge enough to cover your R&D and the increased difficulty of carving, the price for this cake would probably be in the $2000-3000 range.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%