Help! Groom's Cake--So Many Questions... Need Answers
Decorating By shenninger Updated 15 Jul 2006 , 10:38pm by shenninger
Okay... I am not necessarily new to decorating but I am new to really doing cakes for others outside my family and close friends. I have done one other groom's cake (Guitar- I posted on CC) and got an order for another one this coming weekend. I accepted the order but as the date draws near I have so many questions that I am getting really nervous about the whole situation. First of all, I accepted to do a groom's cake needing 70 servings. As the consultation progressed she gave me a recipe for a cake and frosting she wanted me to use. Okay... not too big of a deal! Then she wanted the cake shaped like a near by mountain here that her fiance' had just finished cycling up. She always wants his bike somewhere on the cake. Okay.... big problems. The recipe makes 2 8inch round cakes. How do I know how much more to make-- and what size pans, etc. to get the mountain effect. Also, the frosting is cream cheese and peanut butter based. I don't know if I am going to be able to pipe or sculp anything out of it. Should I tell the bride to be that I can use that as a filling but I will need to use BC to get the moutain she is wanting. I am just really confused right now and wishing I wouldn't have committed to this order. Yikes! Any help would be appreciated. 
You are definitely going to need more cake, that won't feed 70 people. You can probably make several recipes, stack them up and carve them? Haven't seen the mountain, so unsure how exactly I'd go about it. According to Earlene's cakes, an 8 in 2 layer cake serves 15. So you'd need to make around 5 of them and stack/sculpt them to make a mountain.
I've never worked with cream cheese/pb frosting, but I've done a wedding cake with cream cheese frosting, and it was a nightmare. It was so soft I had to keep refrigerating the stuff. I was worried that the whole thing would just sink. So I worry about that recipe. You might be better off using buttercream and asking if hers can be the filling.
Not sure I was all that helpful, but good luck to you.
Does the whole thing have to be a mountain??
what about wonder mold, with another round layer underneath to make it a bit taller... and then all set on a rectangular cake?? Does that make sense? with the rectangular decorated as if it's the area around the mountain.
Cream cheese frosting.. SO SOFT and I am sure PB would make it worse. I would definitely go with the filling only!
and I would try this recipe before you make it... it maybe her recipe and what she wants.. but it's your name on the cake, if you KWIM!! If it's terrible you don't want your rep to hang on it!
Good luck! 
How about a large base cake with a smaller mountain shape on top. You could weave the road from the base and up the mountain with the biker on it.
If you want the whole thing to be a mountain to serve 70- Maybe layers of 12-12-10-8-8-6? Carved down some, it would be about right. You would need about 5-6 mixes. Be sure to support every couple of layers on a board and post for support. I would definitely make a sample and see if her recipe would hold up to carving. Freeze it, carve it, try to ice it.
The special icing would be best just for filling, but don't torte too much or it might weaken the structure. Use an icing on the outside that you know something about.
Good Luck!!
All you need is to do a small tiered cake and shape it. I will provide some examples below. You can also search on Christmas cakes with snow caped mountains, I have seen some of these, but done in the same way.
The problem is that since she provided the recipe, you need to do a test cake and make sure you can sculpt it. For 3D work, you need a good pound cake, dense, cake for it to work.
The cream cheese should be fine for a base covering and will make nice peaks or whatever. (Just remember, cream cheese frosting must remain in the refrigerator or it can go bad fast - cream & cheese..) You can use regular frosting for piping work.
Good luck.
Okay... I think I have messed up the entire situation. Today is decorating day. I have had to rebake several of the cakes because they just didn't seem right. I am not an expert at scratch recipes-- especially someone elses recipe. Seems we have gone from Mountain Cake to Sheet Cake with picture of mountain on it back to tiered cake with Mountain things on it. I am very nervous about the texture of this cake and it not callapsing. I did a sample cake last weekend with her recipe. The Cream Cheese/ Peanut Butter Chip icing was a little loose so I added a tsp of Merinque Powder and the consistancy was really good. I left it out to see if it got soft and it didn't. I refridgerated it to see if it got crusty and hard but it didn't. So...I am just trying to get all my cakes done so I can start the decorating. I found a cake that I thought was a good inspiration cake and kind of what I had in mind. Minus the kayaking and adding cycling. I don't know who did the cake but they did a wonderful job. I hope I can do 1/2 that well. I had a picture of the grooms bicycle made into an edible image along with a picture of the Mt. Nebo Sign and made fondant plaques. I am hoping to get all the decorating done this afternoon. My neighbor(the sister in law of the groom) will transport the cake about 40 min drive. I will be a nervous wreck. I won't be there to fix anything if something doesn't transport well. Thanks to all who gave me advice and their opinions. I really apprecitate it. Also, the cake pictures you shared are just amazing. Thanks again.
Great looking cake example. It is from Mike's Cakes; http://www.mikesamazingcakes.com/
Have fun and good luck!
Well, the cake is finished and at the reception. I didn't deliver the cake personally but got a call a little while ago to let me now it made it there exactly as it had left the house. No touch up or repairs needed. Thank goodness! Thanks to all who gave me advice and help concerning this situation. I am hoping to hear detail of the bride/grooms reactions later today. Yikes!
WOW, it came out fabulous! How did you make the rocks? Are they fondant with different colors of brown?
The cake turnedout GREAT !! What a BEAUTIFUL job! I hope you charged her a small fortune for it..........I have to ask though why on EARTH would you allow her to dictate the recipe? She is there for YOUR recipes and talent....shecan say what kind of cake.... cho, white, etc., but there are to many variables to sculpting a cake for anyone that does not know what they are doing to call the shots....... She had better thank you BIG time !!
Thanks so much for all the compliments! I am just relieved that it is done! The trees are sugar cones iced with BC. The trail is MMF along with the rocks. I just took little bits of MMF and added black and brown paste coloring and kneaded until I like the effect. Thankfully the Cream Cheese/Peanut Butter Chip recipe held up pretty well, I was able to smooth with Viva Papertowel without a problem. I did add a tsp of merinque powder per batch. I think that helped a lot to stablize it. Thanks again.
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