Need more advice. I have baked and cooked for over 40 years. What is my problem with trying to make a wedding cake?? Today is cake baking day. I am using the WASC recipe for the first time. The recipe I am using is the larger version using two cake mixes. I have a 14" pan x 3" deep and it said to fill it 2/3 full. Ummmmmmm, NO! Do not do that! It rose up and over the pan, is dripping down the sides, all over the bottom of the oven, all over the sides of the pan wrapped in towels. Smoke is filling the room, so I have the doors and windows open, hoping to avoid the fire alarm going off. I ended up dipping out 4 full cups of batter and now it seems to be under control. I am cooking it at 325. It looks ok, so far. I also have a 6 " cooking in there, too. It is up to the top almost overflowing, but not. Any tips to offer other than pitching the whole mess in the trash and begging some local bakery to make a quick wedding cake? JK at this point. But I am thankful I have an extra day just in case I need to re-bake everything if necessary. BTW, It has been cooking almost an hour and the 6" cake also 3" is not done yet. (of course the oven has been open half of that time, while trying to contain the overflowing mess)
I am trying to BREATHE. Any other advice? Thanks so much!
Oh noooo! I think when I used that recipe I filled halfway, but it was purely a logistical decision because I had to bake 2x12" and 2x10". I don't remember how much batter I used, I just remember being really sick of cake when I was done lol. It sounds like you have it under control at this point. Stop opening the door! You got this
The 6" cake failed, all lopsided, but I did mess with it a bunch trying to 'save' it. The 14" cake is finally done, looks like it might be ok, but time will tell. I am wondering if I should try a different recipe, but waiting to see what it looks like when it comes out of the pan. Wait 30 min? or more to take out of pan?
Thanks!
I would wait a bit only because it's so big. Otherwise it's a pretty sturdy cake. If you're unsure how it came out, you can trim a bit off the top, since you're going to level it anyway. (Can the 6" be trimmed?) The recipe is really forgiving, so if you end up having to scrap it (which I don't think you will!!) I would try it again and just make sure the pan is not as full next time! At this stage in the game I wouldn't experiment with any other recipes. Good luck, I hope it turns out!
ok--wasc is good--it's gonna be ok
3" pans as you now know can only be filled 1/2 full
here is chart you can follow for good results with batter amounts--there's a section for 2" and 3" pans
http://www.wilton.com/wedding/wedding-cakes/wedding-cake-data.cfm
the average wasc 2 box formula makes 14-16 cups of batter--so you can just measure it out if you want
you need to get this cake baked today nothing doubting
you need tomorrow to put it all together and decorate it with the gorgeous roses and go to the rehearsal dinner probably
i suggest you might want to try it again and just do one layer at a time until you get success on that one--like the next one bigger than the six--just bake one
go ahead and make the full amount of batter but just bake one probably 8" layer
give you time to get the 14 and 6 inch pans cleaned up for the next bake
so is this a 14x12x10x 8x6??? and is that all? no groom's cake?
edited to say --momentarily forget the ones that are baked--just set them aside
Thanks for the encouragement and advice. I think I will wait a bit longer for it to cool. I would hate for it to break in half. That would be the "icing on the cake" LOL!
No grooms cake. THANK YOU, GOD! Just the layers. I will wait until I see how this one comes out of the pan and try another batch!! I am breathing!!
for time's sake--your goal is to keep your oven full as much as possible
you don't want a lot of down time
just fill your pans according to the chart and you will be fine
so this is a 5-tier cake? 14x12x10x8x6
or a 3 tier 14x10x6?
I don't know what could have gone wrong with your recipe but I use Rebecca Sutterby's WASC recipe and I also put it in a 14 x 3 round and I fill the pan 3/4. It rises just to the tip and does not overflow. I used the recipe to make a 5 tier cake which held up. It's a good sturdy and moist recipe. What I DON'T do is put 2 pans to bake at the same time if they are different sizes and if they are on different racks. Each size pan has different timing and opening and closing an oven is a no no. The 6 " pan is going to take less time than the 14 inch so you are going to be opening up that oven to check the 6" to see if it's done and if it's not you're going to open it up again, meanwhile the bigger pan is trying to cook and the oven temp is fluxing. The recipe attached is from Edna De La Cruz's site and she uses Rebecca's recipe. HTH
Ingredients
2 boxes white cake mix (18 oz cake mix box)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teas. salt
8 egg whites
2 2/3 cups water
4 Tbls. vegetable oil
2 cups (16oz carton) sour cream
2 teaspoon clear vanilla flavor
2 teaspoons almond extract
Directions
Mix all dry ingredients by hand using a whisk in a very large mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Bake at 325 degrees
***One recipe makes: one 14" round + one 6" round
or one 16" round
or one 12" round + one 10" round
or one 12x18" sheet cake
or one 12" round + one 8" round + one 6"
Half a recipe makes: two 8" rounds
or two 6" rounds + 6 cupcakes
I am back to check in. You all are the BEST. I am following your advice and sticking with the same recipe! The one 14" layer came out ok, I believe. It popped right out of the pan. I am cooling it. It looks OK. The tiny taste I got was a bit non sweet, but the icing I made yesterday, should more than make up for that, so I am going with it! Perfection is no longer an option. Acceptable works for me, today!! I am also taking your advice and cooking only ONE layer at a time. The middle layer is 10" and chocolate and is in the oven as I type. This time it was barely half full, so it might be smaller than I wanted, but, "oh well....". At least it will not overflow! I also used the same WASC recipe substituting Choc fudge cake mix and cold coffee instead of the white and water. Fingers crossed (eyes, too) and praying!
Adding.... it is a three tier 14, 10, 6. And don't know what happened either, RoseyRod, The recipe you posted is the one I used, but since I was making two sizes, I did the recipe twice, filling each pan 2/3 full and who knows what happened! I do think it would have made a GREAT episode for the old "I love Lucy" shows, though. You would not have believed what a MESS I had!!
When the cake batter starts to rise in the middle and is attempting to go over the sides, pop the pan.
Just take the pan and bang it on the oven rack or counter top until the cake pops and the air goes out of the middle. This should occur half way thru your baking process. Cook for the remaining time until the middle springs back to the touch. This will make your cake more compact and dense, and will also give you a more level cake. I am a professional baker, own my own bakery, and have been baking for almost 30 years. This works.
M.
oh sounds good
and good to hear from you
sounds like you have it under control (and no firemen! congratulations!! ;)
so you have inflexible boards to put all you cake tiers on (once you fill all the layers that make up each of the three tiers)
so what kind of dowel and support system do you have in mind when you start to assemble the cake???
what kind of bottom board do you have
how are you transporting this?
do you have boxes for it
inquiring minds & all that
that chocolate cake sounds divine!!!
The first chocolate layer came out perfectly! Yeah! I even forgot to run the knife along the edge before taking it out of the pan but it popped out perfectly! Now, I am baking layer 2 of the 14" white cake. PRAYING on this one. I used one recipe of the 2 cake WASC recipe. It barely is 1/2 full! That is why on my first try, I ended up making another batch and ended up overflowing the whole mess. It will be fine. So what if the bottom tier has one layer 3" and one 2"? Right? I figure it is the least of my problems at this point! So I am almost half way through baking. I have spent over 5 hours today! I am going to be so dang tired tonight!
How I am assembling? The plan is that I have a hard board 24" covered in white contact paper. I purchased bakery foil to cover that. Not sure if I am using the eggplant colored side, or using the silver side? Daughter's colors are eggplant and silver. Ideas? The cake will be all white. I have cardboard under the bottom tier. Cake is attached to cardboard with super glue..... .........JK. I so need to laugh right now. LOL . Actually attached with buttercream. I bought those wilton wooden dowels that I will cut to fit to hold up each layer. Cardboard between each layer. I am transporting only the two tiers attached and putting on the top at the reception. Taking lots of icing in a decorating bag for any boo boos. Any suggestions?
you got me with the super glue!!! very funny
so you gonna be posting a picture of your masterpiece when it's all said and done???
no pressure--after the dust settles is fine ;)
yes--be sure when you cut and trim your dowel--
you stick one in of course to measure and mark how tall you need them per tier
you measrue and mark one per tier
then measure each dowel to the length of the first one you stuck in there
in other words you do not measure each one to the height of the cake
you measure them to the height of each other after you measure the first one for each tier
then the following pictures are for a plastic type of dowel but same principle
get them measured to each other and cut & trim then take a ruler and slide them back and forth
to be sure they are nice & even
the 14" tier would have them placed so they make a circle (if connected) that's about 7.5' to 8" around
the 10" tier would have them placed to make about a 4- 4.5 circle
they don't go on the outer perimeter of the tier above it--they are placed so it supports the weight the bulk of the tier above it
glad your baking is going well
if it is raining when you deliver is it covered porches both ways or are you going to box it or you just gonna hope for a sunny day???
which it probably will be sunny -- i mean southern california after all
get the umbrellas handy or something
is anyone helping you with delivery??? those two tiers will be heavy
do you have a nice level place in your car must be flat flat flat and kept out of the sun
a 24 inch base will not fit in most car doors--unless you have a good flat trunk or suv type vehicle
what kind of boards are they??? esp for the 14 it needs to be heavy duty to hold a heavy cake without bending at all in the least
and i vote eggplant side up ;)
I tried one time to continue to let my cake bake after it overflowed, and smoke had filled the oven. The cake ended up tasting smoky. I had to throw it away and do it again. Hope your cake doesn't taste smoky.
Yep. AGREE on 'just say NO' to filling up to 2/3. what a MESS!!!!!!
Baking is all done~ Yippee!!!!!!!
Thanks for the tips for stacking. Stacking, icing and decorating is tomorrow. I pray it goes better.
My crusting buttercream, now is too crusting, and gets very hard. I can't win. LOL. I think tomorrow, I will try and add more crisco into the mix to see if it will soften. Any ideas? So I had too much fat at first and it would not crust. Now it crusts too much, so I am thinking add in a bit more fat?
NO rain in the next few days, in fact sunny and low 80's. We do have an SUV and I plan on putting it in the back, FLAT and wedged. Carrying it will be a trick, but hubby will do it. I pray it makes it safely after all this. Parking could be a problem, so I will pray for a close parking space at just the right time!
I promise to take pictures and share both the good, the bad and the ugly. Spooky, sorry you had to rebake. I think I caught mine early enough that the smoke was not too bad, at least I hope so. If it tastes like smoke.... I will CRY for sure.
You were right. The WASC recipe is forgiving and very sturdy. I did have leftover batter and made some cupcakes. They are not very sweet as I suspected, but with all the added icing, it should be ok.
I will keep you all posted. Thanks for the encouragement and staying with me. I feel like I am not totally alone in this and that surely helps!
white almond sour cream. It is a modified box mix recipe that is quite popular. I haven't tried it so don't have a link but if you google wasc cake central I would think would get you more information.
Here is the recipe I used: http://cakecentral.com/a/white-almond-sour-cream-cake-wasc
I am on my third try for a strawberry filling. The first two were too wet. Going for strawberry jam and some buttercream at this point. The chocolate layer is stacked with a oreo/buttercream mix. That one looks good. The darn strawberry one is giving me fits. I forgot fresh strawberries get wetter after they are cut. :(
strawberries are kinda leaky--lots of people use jam + buttercream ;)--will be delicious!
congrats on the chocolate tier!! yay!!!
hey--thought for you
you will want a rim of icing encircling the strawberry filling
it's called a dam and it helps keep things secure
typically it's piped out of a decorating bag--like one with a big hole in the tip
or one with an open coupler if you're familiar with that
but it could be swiped on with a spatula all the way around the rim of the cakes--it would be evened out by the cake that sits on top of it all and it is pretty important to have it on there one way or the other ;)
like you'd swipe the mayo off a knife--just swipe a small blob of icing swiped of the spatula all the way around-- lotsa swipes
about the same height as the layer of filling will be
a thought for you
Yep! thanks for the tips. I did do the dam, twice, but the darn strawberries were way too wet. I waited two hours dabbing with paper towels, but they kept weeping. Tried putting the top on (the 6" one) and the red wetness oozed out after about a half hour. Gave up after two hours of waiting for the mixture to dry out. wiped the whole thing clean and started over. The jam worked GREAT. Still put the dam around, jam, then a bit of buttercream. There must be a trick that bakeries use when they put in fresh strawberries, but I have no idea what it is. I am taking pictures!
the trick this baker uses is a real sharp knife
and i encase the berries in whipped cream
put the dam around, then a thin layer of wc all across
then cut strawberries* laid in like a mosaic
then another layer of wc to seal the deal
it's kept chilled so the fat in the wc keeps the berries from peeing
cut on the smaller side so the cake serves & slices nice
Ivitg, I have been following, and trying to help a bit, since you started having troubles with the icing. Now that you are at the picture stage I am going to stop biting my tongue and ask....why did you not try out the recipe for cake, icing, filling, etc before your daughters big day? One sample cake before hand and you would have discovered all of these difficulties when you had plenty of time to make corrections without the added stress of the wedding tomorrow. I am curious but also posting this for others following along that may be able to avoid these problems at the last minute. I am glad they are all put together and at picture stage and hope you can go on to enjoy all of the festivities.
Denetteb,
I am LOL! You are so right about I should have tried the recipes ahead of time. YES!! YES! YES!!! I am taking a much needed break, so this is my story and I am sticking to it.....
Non-cake info:
We had three months to plan a wedding that we are doing EVERYTHING ourselves other than some grilled chicken being delivered at dinner. (smallest of budgets!) We found a wedding dress for a great price, but it needed to be altered. Sewing is what I love. Not clothes sewing so much, but quilts. Anyhow, I am comfortable with a needle, so I offered to alter and hem it. Also, to save more, I offered and made a cathedral veil and added lace by hand around the entire length. It needed something more, so I added over 1000 small pearls, each one sewn by hand. I love this kind of sewing, so it was a complete joy to do. I then had some lace left so added some around the waist with more pearls.
Some cake info:
Also during this time, I watched dozens upon dozens of youtube videos about cake decorating and making/stacking wedding cakes as well as taught myself how to make gum-paste roses. I thought making gum-paste flowers would be good, since I could do them ahead of time. I made 40 roses of various sizes on toothpicks and dozens of drop flowers and also learned to make marshmallow fondant that I used to make the gum paste. I also decided to make some leaves out of gum paste too, so had to figure those out. And in the middle of all this cake stuff, I decided my daughter needed a bustle on her wedding dress, so I had to research that and sew that, too.
I kept thinking I should at least TRY a small cake, but just could not get the energy. We don't eat a lot of sweets here, so I just could not get up the energy to make icing and cake for practice only. I was just too tired and then ran out of time. Besides, I have cooked for over 40 years and used to make decorated cakes 30+ years ago. I would remember, right? How hard could it be? HA! Ummmmmm... What a complete dummy! I guess I must have been in denial. I now feel like this whole wedding cake project was a huge undertaking that was way over my head, especially considering everything else I am doing. Oh, and my 88 year old mother needed her clothes altered... etc, etc, etc...
I would advise anyone considering making a wedding cake as their first project that you MUST do at least one small cake using all your needed skills so you could work out the kinks. Thank God for you all here. I only had one major meltdown and it was today, when my elderly mother was scolding me (I am in my 60's) for not taking a break and not eating lunch. Seriously? LOL! I was over the edge! I had to apologize later.
Seriously, you here have been my saving grace and my lifeline. Otherwise, I might have gone completely berserk. I really did not anticipate these kind of problems. Who knew? I tell you what! I have such respect now for bakers that do this for a living. Holy cow!! I bow down to you! I praise your patience, your time, your understanding. I wish I could take you all out for lunch! Please, if you come to my area in southern CA, contact me and we can do lunch!!
I am LOL! You are so right about I should have tried the recipes ahead of time. YES!! YES! YES!!! I am taking a much needed break, so here goes my story.....
Non-cake info:
We had three months to plan a wedding that we are doing EVERYTHING ourselves other than some grilled chicken being delivered at dinner. (smallest of budgets!) We found a wedding dress for a great price, but it needed to be altered. Sewing is what I love. Not clothes sewing so much, but quilts. Anyhow, I am comfortable with a needle, so I offered to alter and hem it. Also, to save more, I offered and made a cathedral veil and added lace by hand around the entire length. It needed something more, so I added over 1000 small pearls, each one sewn by hand. I love this kind of sewing, so it was a complete joy to do. I then had some lace left so added some around the waist with more pearls.
Some cake info:
Also during this time, I watched dozens upon dozens of youtube videos about cake decorating and making/stacking wedding cakes as well as taught myself how to make gum-paste roses. I thought making gum-paste flowers would be good, since I could do them ahead of time. I made 40 roses of various sizes on toothpicks and dozens of drop flowers and also learned to make marshmallow fondant that I used to make the gum paste. I also decided to make some leaves out of gum paste too, so had to figure those out. And in the middle of all this cake stuff, I decided my daughter needed a bustle on her wedding dress, so I had to research that and sew that, too.
I kept thinking I should at least TRY a small cake, but just could not get the energy. We don't eat a lot of sweets here, so I just could not get up the energy to make icing and cake for practice only. I was just too tired and then ran out of time. Besides, I have cooked for over 40 years and used to make decorated cakes 30+ years ago. I would remember, right? How hard could it be? HA! Ummmmmm... I now feel like this whole wedding cake project was a huge undertaking that was way over my head, especially considering everything else I am doing. Oh, and my 88 year old mother needed her clothes altered... etc, etc, etc...
I would advise anyone considering making a wedding cake as their first project that you MUST do at least one small cake using all your needed skills so you could work out the kinks. Thank God for you all here. I only had one major meltdown and it was today, when my elderly mother was scolding me (I am in my 60's) for not taking a break and not eating lunch. Seriously? LOL! I was over the edge! I had to apologize later.
Seriously, you here have been my saving grace and my lifeline. Otherwise, I might have gone completely berserk. I really did not anticipate these kind of problems. Who knew? I tell you what! I have such respect now for bakers that do this for a living. Holy cow!! I bow down to you! I praise your patience, your time, your understanding. I wish I could take you all out for lunch! Please, if you come to my area in southern CA, contact me and we can do lunch!!
omg you totally crack me up!!!
today was your only major meltdown--wednesday & thursday were just minor ones???
and the cakes baking over and the smoke--that was not meltdown-ish either ;)
how much ativan did you take???
grilfriend, i wanted some ativan!!!
all day i was waiting to hear from you--no news is good news i kept thinking
and i also kept thinking (wrongly) that i'm so glad there are no fillings--thank god for that
all she's gotta do it plop it all together and good to go
then you pop up with fresh strawberries my stomach did a few flips
omg--i can't believe all the sewing you have done!!!
what a wonderful wedding day ambiance you have created, the cake, the dress, the one thousand pearls and veil and alterations and wow i'm sure there's more but how beyond sweet!!!! all the studying and taught yourself flowers for your girl--(you made me cry) way way way too cool
no wonder you said "I kept thinking I should at least TRY a small cake, but just could not get the energy." yah think?!
and do get a nice big glass of water and stay hydrated--listen to your mom!!! and eat right tomorrow--weddings take a ton of energy out of you
and have the most wonderful day tomorrow--will be thinking of you all
did you get the dowel in ok???
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