How to make a wedding cake
Discover three creative ways to design your own stunning two-tier wedding cake for the special day using our easiest ever guide to creating a showstopper.
This simple yet impressive wedding cake can be decorated in three different ways using Miriam Nice's delicious step-by-step easiest ever wedding cake recipe. The whole cake takes only 1 hour to bake, can be colour-matched to your wedding and costs under £35!
Option 1: floral design
(keeps for 2-3 days)
- Dye 200g of your buttercream the colour of your choice using a few drops of food colouring.
- Fill and cover the cake with the remaining buttercream.
- Add a few daubs of the coloured buttercream on one side and blend it with the base colour using a cake scraper.
- Go round the cake a few times with the cake scraper to create a rustic but smooth finish.
- Decorate with edible flowers such as organic roses, and fresh herbs like rosemary, bay and thyme.
Option 2: ruffle design
(keeps for 3-4 days)
- Roll 700g of white fondant icing out on a surface dusted with icing sugar. Drape over the largest cake after the buttercream has chilled, but before stacking. Smooth it over, then trim off the excess.
- Do the same with 400g white fondant icing for the top layer, then stack the cakes.
- Take a block of 600g white fondant icing and pinch off pieces each about the size of a large strawberry. Roll into thin, wide strips (it’s preferable to end up with a mixture of lengths), then use a sharp knife to cut them lengthways to create two pieces.
- Make a thin paste using icing sugar and water, then spread a little along the flat edges of the strips.
- Stick them to the sides of the cake, starting at the bottom and working up. Bend the fondant to create pleats and waves.
- Overlap from the bottom up until all the sides are covered.
- Decorate with a cake topper if you like.
Option 3: polka dot design
(keeps for 3-4 days)
- Roll 700g pink sugar paste out on a surface dusted with icing sugar. Drape over the largest cake after the buttercream has chilled, but before stacking. Smooth it over, then trim off the excess.
- Do the same with 450g of white fondant icing for the top layer.
- Make a thick paste using icing sugar and water, and use it to stick on white chocolate buttons and white chocolate jazzies onto the larger cake to create a polka dot effect.
- Push 2-3 tbsp edible silver balls into the smaller layer’s icing, then stack the cakes.
- Add a cake topper and a ribbon, if you like.
Baking tips:
- Ovens do vary, so you may find the larger cake takes longer. If so, cover with foil after 1 hr and check again every 10 mins.
- Make sure the wedding catering staff are aware that there are straws inside the cake before they serve it.
- Only ever use edible flowers and plants to decorate.
Looking for more wedding inspiration? Check out our beautiful wedding cake collection and DIY wedding guide, plus some tasty ideas for a stylish wedding buffet. If you want to get more creative with wedding cake decoration, here are some more helpful design tips and videos:
How to cover a cake with fondant icing
Which is your favourite design? Let us know in the comments below...
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