What goes into a wedding cake?

I  know what some of you are probably thinking... It's just cake, why does it cost so much? 

Well... let us show you what goes into making a simple wedding cake. This is what we did for a recent wedding. It was a 4 tier buttercream frosted cake for 150 people with a bow and ribbon decoration.  

Step 1: Mixing and Baking... Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes. 

She had 2 flavors, Chocolate Bourbon with cookies and cream filling and Chocolate Chip. 1 hour 20 minutes to mix and bake the Chocolate Bourbon and then 1 hour 5 minutes to mix and bake the 2nd flavor, Chocolate Chip. 

24 hours to chill and firm. 

Step 2: Cutting, filling and crumb coating... Total time 45 minutes

First we cut the bourbons in half and then fill with frosting and cookie pieces. Each layer is set up with cake, filling cake, middle layer of frosting, cake filling and top layer of frosting. Then we put a thin layer of frosting over the entire cake and chill again till firm. We do this twice for the chocolate bourbon layers and then we do the chip layers, but they don't get cut in half, they're too chunky to cut. 

  

Step 3: Final Frosting...Total time 1 hour
Next we smooth on the final coat to each layer. At this time we also add support straws for stacking. Back in the fridge to chill. 

Step 4: Decorating... Total time 1 hour 30 minutes. 

When the cake is firmly chilled we add the chocolate fondant ribbon to each layer and make the chocolate bows. Then each cake layer is boxed and set aside till delivery. 

Step 5: Delivery and set up... Total Time... 1 hour 

Delivery time will vary depending on where the event is located. This cake went to the Providence Biltmore hotel which is close by. Still we have to load the car, unload the car, take the cake up to the ballroom, unpack the cake and very carefully stack the cake layers on top of each other. Then we finish by putting the bows on. 

Final Product: 

Total time for this cake 6 hours and 40 minutes over the course of 3 days. 

This was a fairly simple cake, there wasn't any intricate piping, no fondant covering, we didn't have to make many pieces to add to the cake, but it still took about 7 hours... 

So, now our lesson for today is done... You now know what goes into making a wedding cake! 

Enjoy! 

Management

This blog isn't only about pretty pictures, I also like to discuss running a small business, the ups and downs... 

I've worked a lot of jobs... a lot of restaurant and retail while I was younger. I'd go in, do my job, and leave. If a nice sunny beach day came up... well, maybe once in a while, I'd call out to do something fun. It didn't really matter... it was just a job. 

Then, during college, I worked for a restaurant that handled things differently. We had a quick staff meeting before every shift. They would have us taste the specials of the evening, introduce a new wine or cocktail, tell us how much they made the night before and what they needed to make that night. They would let us know how the budget was tracking, whether hours were too high, sales too low, etc. They would have upsell contests to raise check averages, all kinds of things to make us feel a part of the company, and I loved it. I really felt like part of the team. It made me feel important and responsible to the company. If they were slow you knew you could ask for the day off and not be hurting anyone, if you knew they were busy, you went in even if something better had come up. You tried your best to upsell drinks or add on dessert to the check. Knowing all that information made me want to do more.  

So, that's how I've decided to run my business. The staff knows how much each cake sells for, how much it costs to make them and what kind of profit we make on them. They know if we're having a bad week or a good week. They hear the praises and complaints of customers. I try to make them feel like they're part of the business. I also hope that it will give them some useful background and insight if they ever decide to open their own store. (Far away and a long time from now ! ;) 

Some people don't agree with this style. They believe your business should be yours, your profits or losses should be yours, staff shouldn't know how much is coming in and out. I don't know why they feel this way, but it seems like a common practice. 

Personally, I like the open discussion. 

Way to make an entrance....

This takes about 5 minutes... but it's worth it... This couple looks like they're really going to have a fun time together.... (video)

A guy's life...

So for all you guys out there, here are some fun cakes: 

For the rocker:

For the golfer: 

For the sandwich and beer guy: 

For the Red Sox Fan: 

Wedding Cakes

Here's a few of the wedding cakes we've done in May and June: 

"Simply FAB-ulous" 

Blue and Green Petal Cake

Galaxy Wedding Cake... a very interesting cake. We airbrushed buttercream for the cool galaxy effect. I would have liked to see the bottom tier more galaxy with possibly the earth or the moon peeking out of the bottom. 

We did a similar cake in buttercream a few years ago. Very simple and clean. 

A cute 2 tier mini wedding cake with light pink buttercream, chocolate fondant ribbon and chocolate fondant ball. 

Light blue fondant with flowers and vine piping. 

Gold painted piping gives this a very elegant look. 

Down the rabbit hole....

I am so late with this post! One of our brides, Samantha, wanted a really original wedding cake. It was one of the only things she really wanted, unique and different. She wanted an Alice in Wonderland Cake. Not just the Tilty, Mad Hatter feel of a cake, she wanted actual Alice in Wonderland. So.... She got this... 

It's a bit hard to tell exactly what's going on from the photo, we weren't able to get a really good one, but the bottom has the card soldiers, the Cheshire Cat is the 2nd layer, the Mad Hatter's hat is the 3rd and the teapot is the top layer. There was a door mouse on one corner and the half painted roses on another. 

She loved it, she said that she thought more people were taking pictures of the cake than of her! (I doubt it, she was a beautiful bride!) 

The reception was at the Renaissance Hotel  in downtown Providence. They have the most helpful staff there, we love going to that venue! 

Thank you Sam, it's been the most unusual and most fun wedding cake we've done! 

Update: Samantha sent us another picture showing some more of the details.... 

You can see the painted roses, the watch and the mouse... 

Off The Wall

A Michael Jackson Cake for Kristen....

This was done last month. We're all fans of MJ here, his music gets us working. I had hoped that he'd return to his music glory days, unfortunately that isn't to be.... 

A Wall... (ok a house, but a wall goes better with the title) for Jason's wedding. 

And in case the roof is on fire.... a fire truck!