After a long, drowsy 9 hour flight home from Dubai, a very creased, sleep deprived Salma stumbled through customs etc. with, what felt like, a toddler weight backpack hanging from my shoulders. I nearly lost a toe removing my 28kg (right on the money, baby) suitcase from the baggage carousel. My vacation in Dubai had been with my family, but my trip home was completely solo. Why, you ask? Because 5 days later my cousin would be getting married. Just enough time, I think, to recover and then shop for, bake and decorate a 3-tier wedding cake. With hindsight I can now tell you, just barely enough time.
I arrived on the 2nd of January and allocated that day for rest. The next day was for shopping, but, for some reason, certain baking supply shops believed that they were allowed to be closed. No matter, there are other baking supply shops, but a lot of time and petrol was spent driving around from shop to shop. Baking finally commenced the following day with the bottom tier of the cake. A 35cm diameter date and walnut cake, which is a particular favourite of my family. I've never been a fan of fruit cake and I know most people don't like it, but it is dense, which makes it ideal for wedding cakes. Date and walnut cake is denser than most cakes and buttery. The dates become a bit like toffee after baking in the oven and the walnuts have a lovely toasty flavour, rich and nutty. It took forever to bake and I had to carefully, but quickly slip a round of baking paper on top of the cake to prevent it from burning in my over-eager oven, but it was well worth the effort. My perfect substitute for fruit cake.
The next tier was a 25cm, rich Madeira cake. You can taste the butter in every bite. It is one of my favourite cakes. Moist, luxurious. The edges almost crunchy. Okay, very crunchy, because the one I was eating was the first attempt that had burnt in the oven. I used another round of baking paper to prevent the next one from burning. You think you know a cake, then something like this happens. It's alright though, because, once the charred bits had been cut off, mum used the first attempt for a trifle. The top tier was a 15cm chocolate cake. Everybody likes chocolate cake. It's the same recipe as the rich Madeira cake, except I added some cocoa to it.
Once all the cake were cooked and cooled, I began the process of enrobing the cakes in Marzipan and Plastic Icing (a.k.a fondant). The big cake was a bit of a limb-coordination disaster. It took three attempts. Marzipan and Plastic icing each. The smaller cakes were much easier. I stuck the Marzipan to the cake with fig jam instead of the usual apricot jam, because for some reason there was no apricot jam in the house. Actually, I know the reason. I'd been out of town for three weeks. Fig jam tastes better than apricot jam anyway and complements the middle eastern flavour of the dates. I used water to stick the plastic icing to the Marzipan and then smoothed the "skirt" in place.
The making of the individual decorations was a study in frustration. None of my cutters were small enough. The petals and frond-like-things had to be individually cut and molded. I bought the tiny flower cutter. Those things come in handy and it is much cheaper to make the tiny flowers than buy them, especially since many of the bought flowertjies are broken by the time you get them home. I coloured the Plastic icing with a cream gel colour. It probably would have been cheaper to just use modelling chocolate, but I didn't feel like making some at that stage. Each decoration is held in place with royal icing. I also used royal icing to pipe the pearls at the base of each cake to create a necklace at the base of their necks. The bow and ribbon is not made with icing. I've done that before and never again. The board is painted with white chocolate to get a ribbed effect on the board with a paint brush. The flower topper was kindly made for me with great skill by Fabulous Flowers in Cavendish Square, which is possibly my favourite shop.
The wedding was on Saturday in the evening. I think I had about three hours of sleep Friday night, but I got it done and delivered by Saturday morning. My very first solo wedding cake. Let's keep this kind of thing special by doing it rarely.
Date and Walnut Cake
500g dried dates, broken into pieces
750g butter, softened
3.5 cups caster sugar
10 eggs
750g self-raising flour
big pinch of salt
2 level tsp baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice
0.5 cup oil
Mix the dates with a quarter of the flour, so that the dates are coated. Cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at time, beating well between each egg. Sift the remaining flour into the butter mixture with the salt and the mixed spice. Fold the dry ingredients carefully into the butter and egg mixture until fully combined. Add the oil and mix to combine. Pour the mixture into a well-greased 35cm diameter round cake tin with baking paper lining the base. Put another round of baking paper on top of the cake. Bake the cake in a 170°C oven for anything between 2 hours and 2.5 hours, depending on the oven.
Madeira Cake and Chocolate Cake (halve the measurements)
500g butter
500g caster sugar
500g self-raising flour (replace a fifth with cocoa powder for the chocolate cake)
8 eggs
1.5-2 cups buttermilk
Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each eggs. Fold in the sifter flour (and cocoa, if making the chocolate cake). Add enough buttermilk to loosen the mixture until it has reached dropping consistency. Pile the cake mixture in greased and lined tins. Bake for an hour to 1.5 hours at 180°C.
I did not fill the cakes with fun and interesting frostings, because I did not want to mess the cake up. I may do so next time now that I'm more confident.
Once all the cake were cooked and cooled, I began the process of enrobing the cakes in Marzipan and Plastic Icing (a.k.a fondant). The big cake was a bit of a limb-coordination disaster. It took three attempts. Marzipan and Plastic icing each. The smaller cakes were much easier. I stuck the Marzipan to the cake with fig jam instead of the usual apricot jam, because for some reason there was no apricot jam in the house. Actually, I know the reason. I'd been out of town for three weeks. Fig jam tastes better than apricot jam anyway and complements the middle eastern flavour of the dates. I used water to stick the plastic icing to the Marzipan and then smoothed the "skirt" in place.
The making of the individual decorations was a study in frustration. None of my cutters were small enough. The petals and frond-like-things had to be individually cut and molded. I bought the tiny flower cutter. Those things come in handy and it is much cheaper to make the tiny flowers than buy them, especially since many of the bought flowertjies are broken by the time you get them home. I coloured the Plastic icing with a cream gel colour. It probably would have been cheaper to just use modelling chocolate, but I didn't feel like making some at that stage. Each decoration is held in place with royal icing. I also used royal icing to pipe the pearls at the base of each cake to create a necklace at the base of their necks. The bow and ribbon is not made with icing. I've done that before and never again. The board is painted with white chocolate to get a ribbed effect on the board with a paint brush. The flower topper was kindly made for me with great skill by Fabulous Flowers in Cavendish Square, which is possibly my favourite shop.
The wedding was on Saturday in the evening. I think I had about three hours of sleep Friday night, but I got it done and delivered by Saturday morning. My very first solo wedding cake. Let's keep this kind of thing special by doing it rarely.
A very tired Salma, protecting the cake in the boot of the car.
Date and Walnut Cake
500g dried dates, broken into pieces
750g butter, softened
3.5 cups caster sugar
10 eggs
750g self-raising flour
big pinch of salt
2 level tsp baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice
0.5 cup oil
Mix the dates with a quarter of the flour, so that the dates are coated. Cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at time, beating well between each egg. Sift the remaining flour into the butter mixture with the salt and the mixed spice. Fold the dry ingredients carefully into the butter and egg mixture until fully combined. Add the oil and mix to combine. Pour the mixture into a well-greased 35cm diameter round cake tin with baking paper lining the base. Put another round of baking paper on top of the cake. Bake the cake in a 170°C oven for anything between 2 hours and 2.5 hours, depending on the oven.
Madeira Cake and Chocolate Cake (halve the measurements)
500g butter
500g caster sugar
500g self-raising flour (replace a fifth with cocoa powder for the chocolate cake)
8 eggs
1.5-2 cups buttermilk
Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each eggs. Fold in the sifter flour (and cocoa, if making the chocolate cake). Add enough buttermilk to loosen the mixture until it has reached dropping consistency. Pile the cake mixture in greased and lined tins. Bake for an hour to 1.5 hours at 180°C.
I did not fill the cakes with fun and interesting frostings, because I did not want to mess the cake up. I may do so next time now that I'm more confident.
