Victorian Lace Wedding Cake Recipes

VICTORIAN LACE WEDDING CAKE

Steps:

• Cover the cakes with marzipan and leave to dry. Knead together the sugarpaste and white chocolate sugarpaste. Roll out on a work surface dusted with icing sugar and cover the cakes. Remove the excess chocolate sugarpaste mix, keeping the trimmings wrapped in plastic. Leave to dry for three days. Secure the cakes to the boards with royal icing. Base borders and lace Using a clay gun or by hand, make thin twisted ropes of chocolate sugarpaste mix and attach with edible glue to the base of each cake. For the lace, roll out some chocolate sugarpaste mix 2.5 mm (⅛ inch) thick and lay it over the negative side of the mould, pressing the paste into the mould. Place the positive side of the mould on top and press. Remove the paste section from the mould and trim to size. The number of lace pieces needed will vary according to the size of the cake and mould. Hold the mould against each cake to work out how many pieces you will need and whether they will need to be trimmed to fit. Most cakes will need 12 pieces of lace. With edible glue, paint the underside of each piece of lace and attach around the sides and on the corner of each cake. Position a lace piece at the corner of each cake, then another piece in the middle of each side. Then attach another piece at the corner of each cake, creating a layered effect. Positioning the pillars Insert four wooden dowels into the centre of each of the two larger cakes, equally spaced so they will be covered by the cake above. Cut off the dowels level with the icing and place a pillar over the top of each dowel. Cut out four extra sections of lace for the top of each cake (for the flowers to be placed on) and arrange on top of the cakes, positioning neatly between the pillars. Roses and buds Shape a cone of chocolate sugarpaste mix and shape eight balls the size of marbles. Cut another piece that is twice as large as the others to form the bud petal. The size of the cone and balls of paste will determine the size of the finished rose. Place the balls of paste between plastic sheets and thin half of each with your thumb or finger. It is important to leave the base of each petal thick. Remove the top sheet of plastic and peel off the 'bud' petal. For the cream-coloured roses, tint the edge of the petal slightly by gently rubbing with a small amount of red petal cream. Place the cone a quarter of the way in from the left-hand edge of the petal and 2.5 mm (⅛ inch) down from the top edge. Wrap the left-hand half of the petal around the cone to the front, making sure that the bud forms a sharp point at the top. Wrap the larger right-hand half around to the front, curling the edge of the petal back when you have completely enclosed the cone. For a bud, roll the base between your fingers and cut off the excess paste. For a full rose, release another petal from the plastic, tint the edge as before and place on the bud, covering the curled back edge of the first petal and cupping around the bud. Add two more petals to encircle the bud. Each petal should overlap the previous one slightly. The bud and petals should be at the same height. Attach another five petals, curling their edges back slightly and tinting to give an open look. Dry for a few minutes, then roll the base of the rose between your fingers and cut off the excess paste. Leaves Colour 60 g (2 oz) chocolate sugarpaste mix pale green. Roll out and cut a selection of rose leaves. Thin the edges, vein and pinch into shape with your fingers. Leave to dry. With a small amount of red petal cream on your fingers, wipe the set leaves to shade the edges. Assembly Arrange the roses, buds and leaves in the centre of each cake, on top of the lace pieces, securing with a little melted white chocolate. Trim the cake boards with the ribbon, securing with double-sided tape.