I haven't had the time to write-up my experience making a wedding cake for my friends Lane and Courtney's wedding but I've finally found a photo of it to which I can point you: the wedding cake in action. Outside is rolled fondant, inside is Red Velvet cake. And when I say red, I mean red. For a first wedding cake, I don't think it turned out too badly. But I'm not sure I'm up for doing another wedding cake, at least not anytime soon!
Do you bake cakes a lot? Hate to grease and flour those cake pans? Then do I have the recommendation for you. There's this amazing product called Baker's Joy (it's no misnomer) that's a simple spray, a la Pam, but with flour included. I was skeptical but I used it last week when I baked a wedding cake (three 12"x2", two 9"x2", and two 6"x"2" batches). It worked perfectly! Took less than five seconds to coat an entire pan and the cakes flipped out perfectly when done. Not one bit stuck inside. Two thumbs up. If I had any more thumbs, it would get a higher rating.
Tip two: Magi-Cake strips. You soak these puppies in water then wrap them around the outside of the cake pans. They prevent the outside of your cake from cooking too quickly (causing it to rise unevenly) and the result is a perfectly level cake. My cakes, after coming out of the pans perfectly, were as flat as boards. No messy leveling required!
If you bake at all, I highly recommend both of these products. I found the Baker's Joy at my local Andronico's and the Magi-Cake strips are available at Sur La Table.
Now's the season to start cooking Whole-Wheat Rigatoni with Butternut Squash and Beet Greens. I was thinking of this recipe last night as I made a pumpkin gratin (yum!) and realizing how much I like to cook with fall ingredients. I also roasted a beet and grated it atop some greens I dressed with a mustardy vinaigrette to top off the fall/winter feel of the meal.
Megnut is a site about food written by Meg Hourihan. She lives in NYC. More...
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