The Wedding Edition - Part 1

That’s right, we are starting wedding cake testing starting with my Orange Honey Cake with Dulce de Leche Buttercream, plus a Pandan Chiffon Cake.

Hey Friends!

I am SO bloody sorry for missing the newsy two weeks ago – let me tell you, I was in no fit state to be stringing a sentence of words together, let alone write a mammoth newsletter to you all bleating on about the usual nonsense like the local donkeys, how I think I have entered my bird watching era (I am THIS CLOSE to buying binoculars who the hell am I becoming?) and that my new neighbours are cows. Like…literally.

Instead, I was up to my eyeballs in work, panicking, stressing and overstimulated as I pushed to get 280 written pages of tried, tested and developed recipes submitted all before the Friday I was due to send out the newsletter. I then promised myself I’d catch up over the weekend to get one out to you and instead I was greeted by a wave of burnout. Nothing and I mean NOTHING could motivate me to get out of bed, move and do anything productive so I am hugely sorry but hoping this week’s special edition makes it up to you.

cake induced chaos

Because following that intense period of work, comes a manic period of ME GETTING MARRIED in a matter of, oh…15 days.

I appreciate the timing of this sounds utterly ridiculous considering I had my tiny violin out just before and you’re right. Past James and Rubes’ did not consider any work deadlines at the start of the year and I naively thought I could multitask both major work deadline and major life deadline at the same time. Gotta love my optimism cause it turns out, I absolutely could not do both. You could not even ask me what I was having for dinner during that work stage without me spontaneously combusting so here we find ourselves folks, 15 days out planning a wedding. Funsies, am I riiiiight?

Luckily, work aside, I am the most libra Libra to exist. I am very balanced. Very chilled. Very relaxed (my partner would probably say probably too much) so in my eyes 15 days is a long time (I know its not but at this point, I am lying to myself to help convince my brain). For any family and friends who are reading this bemused because this is the first time you are hearing about said wedding, don’t worry – your invite didn’t get lost in the post and it will very much be winging its way over to you for the main Indian wedding next year.

But this wedding? This wedding is just for us.

Just 30 of our closest family and friends. A room full of nothing but love and an abundance of joy, gratitude and appreciation. Done exactly how we want it – low key, chilled, full of good food (and cake, we hope), good drink and even better company. Something we will remember. Something that won’t be a blur and something we get to fully enjoy. THEN comes the madness of the Indian wedding.

So 15 days – that’s doable…right?! We have made some reassuring progress over the last few weeks including: registry and lunch venue sorted, invites sent out, menu’s and name cards designed and printed, wedding dress purchased (doesn’t fit yet but nothing Kelly B can’t solve with her trusty sewing machine) and my hairdresser to do my hair.

On the to do list: wedding car, makeup artist, florist, lunch venue décor, wedding favours (should I or shouldn’t I??), shoes, bags, earrings, accessories aaaaand I think that should do it? Oh crumbs, and the wedding cake.

But folks, we have a string quartet so if all the rest goes to pot, at least we have them.

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In the first part of the Wedding Edition, we have:

• The next Around the World cake. It has been a while since we tucked into one of these babies and let me tell you, it was worth the wait. For a while there, it had been dud after dud after dud and my faith and patience with the list was mildly waning but I am pleased to say the cake Gods blessed me with a goodie. This week we took a little trip to Singapore to try one of South East Asia’s most beloved sweet treats – a Pandan Chiffon Cake. Fun in both colour and looks, the mild coconutty, vanillery notes teamed with a lighter than air chiffon sponge is nothing short of heavenly.

• I started off my wedding cake trials with a cake I had in my mind would no doubt be a big winner. Punchy, bold flavour topped with fresh fruit for some such needed tartness, my Orange Honey Cake with Dulce de Leche Swiss Meringue Buttercream is truly DIVINE. Admittedly between you and I, I wasn’t enamoured by the overall look of the cake because I attempted to copy a style I had seen on my explore page on Instagram and learnt a sharp lesson in trusting in my own creativity because the base tier was a mild shocker. Don’t judge me though okay, I quickly whipped that up in less than 24 hours so whilst it may not be my finest work décor wise, it IS one of my finer works baking wise.

• And as a little added bonus, I know not everyone is in the market for a small two tiered cake which will feed over 30 people, so I have also included my recipe for my Honey Cake but on a much smaller scale – something that would make a suitable birthday cake (albeit generous) but finished with that classic honey cake style, ditching the buttercream for a lighter, much quicker whipped cream and covered in cake crumb. It looks like it should be heavy and stodgy with 10 layers of spiced cake and cream but when baked well, this cake is nothing short of perfection. One of my best from this year – which I KNOW I SAY A LOT but with no exaggeration, I have probably made close to 200 cakes this year alone so far (some double/triple tested) so this sitting near the very top of that pile should hopefully convey the drama I am intending on.

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Alrighty then friends, let’s tuck into the treats being served this week. Without further ado, let me introduce you to my new latest obsession. How I have only just come across this recently and how I have never thought to try it previously, I will never know. Damn you past Rubes for denying us of this delectably delicious morsel. Pandan folks, is a revelation. As someone who loves, adores, and idolises vanilla and coconut as flavours – pandan brings together both of them all wrapped up into one. With subtle hints of grass (I PROMISE it works, I assure you it won’t taste like your backyard and when I say grass, I mean the teeniest tiniest of hints), it’s a flavour with depth and complexity.

Pandan is a plant that grows in South East Asia, and it’s leaves are often pound into a paste or steeped in water to infuse their aroma and flavour into a variety of savoury foods. Whilst fresh pandan leaves will impart a stronger flavour, here we opt to use a ready-made paste because good luck trying to find fresh pandan leaves anywhere in the British countryside.

The one I used (and sorry in advance if this brand is actually deemed terrible to locals) is this one: pandan paste (not an aff link).

Considered as the national cake of both Singapore and Malaysia, a Pandan Chiffon Cake is a striking yet delicate affair. The light lurid green batter makes way for a fragrant, mildly coconutty flavoured sponge once baked which is often eaten on its own, with no toppings. But ya know, I’m me and I love whipped cream on basically anything so that’s exactly what we do here.

Plus, the addition of the cream coating helps to lock in all that moisture within the sponge, ensuring it won’t dry out and keeping it deliciously soft for the days following. Chiffon cakes have a bit of a rep of being tricky to master, but I promise you, my recipe below will not let you down. Just follow the golden rule of following the instructions. No deviating. No thinking you’ll do a little shortcut. Follow and it’ll lead you to pure carb heaven. I do warn you though, it will produce a lighter than air, super squishy, seriously squashy sponge which is nothing short of sorcery.

You may find yourself eating hunks of this cake like it’s an apple and if you do, you’re in good company. May I suggest you making yourself a sweet sandwich and adding some strawberry to the middle for a ‘how have I not thought of this earlier’ snack? My intrusive thoughts won on that one and for once, they paid off.

Recipe Makes: 1 x 25 cm / 10 inch deep angel tin

Recipe Serves: 12

Singapore Pandan Chiffon Cake

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Y O U – W I L L – N E E D -

• Chiffon Sponge

6 Large Eggs, separated

265 g Caster Sugar

85 ml Vegetable Oil

55 ml Whole Milk

2 tsp Pandan Paste

150 g ‘00’ Flour, sifted

50 g Potato Starch, sifted

1 tsp Baking Powder, sifted

¼ tsp Salt

¼ tsp Vanilla Bean Paste

1 tsp Cream of Tartar

• Whipped Cream

450 ml Double Cream

30 g Icing Sugar, sifted

1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste

M E T H O D:

1. For the sponge, preheat the oven to 150°C Fan/170°C/335°F/Gas Mark 3 and grab yourself a 10 inch / 25 cm angel cake tin/chiffon cake tin (preferably the one with feet/prongs to sit on when turned upside down). Do not grease or line – leave to one side.

2. Into a mixer bowl, add the egg yolks, 130 g caster sugar, vegetable oil, whole milk and pandan paste. Use the paddle attachment to mix on a low speed to combine everything together. Once combined, mix on high for at least 10 minutes until the yolks have thickened, are paler in colour and the volume has doubled.

3. Add the flour, potato starch, baking powder and salt to a separate bowl. Use a balloon whisk to mix before sifting in the flour to the egg yolks, along with the vanilla bean paste.

4. Use a rubber spatula to fold through, scraping down the sides and base as you go along.

5. Into another stand mixer bowl, add the egg whites and cream of tartar. Using the whisk attachment, mix the whites on a medium to high speed until they begin to foam and stiffen. Start to add the remaining sugar in increments to ensure the sugar dissolves before the next addition.

6. Once all the sugar has been added, allow the mixer to continue for a few minutes until you are left with a glossy, stiff meringue. Add 1/3 of the whisked egg whites to the egg yolk bowl and mix well to combine. Don’t stress about being gentle here – you are introducing a portion of the whites to loosen the yolks.

7. Add half of the remaining whipped whites to the bowl and gently fold through. You want to be left with a smooth, well combined mix before adding the remaining whites. Fold through again.

8. Grab your cake tin and lightly (and I mean LIGHTLY – just a few drops will do) spray the base and sides with some water. Transfer the cake batter to the tin and use the back of a spoon to evenly distribute.

9. Pop in the oven and bake for 36 minutes. Check for doneness (toothpick test or a bouncy top when pressed) before removing from the oven.

10. Immediately turn the cake upside down and place a cold tea towel over the top of the tin to help cool down the sponge. Once the towel is warm, rinse and repeat until the tin is cool to touch. Doing this will prevent the cake from going saggy and deflating. Leave to completely cool.

11. Once the cake is cool, make the whipped cream by adding the double cream, icing sugar and vanilla bean to a mixing bowl. Use the whisk attachment to mix until you just reach medium peak – you want this to be silky smooth.

12. Use the cream to crumb coat, smooth over and decorate as you wish. Pop in the fridge to set before using a sharp, hot knife to slice.

Moving on swiftly to the main affair, my first Wedding Cake Trial.

I know what you are probably thinking. So many have said it. So many are questioning it. Why am I making my own wedding cake? Why am I not asking someone to do it for me? Why am I constantly choosing stress for myself?

All valid questions folks. All reasonable concerns. Answer being – cause I want to. Am I crazy? Sure. But this isn’t new news. In case you’re a little late to the party, all I have been doing the last 2 years is making cakes. Cakes I like. Cakes I love. New cakes I haven’t even heard of. Cakes from different countries. Cakes I never knew existed . New ways to cake. New types of cakes. Different flavours of cakes.

There is quite literally no one better placed to make my wedding cake, than me. That, teamed with some underlying control issues is a formidable combo. SO here we are, nearly 2 weeks out planning my cake and honestly, I am THRILLED. Is it going to be a mild sh*t show. Quite possibly. But are we here for it? Absolutely.

What I will be doing with this little mini series is sharing the recipes for all the cakes I make, including the grand finale of whatever I decide to go with. I am a true libra through and through so deciding will be a little tricky but hoping a little trial and error will show me the way.

With the recipes, I’ll share:

• The pros and cons of each,

• Look and aesthetic I was going for,

• Any food safe flowers I use to decorate,

• Piping nozzles,

• An honest timeline of how long each one took,

• Cost to make each one (for any brides out here weighing up a cost effective method), and

• Recipes and ingredients for variable cake sizes so you can quite literally mix and match to suit.

With that in mind, first up we are trialling a version of my Orange Honey Cake with Dulce de Leche Swiss Meringue Buttercream. A delightfully easy to make cake, which looks high maintenance but, in all truth, is rather easy to make and put together. Known for a mountain of layers, traditionally a honey cake will have anywhere between 8 to 10 layers, all sandwiched with either a whipped cream flavoured with either dulce de leche or sour cream.

As a honey cake is rich in spice and flavour, I’ve introduced some orange zest to the sponge to help provide a bit of lift and lightness to the flavour profile. We are keeping fruit strictly out of the middle of the cake to prevent the cake layers from going soggy as I’d like to make the wedding cake at least 3 days in advance and instead are using fresh raspberries to top and decorate. I know most bakers probably won’t advocate for serving up cake that isn’t fresh, but I assure you, a honey cake is the anomaly.

When I made this previously as a smaller 23 cm / 9 inch cake, it sat in my fridge for a week after and it STILL tasted fresh as a daisy. Keeping the flavour profiles simple, not opting for a soaking syrup and avoiding using fresh fruit in the middle means this cake has longevity on its side – a major pro. Teamed with the fact that I managed to make this whole cake in less than a day? Manageable, delicious and most importantly, memorable - I’ll have a hard time talking myself out of this one.

The only con I have with this cake is that I didn’t have a baking tray big enough to bake each sheet of batter on, as commonly done. Instead I had to opt for baking each layer in a 12 inch tin (which I also only have 1 of) so this meant it was slightly more time consuming that I initially hoped for. If future me does decide to opt for this cake, someone please remind me to buy some big baking trays to prevent individually baking 12 layers cause for anyone bad at maths, 12 times 8 minutes is a lot of minutes to be standing around for.

The look and vibe I wanted to go for here is something low key but with a touch of opulence. There was a huge trend for very big, single layered cakes last year being served up at weddings. Almost like a scoop and go sort of thing which I wanted to originally trial here but turns out, my oven is no where big enough for the size I was hoping to achieve. I think when you are going for something single layered, it must be a showstopper in its own right. Whether that is going audacious with how you decorate or going big in size so it remains worthy of a celebratory focal point. As I couldn’t do the size thing, I opted for adding a small secondary layer – a good one to keep for James and I, with the main tier being served up to guests.

In total, the cost of making both tiers, using a mix of own brand supermarket ingredients plus known brands was: £41.17. This price is for a whole ingredient – I haven’t broken down the price according to how much of it I used because that level of maths is beyond my comprehension right now.

There are some ingredients I will not scrimp on when making a celebration cake – butter namely being the most important, especially when you are going for swiss meringue buttercream. A sturdy option that will lock in all moisture, taste miles better than American buttercream and withstand being left out for an hour or two. Great for stacking cakes, brilliant for detailed piping, this will always be my choice of buttercream if I have to use one.

For the smaller 23 cm / 9 inch cake, we switch out the swiss meringue buttercream for a simpler whipped cream instead. The same amount of yum, just for a fraction of the effort.

Final thoughts? The décor of the one I trialled needs some work (don’t judge the messy sides, I sped through the making of this one which meant my hands and fingers went into the sides of it MANY A TIME) but I adore the taste and flavour. The added benefit of staying fresh for up to a week is a HUGE win for me. It’ll be a hard one to beat but I have a chocolate number coming next and we all know how I feel about a bit of filth.

Recipe Makes: 1 x 30 cm / 12-inch cake & 1 x 25 cm / 10-inch cake.

Recipe Serves: 30 to 40