Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi PBSS family,

I have to do a real size wedding dress cake and I haven’t a clue how much ingredients to use.

I am doing vanilla pound cakes for structure. How do I calculate the ingredients for cake batter, ganache and fondant for a 5′ 8″ cake? I will be doing the bodice in rice krispies.

I was thinking of using 25lbs flour, sugar, eggs, butter and 17 tbsp for the baking powder. Is that accurate and will it be enough? I am in the process of learning how to scale a recipe.

How far in advance should I start baking and or decorating? I only have 2 ovens that holds 16×22 sheet pans. Each oven has 2 racks.

I am making the shirt about 3’x3′ diameter. Is that too ambitious?

I think I have the support structure figured out.

My dream is to go to culinary school some day to learn all this stuff. Lol.

Thanks
Mag

Hi,

Typo.

That’s suppose to be “skirt” instead of “shirt.” I am making the skirt 3’x3′.

thanks
Mag

Hi Mag

Well, yes it can be done but it would take a very strong structure for the cake slabs to be built around and many people to assist in it’s creation! If you have never done anything on this scale before I think it will be more than a challenge. The project would take several people over a long period of time to achieve. How edible the cake would be at the finish is debatable. You can see life size wedding dress cake projects online for exhibitions by googling ‘how to make a life size wedding dress cake’. It will give you some idea of the scale of work involved. There is some information on how much time such a project takes to assemble and food for thought on the amounts of ingredients used. Take a peek online, it may help you decide on whether to go ahead. 🙂

Wow that is a massive project! Draw a scale drawing on paper and work out how many layers you need to bake. Freezing sponges will help as there is masses of baking. I think you will need a team and a very big payment!

Thanks Madeitwithlove and Sue-Wales for responding,

I will definitely be going online to get an idea of what to do and how much time it takes. I have no idea how to draw to scale. Clueless, but I guess I will be looking that up to.

Do you think that I should cover the cake in chocolate ganache or royal icing before putting on the fondant?
I ask this because, I live in an area where temperatures reach 100 degrees F on any given day. I am wondering if sitting out too long will make the ganache soft and become misshapen.

Thanks.
Mag

Gosh, that’s some high temperature for a cake to sit out in! I think any medium would find that kind of heat intolerable if sitting out directly in it. From reading other forums, people who live in very hot regions tend to use high ratio shortening butter cream. For more information look here: https://thebearfootbaker.com/2016/04/crusting-buttercream-frosting/
You could use ganache made from higher ratio of chocolate to cream. This would give a harder setting ganache …. or use tempered chocolate as the masking medium. It would be extremely costly.
I feel you have set yourself a massive challenge. How about making the skirt with shaped polystere dummy and the torso with real cake. This way you’d only need to mask the real cake with ganache and just enrobe the skirt with fondant.
Rachael Teufel has a fabulous tutorial on Craftsy which could be adapted for your needs. Take a peek here: https://www.craftsy.com/cake-decorating/classes/cake-design-made-simple-the-wedding-dress/35377

Look at Food Network Outrageous Cakes Show. There were elements of the recipe mentioned and the video was great on construction. Pink Cake Box was the bakery. Website says they have a tutorial on Craftsy as well. “Wedding Cake Dress”