Wedding Cake with pressed flowers

sisterMAG DIY

Wedding Cake with pressed flowers

Pressed flowers for the wedding:

A simple DIY that sweetens the preparation time before your big day and makes for the most individual cake: pressed flowers (preferably edible) for your own wedding cake.

If you even want to bake and assemble the cake yourself, you will find some recipes for our favourite combination of cakes on the next pages. However, you can also order a cake from the patisserie and bring the pressed flowers there beforehand to be placed on the cake. In our case, this was done by Konditorei Hartmann in Freiberg/Saxony (@cafe_hartmann), a traditional and beautifully preserved cake manufactory.

The material we worked with – edible small pansies. You can find a lot of different flowers that are suitable – Plantura offers a great overview here.

(1) Best to pick flowers on a sunny day, so as to avoid dew or other extra liquid on the flower petals.

(2) Place blossoms face down on news- or parchment paper. A thick book (e.g. old phone book) also works well. Do not use valuable books, as the moisture from the blossoms can make the book pages wavy.

(3) Close book and weigh it down. If you have a press (like the old wooden press on the left), you can directly clamp several layers. Let the flowers stand undissturbed for 7-10 days. Then check that all the liquid has disappeared and the flowers appear papery. For quicker results, you can change the paper every few days to remove liquid.

Recipes

Vanilla Cake

DOUGH

Ingredients:

• 220 g soft butter
• 220 g sugar
• 220 g flour
• 4 eggs
• ½ vanilla pod
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch salt

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease two round baking tins (18 cm Ø) and dust with flour.
2. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl, set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand mixer for about 5 minutes until fluffy. Scrape out the pith of the vanilla pod and add to the butter and sugar mixture. Gradually add the eggs one at a time, alternating with a tablespoon of flour. Once all the eggs have been added, add the remaining flour.
3. Divide the batter evenly between the moulds and bake for about 40 minutes. Test with a skewer to see if the cake is cooked through. Remove the bases from the oven, cool for 10 minutes, remove from the tin and leave to cool completely.

For a chocolate cake, dissolve 75 g cocoa in 250-300 ml hot water and stir into the batter. A marble cake can also be prepared this way as a base.

Baileys Cake

DOUGH

Ingredients:

• 160g flour
• 160g icing sugar
• 4 eggs
• 160 ml Baileys
• 80 ml vegetable oil
• 2 tsp baking powder

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease two round baking tins (18 cm Ø) and dust with flour.
2. Mix the flour and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.
3. Beat the eggs and icing sugar with a hand mixer for a very long time until a white mass is formed. Now quickly, but carefully, stir in the oil, Baileys and flour.
4. Divide the batter between the two baking dishes and bake for 40-50 minutes.

The Baileys can also be replaced with eggnog.

FILLING THE BASE …

The bases make two cakes of sufficient height so that they can be cut in half horizontally. Wrap the bases in cling film and put them in the fridge overnight. The next day they will be firm and easier to cut. The filling and frosting can also be prepared the day before.

Place the first base on a cake plate or serving dish. Put some of the filling on top and spread the frosting. Place the next base on top, alternating filling/ frosting until all the bases are assembled. Place the filled cake in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Chocolate Ganache

FILLING

Ingredients:

• 200 ml cream
• 300 g milk chocolate oder 400 g white chocolate or 200 g dark chocolate
• Extras can be left to stirred into the boiled cream, e.g. 2 Tbsp. Whiskey, Cointreau, Baileys, Rum, Vanilla pod, Orange peel

Steps:

1. Chop the chocolate and put it in a bowl.
2. Bring the cream to the boil in a saucepan – be careful, it boils over easily.
3. Remove the cream from the heat and add chocolate. Wait a few minutes and then stir until the chocolate has melted. After a few minutes it will become a homogeneous mass.
4. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.
5. The next day, take it from the fridge an hour or so before using, otherwise it will be too firm. The ganache can then be used directly or whipped briefly with a hand mixer. Do not mix too long or the mixture will separate.

… AND FINISH

Spread half of the frosting thinly on the cake, using a spatula or knife. This first layer absorbs all the crumbs and »locks them in«.

After another half hour in the fridge, the rest of the frosting can then be spread completely over the cake. To get a smooth surface, simply dip the knife in hot water, dry it and drag it over the surface. Attach each dried flower with a small blob of frosting.

Easy Frosting

FROSTING

Ingredients:

• 1 sachet vanilla custard powder
• 400 ml milk
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 250 g butter, room temperature

Steps:

1. Cook the vanilla pudding with milk and sugar, leave to cool completely.
2. Beat the butter with a hand mixer for a few minutes. Gradually add a tablespoon of custard and mix well.
3. Finally, beat the frosting on the highest speed for a few minutes until fluffy. Sweeten with icing sugar if necessary.

IMPORTANT: Butter & custard must be the same temperature or they will not combine.

White frosting

FROSTING

Ingredients:

• 180g white chocolate, melted & cooled
• 250 g butter, room temperature
• 100 g icing sugar

Steps:

1. Beat the butter with a hand mixer for about 5 minutes until pale yellow and creamy. Gradually add the chocolate and icing sugar and mix well.
2. If the frosting is too firm, simply stir in 1 teaspoon of milk. If it is too runny, put it in the fridge for a short time.