Wedding three-tiered cake: unusual ideas and tips for choosing

The wedding meal did not always look familiar to us. For example, in ancient Rome, a simple bread cake was baked for a wedding celebration, and in Russia a loaf with a large number of decorations was adopted. A traditional wedding cake for us appeared only at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe. It was then that the multi-tiered cake was created for the first time.

There are several basic ways to decorate exquisite wedding cakes in three floors:

• on a stand;
• on the rod;
• by the type of a pyramid.

Most often, pastry chefs use stands, which are supports that protect the lower floors from the sagging of the upper ones.

Cakes on a dense stand-shelf look very stylish and solemn. Most often, for the manufacture of such a support, milky-white plastic, golden brass or chrome-plated metal are used.

The second most popular option is the use of a common support bar. This type of construction requires rounded trays of three diameters and tubes made of metal or plastic. A crust-base is laid out on the lowest one, a small hole is formed in it, into which a rod is inserted.

The cake is covered with cream and decorated with flowers, figurines, bows and other elements. Then a slightly smaller tray is attached to the tube, and all the manipulations are repeated.

For assembling a dessert on a rod-based basis, it is better to give preference to light biscuits, which tend to keep their shape well and are easy to cut.

If there is no opportunity to use a multi-storey stand, then you should try to assemble a three-tiered cake without any supporting frame.In this case, it is necessary to prepare cakes of several sizes of arbitrary shape and lay them one on top of the other like a pyramid. In this case, cakes take up 80–90% of the entire dessert. They must certainly be thick, otherwise the cake will fall apart without even waiting for "taking out" to the wedding table.

It is worth using biscuit cakes, and it is better to impregnate them in small portions, otherwise the biscuit may turn out to be simply raw. The cream layer should be approximately 50 mm and the total number of tiers should not exceed three layers.

A three-tiered wedding cake is a real masterpiece of culinary art, which perfectly emphasizes the solemnity of the moment and invariably delights all guests.

In recent years, non-standard approaches to the design of such cakes have become fashionable, and many non-trivial designs have appeared: hanging cakes, asymmetric, inverted or printed cakes. These original decors will be discussed further.

Not so long ago, an unusual way of serving a cake has come into vogue - on a stand that is attached to the ceiling. Visually, such a treat resembles a large chandelier lowered to the guests. This invariably attracts increased attention and truly embellishes the wedding celebration.

Creating such a cake is not easy at all: you need not only to make the treat itself, but also to work out all the technical and design nuances of fastening. All these works take quite a long time, so such a cake should be ordered in advance.

This is a cake for creative people who are alien to the standard canons of wedding events. Lovers of originality will surely appreciate the so-called inverted dessert. To assemble it, the largest cake is installed on the stand using special hooks, the middle cake is attached to it from below, and the smallest cake is attached to the middle one. Thus, the effect of a sweet structure floating in the air is formed. All pendant elements are covered with mastic and decorated with beads, threads and fresh flowers.

This is another new and very original way of decorating three-tiered cakes. Visually, it resembles a staircase, that is, all of its tiers are shifted to one edge. To prepare such a treat, a variety of cakes can be used: biscuit, sand, and honey. They can be decorated with mastic or a generous layer of cream. Often, the decoration is complemented with fresh flowers, real berries, or images of doves, swans or other characters.

One of the latest trends in wedding fashion is cakes with pictures. They are usually performed on rice paper using edible dyes.

This decor option gives a lot of room for imagination and cake decorating. These can be standard floral ornaments, or they can be stories from fairy tales or favorite films of newly-made spouses.

A recognized hit of the last season was the placement of a photo of the newlyweds on the cakes.

Each wedding ceremony ends with the young people cutting the cake. The spouses cut small pieces and treat them to their invited guests. The essence of this tradition is that newlyweds, as it were, distribute their happiness and joy, share them with loved ones and wish them to find the same harmony.

However, cutting up a multi-storey treat is not easy at all, and there are a few rules to follow.

• The three-tiered cake must be cut starting from the bottom floor. The very first pieces are served to the newlyweds and their parents.
• The wedding cake must be cut by both spouses: the young husband holds a sharp knife, and his beloved wife directs the movements of the hands.
• All decorative figurines must be removed before cutting.
• Pieces of the cake should be cut into small portions - about 5-6 cm wide.

The peculiarity of three-tiered cakes is that in this treat you can combine several types of fillings and thus please all guests. Most often, creams based on condensed milk, yogurt, chocolate or cream are used for such desserts. There are a great many options for the combination of impregnations. For example, you can make the first tier with nut cream, the second with condensed milk, and the third with chocolate.

The choice of a cake largely depends on the specifics of the wedding event. If you are planning a small party with your family and closest friends, then the three-tiered cake is useless for you, since they all have quite an impressive weight. Experienced pastry chefs say that in order for the design of the dessert to be the most stable, the mass of the lower tier should be at least three kilograms, and the total weight of the cake is close to 8-9 kg.

To get started, look around the pastry shop in which you plan to order a treat: go to their website, read reviews on the Internet, find out the opinions of friends and acquaintances. It is very important to give preference to an experienced master who has the skills to assemble multi-tiered treats and, importantly, uses only the freshest and most natural products for baking the cake.

Decide in advance on the weight and size of the wedding dessert. To get started, count the number of guests and multiply by 1.5: for every guest at the wedding, there is a piece of cake weighing about 150 grams. However, if you are making a cake with butter and cream, it will turn out to be quite satisfying, and the weight of the piece can be reduced.

Think carefully about your cake decor. Treats with figures depicting a bride and groom are quite popular, although you can always give preference to the restrained classics and decorate the cake with flowers and ribbons. In recent years, smooth cakes covered with silvery-white mastic have been at the height of fashion, and for young people with a sense of humor, you can choose caricatured decors.

Discuss the entire cooking recipe with the master and familiarize yourself with the dyes that he plans to use - they must be absolutely harmless to health.

See below for a master class on creating a three-tiered wedding cake.