Do You Need A Professionally Made Cake?
We check out some of the best DIY cakes around and ask the question; do you really need to spend hundreds of pounds on a professionally made cake?
Barney & Liz
Barney is actually a very talented wedding photographer, but his skills don’t end there. In fact it turns out he’s quite the whizz with a whisk too, and so when planning his own wedding he decided to forego the usual expense associated with a professionally made cake and ‘Mary Berry’ the hell out of it.
We asked Barney who was married at Oakham Castle about his cake and he kindly supplied us with the following information about the magnificent baked beast:
Describe the type of cake you had:
Two tiers, made up of eleven sponges. The bottom half was a chocolate sponge with a pink/burgundy ruffled frosting which I hand dusted rose gold edible powder onto the edges of.
The top half was lemon sponge with smooth frosting. It was topped with polaroid pictures from when I proposed.
How long did it take them to make it?
Probably a full day of making the sponges, a full day of assembling and frosting, half an hour on the day of putting the two tiers together and finishing it off.
Did you have any concerns about not having a professionally made cake?
My only concern was that we wanted a tall cake, but I didn’t want it to collapse. So I put loads of supports in (too many really!) It was a very hot day as well so was concerned about storing it etc. but the venue were great and let me use their kitchen to finish it off.
What would be your one tip for anyone thinking of making a cake for someone’s wedding?
Plan how you will transport, store and assemble it at the venue. It’s a lot of hard work to lose if it gets knocked in the car.
Pics by A. Dewey
Lucy & Iain
Lucy and Iain, a dance teacher and primary school teacher certainly educated us on how to have the perfect wedding cake without spending a fortune. In fact I can happily say this is one of my favourite cakes and couples as I had the privilege of photographing their amazing day. Like their cake, these guys are quite simply awesome!
Describe the type of cake you had:
We had a 3 tier fruit cake that was iced in our wedding colours, and it had a Midsummer Night’s Dream theme. It was made by our close friend Jo Quilliam who used to teach us both drama and is like family to us.
Did you have any concerns about not having a professionally made cake?
Not at all, we trusted Jo fully.
Any disasters or early attempts that didn’t make the grade?
We never saw any early attempts, but as we fully trusted Jo’s capabilities we were confident she’d get it right without any major disasters!
What would be your one tip for anyone thinking of making a cake for someone’s wedding?
Don’t leave it until the last minute, take your time with it, and try out different things.
Pics byAndy Hudson Photography
So there you have it, we might not always need to hire a professional cake maker and instead lean on the expertise of a friend or family member who is a dab hand with some eggs, a whisk and a desire to make something beautiful for your wedding.
It’s not for everyone, if all your close ones burn toast and their poached eggs resemble white boulders then it would be highly advisable to check BKIR’s list of recommended suppliers – Click HERE to view our supplier directory.
