Pink Wedding Cake Recipe

If you're dreaming of making your own wedding cake, why not go out and make it a pink wedding cake? This step-by-step recipe by professional baker Peggy Porschen takes you through each technique in detail.

Ingredients

For the basic Victoria sponge:

Makes one 12x16 inch (30x40cm) baking tray or two 8 inch (20cm) baking tins

• 400g salted butter, softened
• 400g caster sugar
• 8 medium eggs, at room temperature
• 400g self-raising flour
• A little vegetable oil

For the buttercream frosting:

Makes 500g

• 250g unsalted butter
• 250g icing sugar
• Optional flavours: Seeds from a vanilla pod, finely grated lemon zest or finely grated orange zest

For the sugar syrup:

Makes about 500ml

• 250ml sugar
• Optional flavours: Seeds from a vanilla pod, finely grated lemon zest and Limoncello liqueur, finely grated orange zest and Grand Marnier liqueur or peppermint liqueur

For the royal icing:

Makes about 1.2kg

• 25g merriwhite (dried egg white powder)
• 1kg icing sugar, sifted
• 1tbsp lemon juice

For this cake

:

• 5kg pastel-pink sugar paste
• Two 15cm/6 inch round sponge cakes, each using 1 recipe quantity of basic Victoria sponge mixture, flavoured to your choice
• Two 20cm/8 inch round sponge cakes, each using 11⁄3 recipe quantities of basic Victoria sponge mixture, flavoured to your choice
• Two 25cm/10 inch round sponge cakes, each using 11⁄2 recipe quantity of basic Victoria sponge mixture, flavoured to your choice
• Two 30cm/12 inch round sponge cakes, each using 2 recipe quantities of basic Victoria sponge mixture, flavoured to your choice
• 700ml sugar syrup, flavoured to your choice
• 2kg buttercream or other filling of your choice
• 5kg marzipan
• Icing sugar for dusting
• 1kg royal icing for making the flowers
• Pink food colour

You will also need:

• 40cm/16 inch round cake board
• Large serrated knife
• Pastry brush
• Large palette knife
• About 4m white satin ribbon, 15mm wide
• 15cm/6 inch thin round cake board
• 20cm/8 inch thin round cake board
• 25cm/10 inch thin round cake board
• 30cm/12 inch thin round cake board
• large rolling pin
• 5mm/1⁄4 inch guide sticks
• 2 cake smoothers
• Paper piping bags
• Piping nozzles
• Flower nail
• Greaseproof paper
• Turntable
• 12 plastic dowels

Method

1. To make a basic Victoria sponge, preheat the oven to 200C, gas mark 6     Place the butter, sugar and chosen flavouring in the bowl of an electric mixer and, using the paddle attachment, cream together until pale and fluffy   Beat the eggs lightly in another bowl and slowly add to the mix, while paddling on a medium speed. If the mixture starts curdling, add a little bit of flour   Once the eggs and the butter mixture are combined, mix in the flower at low speed Grease a baking tray or tin with a little vegetable oil. Cut a piece of greaseproof paper to fit inside it so it will go up the sides, just in case the sponge rises higher than them. Snip into the four corners so it will sit neatly. Fill evenly with the mixture, using a large palette knife Bake for about 25 minutes. Test with a thin knife; it should come out clean when the sponge is cooked through Lift off the tray and allow to cool on a wire rack.    
2.   To make buttercream frosting, place the butter, sugar and flavouring in the bowl of an electric mixer and, using a paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until light and fluffy If not using immediately, store in a sealed container in the fridge and bring back to room temperature before use  
3. To make sugar syrup, place the sugar and 250ml water in a saucepan, stir well and bring to the boil. Let it cool down When lukewarm, add the flavourings. Store in the fridge if not using immediately  
4. To make royal icing, mix the merriwhite with 150ml water and pass through a sieve to get rid of any lumps Place the icing sugar in the clean bowl of an electric mixer, add about three-quarters of the merriwhite mixture and the lemon juice, and start mixing on low speed Once the sugar and merriwhite are well-combined, check the consistency. If the sides of the bowl still look dry and crumbly, add some more merriwhite until the icing looks almost smooth not wet Keep mixing for about 4-5 minutes, until it has reached a stiff-peak consistency Spoon into a plastic container, cover with a damp cloth and the lid. Store at room temperature
5. To decorate, cover a 40cm/16 inch cake board with 350g pink sugar paste. Cover sides with white ribbon You’ll need 4 cake tiers, each consisting of 3 layered sponges. Trim, soak and fill each tier, then set it on an appropriate thin cake board (Check Peggy's book if you're not sure). Chill Cover each tier with marzipan. Let set overnight Pipe the hydrangea blossoms in different sizes using stiff royal icing. Make as 5-petal flowers, but pipe only 4 petals. Mix a little of the icing with pink food colour and pipe the stamens in the centres. Let dry overnight Next day, cover each cake with pink sugar paste. Let it set for one more night Once set, assemble the tiers and the cake board on top of each other as described Arrange ribbon around base of each tier. Stick flowers along the sides of each with stiff royal icing   Recipe from Peggy's Favourite Cakes & Cookies (Quadrille Publishing; £14.99)