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Building the
Cake: Guidelines for the Decorator
By Renee Shelton
Some of the things
I am asked frequently through people looking at wedding or occasion cakes in
books or magazines, at my pictures or from watching a cake being built on television
or on video are:
How
do I get the tiers so straight?
One of my tiers seemed larger. Why?
A raspberry poked through the side!
There was a crack [horizontal or vertical] on the side of mine. How do I prevent
this?
Syrup was leaking out the bottom. Does this happen to you? [Yes, it has.]
My cake tiers always seem to be of uneven size when I really want them even.
[Dark Chocolate] Filling was showing through the side of my white wedding
cake.
My cake seemed to shift and the top half "slid" to the left. Why
did it do that?
Through
all the cakes I've done, just about every disaster has occurred and everything
that could have happened has happened. Luckily, I've learned greatly because
of them, and without them could not have been able to teach others as effectively
and answer all the why's and what if's. While my culinary school I graduated
from had a great bakery department back in 1992, Western Culinary Institute
was just seemingly emerging from Horst Mager Culinary Institute and had a very
strong cooking backbone, and had no specialty cake decorating classes. Working
at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel gave me opportunities to learn all about pastry
art and design once I decided that Pastry was my field of forte.
One,
as a very young scrub, I had the fortunate chance to work under and with a very
talented if a little temperamental Pastry Chef who was also an established artist
and a former culinary instructor who didn't mind me coming in early or staying
late on my own time doing all my experiments, and who encouraged me at the very
start to take notes, notes, notes and read, read, read. Two, working at a large
hotel, you are NEVER shorted on work to do and the clientele ALWAYS has a variation
to whatever is in the cake book or a picture brought in, so the repetitions
and variations are virtually endless.
While
there are pastry artists who take the design of the cakes to the next level,
or have been schooled in the art of cake deco and sugar paste or those who literally
can create a gum paste orchid perfectly with their eyes closed, for everyone
it really all starts with a plain cake, a filling, and a frosting or buttercream.
You
may have a better way to build your cakes, but through trial and error here
are my tips and guidelines that help prevent many of the questions and problems
at the beginning of this article. The guidelines below also will help with the
basic goals I've come up with for any finished cake:
Goals
of a Finished Cake
1.
Sides straight and even
2. Tiers
evenly spaced, not just in diameter in proportion to the others, but even
heights and pillar spacing
3. No cake layers/fillings, or spreads/berries, or internal garnishes, or
cracks showing up or through the final coating
There
are four basics of building a cake: the cake itself, fillings, syrups and the
internal garnishes, tier assembly, and first and final coats.
Basic
One: The Cake
- Have
a cake that is firm, not 'hole-y' or too airy or open celled. A cake that
is too soft, spongy or open celled will not be up to the task of holding the
layer's filling.
- The
layers must be cut evenly. This is not just meaning a perfect cut with no
dips, divots or 'flaps' from the knife cuts on the cake, but having each slice
from the cake being even with each other (for example if you cut an inch thick
layer for the first cut, make each subsequent layer an inch; if it's 1/4 of
an inch, make sure each other sliced layer is 1/4 of an inch, too). When slices
are cut from the finished and decorated cake, even layers will show.
- The
top and bottom of the cakes should be trimmed off. The top may be bowed inward
or outward, depending on the baking, and the bottom may hold a shell or two
from the eggs. This also makes sure each cake slice is uniform in color for
each layer; no tell-tale brown for the top or bottom.
- Make
sure there is an even spacing of the cake layer diameters; otherwise when
assembled, there will be a noticeable difference in diameters between the
tiers, which especially stands out when stacked (unless that is your whole
intention). For example:
- 14 x 10
x 6 = each is spaced 4" in diameter from each other
- 12
x 9 x 6 = each is spaced 3"
- 12
x 10 x 8 x 6 = each is spaced 2"
Basic
Two: Fillings, Syrups and Internal Garnishes or Spreads
- Syrups:
- Do
not over-moisten. While moistness is key to good compliments and great
eating, there is such a thing as over doing it. If too much syrup is added,
it can lead to leaking on the bottom, and can make the cake layers unstable.
- Syrups
can add not only moisture to a cake but when flavored can compliment the
filling or cake itself.
- Fillings:
- Choose
one that can set up if making fresh, and choose one that isn't liquid
or runny when assembling or when finished.
- Choose
one that is appropriate: if the cake will be sitting out for extended
periods for decorating or serving, a light whipped cream and strawberry
filling will not hold up well, for example.
- Internal
Garnishes and Spreads:
- If
using berries, make sure they are not so over-ripe that they seem to 'smoosh'
by just looking at them. (For example, raspberries and blueberries.)
- If
cut fruit or berries are desired, do not use for a cake that will sit
out for extended periods for decorations to be completed or they may weep,
bleed or the juices may run.
- If
chopped bananas are being used and you have tossed them in an acidic liquid
to help prevent browning (like lemon or pineapple juice), be sure they
are carefully drained before putting with the fillings.
- Spreads:
- If a spread
(like preserves, jams, ganache, curds, etc.) will be used before the filling
is placed or piped on the layers, make sure it is thin. You don't need
much, and they are usually soft and don't readily set up on their own
(except a traditional ganache). If using a very thick layer of a plain
curd for example, there is a possibility a tier can 'shift' after setting
up, where a layer literally slides or shifts since the filling and the
cake will not adhere to it. A spread is used mostly for added flavor or
color. An example of flavor would be dark chocolate ganache used with
a mocha buttercream and an example of color would be raspberry jam used
with a white chocolate mousse.
Basic
Three: Assembly of the Tiers
- Make sure all
cut layers are even, and evenly grained. If one cut layer for one of your
tiers seems to be very porous, has a crack or a hole in it, it usually can
be compensated for, but be wary. A bottom tier or middle tier with a heavily
porous cake will not hold up to syrups or soft fillings well and will sometimes
disintegrate while being cut when left on the cake table for a period of time.
- I always pipe
my buttercream around my layers with a round tip, making it as tall as my
filling. For large cakes, using large plain tip will suffice. This helps to
keep the filling in place (not seep through layers), makes for an easy first
coat and keeps the assembly straight for the tiers.
- Make sure when
you add the filling you don't overfill—when the filling is thicker in
the center than on the sides—because once you put your second layer
(or third or fourth depending on how many layers for your finished cake tier)
and press down to make even there is no place for it to go except out the
sides.
- If you use
a jam or curd for a spread before you add your filling, make sure it is thin
and even. This is so when you pipe your buttercream around the edge, the filling
doesn't shift or slide when crumb coating (or that first coating of buttercream
making it all smooth and ready for the final coating).
- When all the
cake layers have been cut evenly (remember, not just a perfect knife cut but
each cut layer is even in height) and fillings have been put on with the same
thickness, the tiers when assembled will theoretically be even as well, which
is an ultimate goal for the finished product of multi-tiered cakes.
Basic
Four: First Coat and Final Coat
- If you have
piped the buttercream around the edges, the filling is encased and the sides
will be easily straightened as they're being built.
- If your mousse
is not set up yet and you still desire to use it for assembly it will be very
loose when put between the layers. When this happens, instead of putting on
a cake wheel and twirling to do the first coat, use an offset or straight
spatula (whichever you are more comfortable using) and finish the crumb coat
on the work bench: make the sides even and smooth with the buttercream and
smooth out the tops. Then carefully lift and place on flat, even surface in
the cooler until chilled and set.
- This may seem
like a no-brainer but always put your tiers which are either finished or with
their first coats ready for finishing on a flat, even surface. I've seen cakes
with beautiful, even first and final coats in walk-ins—buttercream chilled
and fully set, ready for decoration—only to be removed from a bumpy,
bowed or uneven sheet pan and placed on a cake board or silver stand (and
no surprise) it cracks. This is because the soft buttercream around the cake
tiers have conformed and set up to the curvature of the uneven surface. Once
it is placed on a flat surface, the cake levels out and cracks as it settles.
- You want to
make your first coat as even and smooth as possible. If your tiers have shifted
as they are being built, simply go around with your spatula and straighten
while the buttercream is still softened (if the cakes are large or if the
filling is soft, you may need to get your hands 'dirty' and manually shift
to straighten the sides). If any curd or jam bleeds now when the first coat
is being put on, remove any large, oozing pockets and cover with buttercream.
If a berry pokes through the piping of buttercream, push it back in now before
it hardens in place since it will undoubtedly show through the final coat.
The key to a first coat is to ready the tiers for the final coat and decoration.
You want the entire cake covered in buttercream (thin coat, just making it
smooth and removing crumbs and imperfections) so that when it chills it firms
up resulting in a durable surface for the finishing.
- Make sure your
first coat is adequate, but not overly thick. There will be a final coat going
on to finish up the cake, so it's not necessary to have, say, two inches of
buttercream on the outside.
- If you are
using a ganache, a butter-based or shortening icing or gelatin-and-whipped-cream
in place of the buttercream, the same rules apply:
- Use a
plain tip for the piping of icing on the outside of the layers to hold
in the filling.
- Use a recipe
for both the icing and filling that will firm up or set up upon cooling.
- Make sure
your first coating is straight and even.
These are the
general guidelines for building any cake—whether it's for a wedding, a
birthday or other occasion—that I have implemented through trial and error
and experience. You may find other ways to accomplish the goals or have a quicker
way to build your cakes. In any case, the object is to present a cake that tastes
good and is structurally sound. All the decorating in the world will not help
a cake that is cracked or split, is leaning to one side or another, hasn't been
leveled out properly or given a good crumb coat, or having mult-tiers that are
very varied in heights. Taking the time to do the rudimentaries properly will
make time spent decorating time worth spent.
Renee
Shelton
renee@pastrysampler.com
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2006, Renee Shelton and Beach Cuisine™ Inc. All rights reserved.