It began at Josephine Orba’s Boxing Day party. The English-born Orba, one of this city’s most accomplished food stylists, had created a handsome buffet display, the decorative stars of which were dazzling dessert cupcakes decorated with gold (in powdered form).
Could these ingredients be transformed into a wedding cake, she was asked.
Orba is no stranger to wedding cakes. She creates them now and again for friends and, in the case of one of them, has done three so far. Thinking from the outside in, she agreed the cake could be decorated with powdered gold and ivory luster and the tiny gold and silver balls known as dragees. (Gold, she explained, was a color associated with weddings long before white.)
She then announced that neither a single layer nor a single cake would do. She envisioned instead making a half-dozen three-layer, individual-size cakes that might be served at an intimate dinner party celebrating the newlyweds. The preparation is complex enough that it probably would not be practical to make one for each guest at a wedding reception attended by a crowd. But they would make stunning centerpieces on tables set for a dinner celebrating the bride and groom.
GOLD-DUSTED MINI WEDDING CAKES
Makes six three-tiered cakes
Some special equipment is needed to make this cake: 3 ring molds (4-inch, 2 1/2-inch and 1 1/2-inch diameters); a tea infuser; an icing spatula; a dust remover (such as Dust-Off) in pressurized can with attached extension tube. Sur La Table in Chicago and other cookware stores sell ring molds, the infuser and the spatula; an office supply store will carry dust remover. Two decorative items, gold luster dust and ivory luster dust (powdered, edible compounds) and gold and silver dragees (small silver balls) were purchased at Sur La Table.
For the cakes (makes 2 cakes baked in 9-by-13-inch baking pans):
6 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups granulated sugar
8 large eggs
4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons pure almond extract
2 cups buttermilk
Royal icing:
18 cups confectioners’ sugar
6 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
12 large egg whites (pasteurized, if available)
1 vial each gold and ivory luster dust
3 vials (each 2 ounces) dragees, 1 gold, 1 small silver, 1 large silver
Note: For easier handling, divide cake ingredients in half; make 1 cake at a time.
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bottom and sides of two 9-by-13-inch baking pans.
2. Sift cake flour, baking powder and salt together; set aside. In the bowl of electric mixer fitted with flat paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then add extracts. Reduce mixer speed to low.
3. Add flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk, and finishing with flour. Mix smooth. Transfer batter to prepared pans, dividing equally. Spread batter evenly in pan centers; push slightly more batter toward pan edge to avoid a domed center.
4. Bake until cake tester comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pans on rack.
5. Remove cakes from pans and place one onto cutting board. Using a 4-inch diameter ring mold, sink it into the cake to cut six rounds from this cake. Turn each round on its side and trim to a 1 1/2-inch depth. Set these bottom tiers aside. With the remaining cake, use a 2 1/2-inch ring to cut six rounds. Trim these middle tiers to a 1 1/2-inch depth. Use 1/2-inch ring to cut six top tiers and trim them to a 1-inch depth. Set aside.
6. For icing, mix confectioners’ sugar with shortening and egg whites using an electric mixer until the icing is smoothly blended and spreadable. (For easier handling, make in batches by dividing ingredients into thirds. You may not need all the icing.)
7. Using an icing spatula, spread a thin layer of icing on tops and sides of all 18 cake layers to smooth out crumbs. Refrigerate until icing is firm. Meanwhile, cover unused icing to keep it moist.
8. Apply a second and final coat of icing to the cake layers. Wet icing spatula frequently in hot water for easier spreading. Center the iced middle tiers onto iced bottom tiers, and iced top tiers onto iced middle tiers.
9. To use luster dust, spoon a small amount of gold powder into a tea infuser. Attach extension tube onto canned dust remover for a focused spray. Spray air through tea infuser to blow luster dust onto the top and sides of iced cake as desired. Repeat with ivory dust. (Be sure to have a paper background behind and under the cakes to keep dust from covering the kitchen.) Sprinkle gold and silver dragees onto icing.
