How a Sugar Artist Crafts a 5-Tier Wedding Cake | Handcrafted | Bon Appétit

i'm anna parzik i've been baking since i was eight years old and today i'm going to fill stack and decorate a five-tier wedding cake [Music] today we're starting with our cakes that are already baked this is a white vanilla butter cake we're using a high ratio cake which will provide the support to stack five tiers i'm using this tool to make sure that both layers are equal in height this is a cake leveling tool that we design to make it easier to make the tears even scoring the cake allows me to cut it flat each of our cake tiers requires four layers of cake to do this we bake two pans of cakes and cut them both into equally sized layers this is basically like preparing your canvas before painting if your canvas is not perfect your painting will not look right it's really important that your cakes are perfectly level this wedding cake has five tiers and if one of the tears is uneven you will be able to tell [Music] here are the four evenly cut layers the next thing we're gonna do is fill the layers the first thing i'm going to do is put buttercream on my board to hold the cake tier in place this is a traditional vanilla buttercream this is a simple syrup to keep the layers moist the boards support not only the tier itself but the tear that will be stuck on top of it via wooden dowels i'm putting a ring of buttercream around the outside of the cake i'm going to fill it inside with the strawberry mussoline [Music] i'm going to repeat this process two more times on the second tier i'm just going to use our vanilla buttercream this is a classic buttercream recipe it is very light and not overly sweet the main two ingredients are whipped egg whites and with butter it is important to use a butter based buttercream which has the ability of staying soft while at room temperature it allows me to shape it well to create a smooth surface and also will get hard when refrigerated this is important because when you apply the fondant the buttercream has to be hard i always use the bottom of the cake tier facing the top i do this because it's a more even surface to finish my cake once all my cake layers have been stacked i'm gonna do a cram coating a crumb coating it's a thin layer of buttercream to make sure that you seal in all the crumbs this is a process that takes a long time to master but i've been doing this for 18 years [Music] to make sure that none of the crumbs are showing through i apply another layer of buttercream this also helps with the structure of the cake i keep leveling the cake with my offset spatula but it's a very soft touch and i keep rotating the cake to make sure that i make as evenly as possible this cake has been filled and given its rough shape for the next step i need the cake to be firm so i'm going to put it in the refrigerator for a little bit the cake has been in the fridge for about 30 minutes it is now firm enough for me to give it its final shape to do this i'm going to add a little bit more buttercream i'm doing this just to correct any imperfections [Music] i want the size of the cake to be square and i'll know i'm finished when the cake has a 90 degree angle all around i use this leveling tool to confirm that this is our cake tier that has been filled and finished in buttercream now we're going to apply the fondant we use fondant to cover our cakes fondant is a sugar-based paste first i sprinkle a generous amount of confectioners sugar on my table and i will start rolling it out i want to make sure that it's circular and even so i'm rolling it out in every direction you can do so much with fondant you can mold it painting it can make flowers this cake tier is nine inches in diameter and about five inches high so i'm looking for a piece of fondant that is about 19 inches i roll the fondant into my rolling pin and then i'll roll it onto the cake once on the cake i will start smoothing it out i'm using these tools they are called fondant smoothers they basically act as my hands once i apply the fondant to the cake i smooth it out to make sure that i don't have any air bubbles i don't want to leave any dents on the cake to be successful in this step your cake has to be very cold i know it looks easy but it's very difficult to master this step one of the reasons people fail is because they're cake it's soft the fondant will amplify any imperfections in the cake which is why we took so much time making it very even then i keep smoothing out alternating between my hand and the fondant smoother this tier is finished it's been wrapped in fondant i've also done these same steps on four other tiers now we're going to stack our tears i'm going to apply a layer of royal icing to a cake board that has been covered in fondant royal icing will serve as our glue to make sure that the cake tears don't move around the bottom tiers of the cake can be very heavy so my daughter sarah is going to assist me royal icing it's a mixture of egg whites and powdered sugar that has been whipped to a stiff consistency i take one dowel and insert it in the cake and i marked at the top and then i use that as a guide to mark my other towels i cut them and then insert them in the cake i try to place the dowels not all in the centers of the cake that will give more stability [Music] after i insert the dowels i put another thin layer of royal icing and then i stack the next tier on top very carefully using spatula not to damage the size of the fondant every time i stack a tear on top of each other i use some bubble level to make sure that the tears are perfectly even i'm going to repeat this process for each steer now i'm going to insert a longer sharpened dowel through both tears all the way through the cake board to make sure that the cake doesn't shift it's funny to be using a rubber mallet to work on a wedding cake but it's actually the best tool to use for this purpose i'm making sure that the top tier is centered so i make minor adjustments using my fondant smoothers we use wooden dowels as support for our tears at the wedding when the cake sits for long hours that buttercream will start to soften each steer is supported by the wooden dowels in the tier below so the cake doesn't settle the last dowel goes straight through the middle of the top tier after i insert the last sharpened dowel i covered the little hole with a piece of fondant and then smooth it out all the cake tiers have been stacked and the dolls have been inserted now we're going to start decorating first we're going to add our borders i have my 50 50 gumpaste fondant mix the reason i use a 50 50 mix for the borders the addition of gum paste helps border retain its shape while molding it because some fondant is really soft and gum paste it's a stronger paste and i'm just pressing with my rolling pin to make sure that i get the impression i smooth it out flat against the edge of the mold i'm going to put this border on the bottom tier i like using the widest border at the base i make my own molds a lot of my molds are actually trims from dollhouse catalogs this helps me differentiate myself because i keep my kicks unique and they are not the standard presses that you might find commercially this cake has three different types of molds but the process is the same for all of them here we have our finished borders now i'm going to paint them i'm using gold dust and lemon extract if you don't have lemon extract you could use vodka as well i'm painting the borders on this cake gold [Music] so [Music] after we paint them these borders will be dry in a couple of minutes the alcohol will evaporate very quickly these are the painted borders now we're going to apply the borders to the cake before i apply the border i use a small brush and apply a very small amount of water to make the fondant sticky the borders on the cake can be very long so sarah's gonna help me apply them sometimes a single border is not enough to go around the whole tier so i need to attach several pieces together i try to put the border seams in the back of the cake so they are not as noticeable most of the times a cake has a back end the front unless specifically the client has told you that the cake will be in the center of the room i decide what the front of the cake will be if i'm doing some pipe work i try to do the nicest piping work or the biggest area that is being decorated in the front i also use a pairing knife to trim any excess do here's the cake with the borders attached [Music] the next step is piping [Music] here i have a piping bag that is filled with royal icing the royal icing it's a very thin consistency i use a very fine tip as well it's a 1.5 tip when i'm doing this type of piping it's called brushed embroidery it's just a freehand style it's a technique where you use royal icing to pipe a design and then use a wet brush to make strokes you have to do this very fast before the icing dries on the surface the texture this technique achieves reminds me of oil painting i really enjoy using this technique because it reminds me of my background in the fine arts it's just like drawing and painting my designs vary but i always draw inspiration from the weddings whether it be a beautiful lace from the bride's dress the invitations or sometimes even the moldings at the venue a lot of people use templates or draw the design on the cake before piping but i find that i do my best work when i do it freehand because that allows me to be organic with my designs so here's our piped cake now we're gonna add color to the design so the food colors that i use are called pearl dust and they come in many many colors i call it makeup for cakes i mix a small amount with clear alcohol with evaporates really quickly so it won't melt the icing we use alcohol because if you use water it will [Music] i'm just dissulf apply a little bit of color some pearl a light pink and a gold detail to some of the piped embroidery [Music] [Music] this is a painted cake [Music] so now we're going to make our decorations we're using the same mix 50 50 fondant and gum paste i'm gonna start by applying a little bit of cornstarch to the mold then i take a piece of my 50 50 gumbas fondant mix and i push with my fingers to make sure that i get all the detail and then i take a paring knife to cut all the excess carefully turn the press upside down and remove the piece i use a brush to apply a small amount of cornstarch for the second decoration i'm using a double sided press press to make sure that all the detail is imprinted onto the paste then i remove all the excess around the sides symmetry is very important for my cakes this color aids me in keeping the decorations equidistant from each other i'm poking holes to mark where the pieces will go this steer will take about 10 of each mold i'm using water here to attach the decorations to the sides of the cake i bended the pieces a little bit to form a garland shape i use a needle tool to press the decorations against the cake these molds are very delicate so i'm being very careful to not disturb the design with my fingers [Music] [Music] now i'm adding the lace pieces in between the garlands now that the lace pieces are attached i'm done decorating the second tier i'm also adding molded pieces to the fourth tier the technique used to make these pieces is the same technique used to make the pieces on the second tier i use royal icing as a glue for these pieces because there's less surface area they might fall off if i just use water i'm also going to use royal icing to pipe some stems between the decorations [Music] [Music] now i'm going to add the side decorations to the bottom tier for this year i have a general idea of where i want the decorations to go but what i'm really trying to achieve is to place them to create balance [Music] on this tier i'm also going to add some piping details but i'm going to switch the tip to pipe lilitha valley [Music] do [Music] so [Music] i've attached all my molds and finished my piping [Music] next i'm going to show you how to make two different types of flowers i'm going to show the sweet pea and the rose the sweet pea is a very delicate flower this is a one or two out of five on a difficulty scale sugar flowers can take weeks to create the base for a sugar flowers is gum paste this will become the center of the sweet pea then i take a covered wire i dip it in the glue i insert the wire into the disk one sweet pea flower consists of one stem one center and two petals now i'm to cut the sweet pea petals i take the cutter and press firmly with my palm to get a clean cut so there are no rugged edges to give the petals the right texture and to get a more natural look i'm going to use a flower press i use the same press for the inner and outer petals next i'm going to use a ball tool to thin the petals and give them a ruffled look and you need to apply firm pressure i've been making sugar flowers for over 18 years and i have invented some of my own techniques it's something that comes natural to me and i can even create my own fantasy flowers and sometimes people confuse them for real flowers then i use a needle tool to mark a line across the center of the inner petal this will be attached to the center now i apply a small amount of glue to the center of the petal then i'll wrap the petal around the center once a petal is wrapped around the center i hang it on a wire rack to dry while the paste is still flexible you can add some movement with your fingers so they are not all drying in the same shape i'm also going to score the outer petal apply a small amount of glue once the inner petal has dried we can attach the outer petal i try to make them each unique just as in nature not two flowers are the same now i can put the flower upright in a former to dry now comes a fun part which is the coloring of the flowers this is one of my favorite parts because this is when you really can bring the sugar flowers to life for the sweet pea i just use green and a pink [Music] i'll then attach three to five of these flowers to complete one stem i use a non-toxic floral tape this is a finished sweet pea now i'm going to show you how to make a rose the rose is probably a four or five on a difficulty scale if you can master the rose you can probably make any flour and sugar i take a small piece of gum paste form into a bowl and then i use my palms to shape it into a cone this rose has four different layers and a calyx then i take an 18 gauge wire and use a plier to make a small hook at the end [Music] the hook is something i do to help that wire stay in place this should be set aside to dry overnight but i'm going to continue working with a center that i pre-dried i'm doing the outer petal layer first because it requires some drying time same as a sweet pea i'm going to add texture to each petal by using a silicone press in reality to make a rose you really need two days you can't finish a rose in one day because you need drying time between the layers of petals so that's something to keep in mind when you're working on a wedding cake then i'm gonna use a ball tool to thin the edges of each petal like the sweet pea these petals are cut from a thin sheet of gum paste [Music] now i'm going to use a knitting needle to curl the edges of each petal [Music] now place the petals upside down on spoons to dry [Music] this is the second layer it's the same process i think the edges with the ball tool [Music] third layer now i'm making the first layer of the rose i put a small amount of glue and i attach the petals to the center i make sure the petals are overlapping that's the key to making this type of rows i attach the first petal halfway through and then i take the other petal and insert it in between i want my center to look tight and close like a natural rose would look like even though this is a simple rose it's still very complicated this curl is much tighter than the outer layer i'm constantly adjusting the top of the petals as i'm gluing them now it's time to add the third layer as you can see these petals are a little firm but still very pliable [Music] for this layer also the petals are more open now it's time to attach the fourth layer and as i attach it to the center you can see that the flower is starting to take shape this is also when i do my last touches adjusting the petals once i'm happy with the placement of the petals i put it in the former to dry once the flower has dried i attach a calyx i use the ball tool to thin the edges and to cuff the calyx the flower really needs to dry overnight before attaching the calyx the last step we'll do is tape the stem and dust the flower for these rose i'm using green floral tape i really think a little touch of magenta bring this flower to life that's how you make a simple rose now the cake is ready for me to add the sugar flowers for this cake i made six types of flowers the first thing i'm going to do is take a bowl of fondant and attach it to the top of the cake this will act as a base for my flowers [Music] i'm adding the bigger flowers first and then i'll work around it filling in any empty spots with some of the smaller blooms like the cherry blossoms and the freesia those are filler flowers [Music] so [Music] once i'm done with the top of the cake i use the remaining flowers to fill in the bottom tiers you have to be very careful when inserting them into the cake it's not like fresh flowers they break so easily while i'm attaching the flowers to that cake i'm constantly stepping back and looking at my cake from different angles to make sure that it's balanced not only with the different types of flowers but also in terms of color it's like a composition this is a cake with all the sugar flowers on it the last thing we're going to do is apply a ribbon to the baseboard i think this makes a much nicer presentation and that's how you assemble and decorate a five-tier wedding cake [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: Bon Appétit

Views: 363,303

Keywords: ana parzych, ana parzych cakes, ana parzych wedding cake, best cake decoration, best wedding cake decoration, bon appetit, cake decorating, cake decoration, expensive wedding, expensive wedding cake, fondant cake, food, handcrafted, how to decorate a wedding cake, how to make sugar flowers, largest cake, royal wedding cake, sugar flowers, wedding cake, wedding cake art, wedding cake decorating ideas, wedding cake decoration, wedding cakes

Id: Aftb8hCnND0

Length: 32min 22sec (1942 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 14 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/burpski]

I thought this was a really great video. I hope they make more from this series.

[u/fannypacks_are_fancy]

Mind blowing. I have a much better appreciation for the high cost of wedding cakes