While a professionally baked wedding cake is undoubtedly a thing of beauty, for many brides to be it can often be another costly addition to an already expensive big day. So, why not consider baking your own? Although the thought of creating a three-tiered masterpiece may be a little daunting, making a simple, yet stylish, wedding cake is not as challenging as you might think - especially with the help of your beautiful bridesmaids. By following our step-by-step guide, you will have created your perfect wedding cake in no time!

Ingredients

The best place to start with any baking is, of course, with the ingredients. This easy recipe will make a two-tiered, lemon flavoured wedding cake that serves 70, meaning you’re sure to have enough for all those hungry guests of yours! The ingredients you’ll need are as follows:

Cake
• 750g of self-raising flour
• 750g of golden caster sugar
• 350g of softened butter
• 200ml of vegetable oil
• 12 large eggs
• 3 tsp of baking powder
• 3 lemons (zested)

Buttercream
• 1kg of icing sugar
• 500g of softened butter
• 3 tbsp of milk
• 2 lemons (zested)
• Lavender sprigs (optional) 

Filling
• 300g of lemon curd
• 2 lemons (juiced)

Equipment
• 25cm round cake tin
• 20cm round cake tin
• Cake boards
• 6 plastic straws
• Greaseproof paper

Once you are ready with all of your ingredients, it is time to start baking your beautiful cake. However, make sure you leave yourself plenty of time as you don’t want to be faffing around with fondant just hours before you are due to walk down the aisle!

Baking

Begin by heating your oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 and lining both of your cake tins with buttered greaseproof paper. Then, if you have a food mixer, pop each of the ingredients for the cake inside, making sure you zest the lemon before adding it to the mix. Whizz up the mixture slowly, to begin with, increasing the speed gradually. Alternatively, if you are using the traditional method, mix with an electric or plain whisk by hand until the batter is smooth.

Once it has reached the right consistency, the mixture must be poured into the cake tins. To ensure you get the correct amount in each, place the 25cm cake tin on scales and fill with 1.5kg of cake mix. Then, replace this with the 20cm cake tin and pour in the rest of the batter. 

Once each of your tins is filled with the mixture, pop them in the oven and leave to bake for around an hour, checking on them every so often to ensure they are rising nicely. When time is up, and you are satisfied with both their rise and colour (golden), take them out of the oven and leave them to cool for around ten minutes. Then, once the initial heat has subsided, turn them out on to a wire rack and leave them to cool entirely.

Construction

Next, you will need to make the delicious buttercream. To do this, cut the designated butter into small chunks and combine it with around a third of the icing sugar in a bowl. Beat this together using an electric or plain whisk. Then, add another third of the icing sugar and continue the motion. Finally, add the rest of the icing sugar, the lemon zest, the milk and lavender sprigs (optional) and whisk until light and creamy. To make the accompanying filling, juice the two designated lemons and combine with the lemon curd in a separate bowl, stirring together until smooth.

Now, you are ready to construct your beautiful wedding cake. Start by trimming the tops of your two cakes, making sure any slightly hard or burnt pieces are removed. Then, using a serrated cake knife, cut each sponge exactly in half horizontally to create four flat sections. Grab your zesty lemon filling and place two-thirds of it over the top of the larger sponge and the rest over the smaller cake. Leave this to set for a couple of minutes. Once the filling has solidified a little, spread 250g of buttercream over the top of the filling on the larger sponge and 150g of buttercream over the filling of the smaller cake. Finally, place each of the remaining halves on top of your iced sponges to create two sandwiched cakes.

Once you are happy with their appearance, take each of your sponges and stick them on to the cake boards by placing small blobs of buttercream on the base on each cake. Then, place a large dollop of buttercream on both sponges and spread it over evenly and smoothly to form an undercoat and conceal any cracked or protruding sections. Place in the fridge for one hour to set.

It’s now finally time to stack your lovely cakes. To do this, take one of your six plastic straws and push it into the centre of the larger of the two sponges, cutting off any that is left over at the top. Then, pop the five remaining straws around the central straw, creating equal spaces between them. Once they are appropriately positioned, lift the smaller cake on to the larger sponge with the utmost care to ensure it does not break, setting it down gently to form your two-tiered wedding cake!

Decoration

Now that all the technical work is done, you can get creative with whatever cake decorations you fancy! If you’ve gone for a rustic wedding theme, why not decorate your cake using the rest of your buttercream and beautiful edible flowers? Dot them around the inner lining where your two tiers meet or create a twirling floral staircase that leads to a stunning display atop your delicious confection. Alternatively, go traditional with stark white icing and pearl decorations, perhaps with some gorgeous white roses trailing down the side.

If you are about to embark on baking your very own wedding cake, we’d love to know how you get on! Share your stories and photos with us on our social media channels or head over to our website now to browse our stunning wedding range which includes wooden trinket boxes, table centrepiece crates, personalised memory boxes and much more.