Wedding Cake or Rich cake

I use the same recipe for my Christmas cakes

(Step by Step)

My method (10 pounds) originally mums recipe!! Made 70 pounds for our elder daughter's wedding modified in 2011 and made 30 pounds for our younger daughter's wedding in 2017.

Ingredients

1 lb raisins

1 lb sultanas

1 lb plums

½ lb currants

½ lb mixed peel (candid peel)

½ lb crystallised fruit - pumpkin preserve

1 jar chow chow

1 jar ginger preserve

1 small tin plum juice (got this from USA as no one seems to have it)

1/4 lb crystallized cherries

200 Cashew nuts

½ lb almonds

24 eggs

2 ½ lbs soft brown sugar

1 lb Semolina (Rulang)

1 lb fresh butter

Small jar of strawberry Jam

1 tsp of each vanilla, rose water, bees honey and Almond essence

1 wine glass Brandy and liqueur Amaretto, cherry brandy, Rhum

1 teaspoon mixed cinnamon, cloves and cardamoms powdered

For Icing

Marzipan - you can make from scratch or get ready rolled out packets. I got mine from UK

Apricot Jam - warmed to glaze

Royal Icing - you can make yourself or get ready rolled out packets. I got Royal Icing from UK

Method

I put the raisins, sultanas, plums into the food processor and slightly crushed them. I put the almonds and cashew into the processor and chopped them slightly so that the pieces won’t be too big and cut the cherries into quarters. I added all into an airtight container and added the plum juice, brandy, rum and liqueur and kept aside till needed. (for about 3 months)

10lb cake mix soaked in brandy before addition of the semolina/butter.

Fry Semolina and add 1 lb butter and fry till it smells nicely. Take off the fire and cool. Then take the container which has all the fruits, and add cooled Semolina mixture and a wine glass of brandy and liqueur and spices. Add the jam and small tumbler full of ginger preserve syrup. Tighten the mixture well and tie up the bowl with brown paper and leave for 24 hrs.

Next day beat well for ½ hr 24 yolks of egg and sugar. When well beaten with bubbles add fruit mixture and beat some more. Lastly add the well beaten whites of 10 eggs and mix very lightly. Prepare the cake tins with sheets of newspaper as lining and then put a grease proof paper (oil) paper on top and butter it. Then pour the made cake mix into the tin and put in oven.

Bake in moderate oven 180°C for 3 hours. I lower the heat to 150°C after half hour and again after half hour I lower it further to 125°C. I also cover the top with greased proof paper so that the top does not burn.

(If you use half this quantity baking time is 1 ½ hrs starting at moderate oven and after half hour lower temperature to 125°C for the balance baking period).

Once you take out the cake from the oven, keep the cake in the tin for another 10 minutes as the cake cooks further. Don't let it dry out. Keep it to cool and then wrap it tightly with oil paper.

Semolina and butter cake ready for White of egg Ready to bake

             mixed white of egg mixed in gently

Baked cakes being kept to cool

warmed apricot jam rubbed covered with marzipan and Sliced pieces of cake

                                                                 Royal Icing

Some people break up the cake and mix it with brandy and then press it down into a oil paper lined cake tin then turn out onto another oil paper then spread with warm apricot jam and then cover with Marzipan icing. Leave this on for two days and then cover with Royal icing.

In Sri Lanka we have cake tins with cutting frames for wedding cakes or sweets/toffees, so you can cut it into equal sizes of rectangles or squares depending on your preference.

wrap the cake tightly and take out once a week and make holes on top and fill with brandy. you can keep the cake wrapped up in oil paper for 1 year.

Once the cake has been covered with marzipan and royal icing and set, cut into squares or rectangles as per your preference. Then you could cut squares of oil paper or buy ready made cut ones to fit your cake. Place the cake upside down as shown in the above picture and fold to close. You could wrap in gold paper or silver paper as you wish. Some put it into boxes.

Feeding Brandy Left over cakes square cake in basket

cut and wrapped in rectangular shapes

cakes being wrapped in grease proof paper and gold paper.

To make it look pretty you could add it into any box or wrap bows etc. Some people keep it on tables of the guest, some serve it once guests are seated. Some serve it at the entrance to the wedding reception hall.

The bridesmaids served it in large baskets and the cake was placed in smaller individual basket which guests could take away as a memento.

Family and Friends helped to wrap the cakes - it was indeed so much fun - with lot of tasting going on along with bubbly!!

For our younger ones wedding we covered them with silver foil and put in baskets with a tag hanging around it.