Chicken Farm Baker's Project # 31: My dream wedding Cake; baked and frosted my dreams, Traditional Fruitcake Wedding Cake

My dream wedding Cake; baked and frosted my dreams, Traditional Fruitcake Wedding Cake, I know that it's such  a long name, haha. Anyway for this month a month of Love and Love, we will go on dreaming.

For me, I can't say this is the one that I want to have on my wedding day, but it's the one that I want to make for "Wedding day". Because I have to accept that I'm not good at decoration, so I can't make the cake that I want,^^". I really want to have a big cake with black and white decorating, well my Mom, who is a traditional Chinese when it comes to ceremony, said that "No, no, no, no, it's not right!!!!!!!" Even I said that it's just a cake that it's not a real one that I gonna use mom, she still didn't let me do it.
So I have to change my plan, -*-. Anyway it's not very hard for me because I have one kind of cake that I think it's very suitable for the wedding day, "The Fruit Cake". For me fruit cake is similar to marriage, you can't rush ^^. The flavor of the cake comes from the Macerated Dried Fruit Mix, that will be more delicious if you give it more time to soak up all the liquid, and it's sweet, haha. (Ok, I'm crazy, do you think anyone will compare your love life to a fruitcake? -*-). You can use the dried fruit that just mix with the Cognac but the taste will be less intoxicated.
The cake had been soaked up with a lot of rum (that's the reason why I post the recipe so late, I need TIMEEEEEEEEEEE), then covered with marzipan and fondant, to make the cake sparkling white, the ideal color for traditional wedding cake. And for the design I change into red and white instead (very Chinese version, but luckily that my mom still let me use white, not gold and red, hehehe).
The recipe comes from one of my dearest book:................ if you never have her book before, this one will be your great start, I use many recipe from this book, and all of them are good. Anyway, I didn't use her dried fruit mix recipe for this cake, because I love the recipe that I got from .........................

I made everything by myself, but you can buy it, the rolled fondant and marzipan if you want to. Becuase if you gonna bake yourself a wedding cake, do it as you like.

Finally I got my wedding cake, it's a big and sweet project that's very suitable for this month, and I hope that you can feel my love in the air.

Traditional Fruitcake Wedding Cake

Make 2 tires cake (1-6inches cake and 1-4 inches cake)

Batter

400g ................................ Pecan halves 

200g ................................ Walnut halves

284g ................................. Unsalted butter

239g ................................. Dark brown sugar

3 ........................................ Eggs

228g ................................. All purpose flour

1 tsp ................................. Baking powder

⅛tsp ................................ Baking soda

¾ tsp ............................... Salt

670g ................................. Macerated Dried Fruit Mix

½ c ................................... Dark rum

For decoration

........................................... Marzipan

........................................... Rolled fondant

........................................... Fondant roses

........................................... Ribbon

PREPARE THE MOLD Line the mold that you want to use with baking paper.

PREHEAT THE OVEN Twenty minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C (325°F/160°C if using a dark pan). 

TOAST THE PECANS AND WALNUTS Spread the nuts evenly on a large sheet pan and bake for about 7 minutes to enhance their flavor. Stir once or twice to ensure even toasting and avoid overbrowning. Cool completely. 

PREPARE THE BUTTER In a microwavable container or in a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the butter, stirring constantly,just until it starts to soften into a creamy consistency. Remove it from the heat. If it is hot, pour it into another container and stir until it is no more than warm. 
MAKE THE BATTER In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater (I use hand mixer ^^), mix the brown sugar and melted butter on medium speed for about 2 minutes,or until well combined.With the mixer on, add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating for 15 seconds after each addition. 
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter and beat on low speed until evenly combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl Add the macerated fruit, along with any liquid remaining in the jar, and mix on low speed for about 1 minute. 

Add the pecans and walnuts and mix for 5 to 10 seconds, or until thoroughly combined. Using a silicone spatula, scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the surface evenly with a small offset spatula. The batter will come almost to the top of the pan.

BAKE THE CAKE 

Bake for 25-30 minutes for cupcakes

Bake for 45-50 minutes for 4 inches cake

Bake for 55-65 minutes for 6 inches cake

, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center.The cake should just barely begin to shrink from the sides of the pan. An instant-read thermometer will register about 190°F/88°C. 

COOL AND UNMOLD THE CAKE Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. While it is cooling, brush the top evenly with half the rum, if using. Set a serving plate on top of the cake and invert the cake onto the plate. Brush the top and sides of the cake with the remaining rum. Cool completely Allow it to sit for a minimum of12 hours so that it is firm enough to cut. It cuts best and crumbles least when well chilled. 

NOTE You can also use two 9 by 5-inch loaf pans or two 10-cup fluted tube pans, filling each with half the batter. Baking time will be between 65 and 75 minutes in the loaf pans and between 45 and 55 minutes in the fluted tube pans. (Don't be tempted to pour all the batter into one lO-cup fluted tube pan as it is much deeper than the 10-cup wreath pan, and this dense batter will not bake evenly. You can, however, use two 6-cup fluted tube pans. The batter will rise a little past the tops of the pans.) Rotate the loaf pans and tent loosely with foil after the first 45 minutes of baking. 

Decorating:

Roll the marzipan into thin sheet, and cover the cake.

Roll the fondant and place it over the marzipan, and decorate it as you wish.

Chicken Farm Baker's Project # 31: 

My dream wedding Cake; 

baked and frosted my dreams, 

Traditional Fruitcake Wedding Cake