No Fancy Cake Tools,
I smelled a challenge. Could I come up with my own version of the royal wedding cake for us commoners, Using recipes that I adapted from Ptak’s 2015 cookbook, the answer was a resounding yes. Even better, I adjusted the elements to create a layer cake even less-experienced bakers could conquer. It’s definitely more complicated than most recipes we will feature on Voraciously.
One adjustment I made for my own sanity was baking three thin cake layers rather than the tall single cake Ptak says to make in a 3-inch-deep pan. First of all, I don’t own one of those, and second, I’ve never been good at slicing cakes evenly. Bonus: Thin cakes bake and cool faster. You could certainly make the cake and the frosting — a simple confectioners’ sugar and butter combination — put them together and call it a day. For an amped-up filling, use lemon curd (homemade, if you’re up for it) instead of frosting.
Or go up one more level by mixing it with whipped cream, as I recommend here. You can decorate this cake as much or as little as you want. A pristine white cake is timeless. No fancy cake tools, Grab a spoon and spin a swirl into the top, or cut the corner of a food-safe zip-top bag to pipe dollops around the edge.
Use store-bought candied lemon slices or peel for added pizazz. In the spirit of the actual royal wedding cake, I decorated this version with edible flowers. Be sure you source flowers that have been specifically grown for culinary use. I got mine from the District’s Little Wild Things City Farm, but you can also sometimes find them in the produce section of grocery stores. I crystallized some of the flowers and combined them with other fresh ones, gently pressing both types into the top and then in a cascade down the side of the cake.
If you just want to use fresh flowers, that would be lovely, too. A note on ingredients: I found Belvoir Fruit Farms elderflower cordial (nonalcoholic), used for brushing the cake layers, at World Market. It can also be ordered from various sites online. Ikea sells an elderflower syrup as well. For additional elderflower flavor in the cake and frosting, I used St-Germain liqueur, but you can leave it out or use the cordial instead.
Make Ahead: The baked, cooled cake layers that have been brushed with cordial can be refrigerated, well-wrapped, for several days or frozen for up to several weeks. You can refrigerate the buttercream several days in advance, too. Smooth out the chilled frosting with a stir by hand or mixer. The frosted and decorated cake can be refrigerated overnight in a cake caddy, under a cake dome or very loosely tented with plastic wrap.
For the cake: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Use a little butter or baker’s spray to grease three 8-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds. If you only have one or two pans, cover the batter that’s waiting to be baked; hold at room temperature. Place the granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or handheld electric mixer.
Use your clean fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar until the sugar is aromatic and moist. Add the butter; beat on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes, or until the mixture is fluffy and light. Meanwhile, lightly whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract and salt in a liquid measuring cup.
Reduce the mixer speed to low; gradually add to the butter-sugar mixture until fully incorporated. Stop to scrape down the bowl. Whisk together the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl, then add half of it to the butter mixture. Beat on low speed until just combined, then add the milk and the elderflower liqueur, if using.
