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diy wedding cake on a table with a brick background.

Easy, Inexpensive DIY Wedding Cake

Save some serious cash when celebrating your nuptials with this simple, elegant DIY Wedding Cake. This two-tiered masterpiece is made with moist vanilla-almond cake and sumptuous buttercream frosting for a crowd-pleasing favorite and includes two cupcakes to freeze for your first anniversary.
4.14 from 15 votes
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Decorating Time 45 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 55 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Cakes
Servings 45
Calories 515 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
  

9" Cake + 2 Cupcakes

  • 4 Cups AP Flour 520 grams
  • 4 Cups Sugar 800 grams
  • 3 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1 ¾ teaspoon Kosher Salt
  • 2 ⅔ stick Butter room temperature
  • 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2 tsp Almond Extract
  • 1 ⅓ Cups Egg Whites room temperature, from a carton is fine!
  • 2 Cups Sour Cream room temperature, or full-fat greek yogurt
  • 2 ½ tablespoon Vegetable Oil any neutral-flavored oil will work

6" Cake

  • 2 Cups AP Flour 260 grams
  • 2 Cups Sugar 400 grams
  • 1 ¾ teaspoon Baking Powder
  • scant 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
  • 1 ⅓ sticks Butter room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 1 tsp Almond Extract
  • Cup Egg Whites room temperature, from a carton is fine!
  • 1 Cup Sour Cream room temperature, or full-fat greek yogurt
  • 1 ¼ tablespoon Vegetable Oil any neutral-flavored oil will do

Buttercream Frosting (increase by 50% for fully frosted cake)

Instructions
 

Make 9" Cakes + Cupcakes, and 6" Cakes separately

  • First, get your station prepped. You'll need to grease and line all of your cake pans with parchment. Preheat your oven to 350F.
    Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of your mixer.
    With the mixer on low, slowly add pieces of softened butter to the dry mixture.
    Continue mixing until all of the butter has been added and the consistency of the mixture looks like wet sand. There should be no large pieces of butter still evident in the mix. Make sure you scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to incorporate everything well.
    Add egg whites, mixing until just incorporated. Again, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure an even mix.
    Add sour cream, almond & vanilla extracts, and the oil. Mix until just combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom one more time, and give the mixture a final mix to incorporate.
    Divide the batter evenly among the three pans. If you want to get super technical, use a kitchen scale to ensure even distribution between the pans, otherwise, just eyeball it. By my measurements, you should have about 800 grams of batter per 9" pan, 400 grams per 6" pan, and enough batter leftover for two cupcake liners to be filled about ⅔ full.
    Bake in preheated oven until the cakes are fully baked and pass the toothpick test for doneness. 9" cakes should be done in 36-40 minutes, 6" cakes should be done in 31-34 minutes, and cupcakes should be done in 21-24 minutes.
    Remove from the oven and allow to cool in their pans for about 10 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.
    Repeat process for next-sized cakes.
    Make-Ahead Tip: Cakes can be made, wrapped thoroughly in plastic wrap and frozen for up to a month.

Make Buttercream

  • Beat the butter and salt on medium speed until it becomes light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
    Working in stages, add the powdered sugar to the butter with the mixer on low.
    As you add more powdered sugar, the mixture will start to become thick and quite tight. When this happens, start alternating adding the cream and the powdered sugar until everything is well incorporated.
    Add in the vanilla and almond extracts, mixing until fully incorporated and the frosting is the consistency you desire. NOTE: If your frosting is too thick even after mixing for several minutes, add more cream a tablespoon at a time until it loosens to your preferred consistency.
    Make-Ahead Tip: Frosting can be made and refrigerated up to a week in advance. Allow it to come to room temperature and give it a quick whip before frosting your cooled cakes.

Frost Cakes

  • Use a dab of frosting to attach the bottom layer of the cake to the cardboard cake round. Add an even layer of frosting between each layer, spreading the frosting all the way to the edge.
    Apply a thin layer of frosting on the outside of the cake, using an offset spatula or bench scraper to smooth it out and scrape it to your desired level of nakedness. (NOTE: If you are going for a fully frosted look, follow this step and allow the frosting to set before continuing with a thicker frosting layer.)

Insert Dowels and Stack Tiers

  • Once the 9" cakes are frosted to your liking, hold up a plastic dowel to measure where it should be cut. Using a serrated knife (or very strong scissors), cut the dowels to the correct size.
    Place a 6" round or pan atop the cake in the middle of the top of the 9" cake, pressing down slightly to indent the frosting. This will act as your guide.
    Spacing the dowels roughly 2" apart, press the dowels down into the cake within the 6" circle guide you just created. The dowels should be quite flush with the cake - if the first one is not, remove it, trim as needed, then proceed to trim the remaining dowels before proceeding.
    NOTE: If you are going to need to transport the cake to a different venue, this is a good stopping place. Don't stack the tiers or do final decorating until you are at the venue!
    Using an offset spatula for assistance with balancing, slowly and carefully set the 6" cake on top of the dowels.

Decorate Cake

  • Now you've arrived at the fun part. Use flowers, berries, and/or a cake topper to make your DIY wedding cake look super pro. For even more decorating ideas, pop down to the notes section.

Notes

  • This frosting is enough for a semi-naked 2-tiered cake. The amount of buttercream that this recipe produces is just enough to do a semi-naked frost on the two tiers, plus a little leftover to swoosh on the anniversary cupcakes. If you want to do more of a traditional, fully frosted look, make the recipe as written, then halve the recipe and make it again.
    Note that you should work separately here if you're adding extra frosting. You're going to want plenty of this delicious frosting and don't want to wear out your equipment!
  • What should I do if my cake got over-baked? Unless the poor thing is scorched to a crisp, you can still salvage it. First, trim off any bits that are too dark using a small serrated knife. If the area you're trimming is large, use a longer bread knife, and consider scraping the edge of the knife back and forth across the area rather than slicing.

    Once the offending portion is removed, assess the situation. Does it feel dry? If so, consider making a simple syrup to brush on the layers. Simple syrup is equal parts water and sugar, boiled until the sugar dissolves. You can easily infuse the syrup with any number of flavors using ingredients like whole spices, fresh herbs, citrus or apple peels, even tea bags.

    Once you've made the simple syrup, brush it on with a pastry brush or squirt it with a squeeze bottle. Now you should be ready to frost and assemble!  

    Decorating Options

    When it comes to making a DIY wedding cake, I'd argue that the most stressful piece of the pie (er, cake?) is making sure it looks gorgeous. Check out the suggestions below, feeling free to mix and match your way to a real show-stopper.
    Naked - This style requires only adding frosting between the layers of the cake, leaving the sides completely exposed. This is the easiest decorating option.
    Semi-Naked - This style adds frosting between the layers of the cake as we did in the naked cake, then adds a bit of frosting on the exterior (like a crumb coat). I love this rustic look, even when it applies to brick houses!
    Fully Frosted - If you're all thumbs when it comes to cake decorating, don't go nuts with your piping. Easy frosting decorations include texturing like swoops, swirls, simple dots, or petals. You can also keep the exterior of the cake relatively flat and add visual interest using any of the options listed below. NOTE: You will need to make additional buttercream if you opt for a fully frosted cake. Please refer to instructions on making the frosting above.
    Fresh Flowers - Keep the weight of your flowers (and gravity) in mind as you arrange them - don't let heavy blooms drape off the side, or they may end up tearing the cake. Also, be sure that your flowers aren't poisonous! You can also always opt to buy EDIBLE FLOWERS or sugar flowers if you are worried. If you are using fresh flowers, you'll also want to wash and dry them thoroughly before using. If you are using roses, try using this spinning technique to get them to open more before using them. For more tips on decorating with fresh flowers, check out this helpful post.
    Fresh Berries - While you're free to bust out your Morimoto-level knife skills to make strawberry roses, I find that an assortment of whole berries is simply stunning. If you're hosting a winter wedding, consider making sugared cranberries and rosemary.
    Pineapple "Flowers" - As someone who prefers that all garnishes are edible, this Southern staple for decorating Hummingbird Cakes is one of my favorites. Note that these should not be made more than 2 days in advance, and they should be stored in an airtight container for best results.
    Drips - Drip cakes are another one of my favorite cake aesthetics, and as a chocolate lover, the opportunity to add ganache to my cake is a no-brainer. This post from baking brand Wilton shows how you can easily make your drips fit in with your color scheme.
    Sprinkles (a.k.a. Jimmies) - While there are lots of pretty options to keep things simple and white, feel free to play with your color theme here. Small sprinkles are easy to find, but larger pearl jimmies are another great option.

Nutrition

Calories: 515kcalCarbohydrates: 69gProtein: 3gFat: 26gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 65mgSodium: 507mgPotassium: 68mgFiber: 1gSugar: 56gVitamin A: 760IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 56mgIron: 1mg
Keyword Cheap, Dessert, Easy, Special Occasion
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