Lovebirds and blossoms wedding cake

Looking for ideas for a wedding cake? This lovebirds and blossom design is simple yet very eye catching... By Trudy Mitchell from JellyCake

Lovebirds and blossoms wedding cake

For the cake 15cm (6in), 20cm (8in) and 25cm (10in) round cakes 7.5cm (3in) deep buttercream To decorate 3kg (6lb 6oz) ivory sugarpaste royal icing 200g (7oz) ivory flower paste food colouring paste: Christmas green Special Equipment 32.5cm (13in) cake board 15cm (6in), 20cm (8in) and 25cm (10in) round thin cake boards 13cm (5in), 18cm (7in) and 23cm (9in) round cake boards plastic dowels 3 sizes of small blossom cutter ball tool foam pad bumpy foam/crumpled foil sage green ribbon, 1.5cm (½in) wide turntable piping bag piping nozzle, No 2 tip 2 x lolly pop sticks bird cutter/template icing smoothers 1    Trim the tops of the cakes using a large serrated knife to level them. Cut each cake in half, place the bottom layer of each cake on the same sized cake card, then spread each half with a layer of buttercream. Place on each top half and press down lightly. Cover the cakes with a thin layer of buttercream, smooth using a palette knife and place in the fridge to firm up slightly. 2    Knead the sugarpaste until you have a soft, pliable dough, then roll out until approximately 3mm (1/8in) thick. Cover each of the cakes, smoothing all over with the icing smoother and trimming away any excess from the bottom with a sharp knife. Cover the 32.5cm (13in) cake board with sugarpaste and leave to dry. 3    Colour half of the flower paste with a tiny amount of green colouring to make a light sage green. Thinly roll out the green flower paste and using the bird cutter, cut out two bird shapes, remembering to reverse the design for one bird. Set them aside on wax or greaseproof paper to dry. Ensure that the ‘feet’ of the birds are slightly wider than the lolly stick. 4    To make the blossoms, thinly roll out some of the flower paste and cut out the blossoms using the three cutters. Place the blossoms on the flat foam pad and using a gentle swirling motion, smooth over each blossom to thin out the paste, and then swirl in the middle of each one to cup them. Leave them on bumpy foam or crumpled foil to dry. You will need approximately 200 blossoms in both ivory and green. 5    Take the 13cm (5in), 18cm (7in) and 23cm (9in) boards and cover the edges with 1.5cm (½in) sage green ribbon, securing with double-sided tape. Secure the 23cm (9in) cake board in the middle of the 32.5cm (13in) board with royal icing. Place more royal icing onto the top of the 23cm (9in) board and carefully place the largest tier on top, ensuring it is central to the board. Using the 18cm (7in) board as a guide, dowel this tier using five dowels. Secure the 18cm (7in) board to the top of the cake with royal icing, and then place the middle tier on top, using royal icing to secure. Dowel the middle tier using the 13cm (5in) board as a guide, using five dowels. Secure the top tier to this board with royal icing. When assembling the cake, if you need to move the cakes to ensure they are central to each other, use the icing smoothers to gently move them. 6    Using the royal icing and no. 2 nozzle, start attaching the blossoms around the base of each cake. Try to use the larger blossoms at the bottom of the cake and work up the sides using the smaller blossoms as you go, and don’t forget to vary the colours as you place them on. The blossoms can be clustered around the base of the cake, but don’t be too even in applying them; it looks nicer if they are more randomly placed. The blossoms need to reach just over halfway up the sides of the cake. Pipe a small icing centre in the middle of each blossom. 7    Once the birds are dry, decorate the front of each one using either a stencil and royal icing or by piping a design onto them. Let the decoration dry, then using some royal icing attach the lolly sticks to the backs of the birds. Once this is dry, carefully align the birds on the top of the top tier, and then push the lolly sticks into the cake until the birds rest on the top. Secure with more royal icing if required.