My Brother's Wedding Cake

As I've mentioned a few times in the past, when my brother got engaged, he and his fiancé (now my sister-in-law...yay!) asked me if I would make their wedding cake.  After preparing for almost a year by taking the Wilton cake decorating classes (which I found very helpful!) and making cakes for anything I could, just for the practice, the big day finally arrived.  This past Saturday was their wedding day!  Despite the forecast calling for thunderstorms, the day could not have been more gorgeous!  The ceremony was beautiful and we had a blast at the reception.  There were approximately 115 guests, so to make enough slices to feed everybody, I made a 12 inch round and two 14 inch rounds.  The top tier, which was a 10 inch round, will be frozen and saved for their first anniversary.

For the extra 14-inch round in the back, I used a double batch of the Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake, which I torted, filled with a cream cheese filling (purchased from a bake shop), and topped with homemade buttercream frosting (Wilton's recipe).

For the 3 tiers of wedding cake, I used 5 batches of Bridget's white cake from The Way The Cookie Crumbles.  I torted the three cakes, filled them with a raspberry filling (also purchased from a bake shop), topped with a thin layer of buttercream frosting, and covered in white fondant (Satin Ice vanilla).

2 1/4 cups Cake Flour (9 ounces)
1 cup + 2 tablespoons Whole Milk, at room temperature
6 Egg Whites, at room temperature (3/4 cup)
2 teaspoons Almond Extract
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons Sugar (11.35 ounces)
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
12 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, softened but still cool (1 1/2 sticks)

Pour the milk, egg whites, and extracts into a 2-cup glass measuring cup and whisk until blended.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt at slow speed.  Add the butter and continue beating at slow speed until the mixture resembles moist crumbs with no powdery streaks remaining.  Add all but 1/2 up of the milk mixture to the crumbs and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup of the milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more.  Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl.  Return the mixer to medium speed and beat for 20 seconds longer.  Divide the batter evenly between two 9-inch round pans that have been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Using a rubber spatula, spread the batter to the pan walls and smooth the tops.  Arrange the pans at least 3 inches from the one walls and 3 inches apart.  Bake at 350 degrees for 23-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let the cakes rest in the pans for 3 minutes.  Loosen from the sides of pans with a knife and invert onto wire racks.  Let cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.