The cake is typically one of the central focuses at a wedding. These cakes are usually a couple of tiers high, have floral decorations and designs, and a huge topper, and your first slice as Mr. & Mrs. is a whole ordeal. At our wedding, this was not the case.
Since we were getting married on March 14th, also known as Pi Day, we decided we would rather pie be the center of attention than a cake. We had a variety of mini pies available for our guests and cupcakes with tiny slices of pie on top. Additionally, each guest also got an apple pie pop as their take-home favor.
Outside of our want to have a pie overload during the dessert portion of our celebration, there was another factor that played a role in our cake decision: the fact that I could not eat the cake.
When planning for the big day, we realized we needed to figure out how we would handle the cake situation. Luckily, Joe and I were on the same page and both agreed that the whole cake show at a wedding is weird and unnecessary (no offense to the people who do enjoy it - it's just our option). We also figured it would look silly if I would feed him a piece of the cake, but then he couldn't feed me any.
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After talking to our venue's planner, she let us know that cutting the whole bit out is completely okay! When we told her about our pie variety idea instead, she even suggested we go for the smaller cake option that was free with our package, allowing us to put more money from our budget into having extra pie!
Now, to pick out the flavors for our cake.
Picking a cake flavoring was very easy for us to figure out. It was probably the fastest decision we made when planning our wedding. Joe had loved the vanilla chocolate chip pound cake he tried during the venue's tasting but didn't love the frosting it had on it. Instead, I paired the cake with a chocolate mousse filling and a vanilla buttercream frosting.
What ended up being a shot in the dark of how the flavors would be together, the cake ended up being a perfect flavoring profile. Call me strange, but I felt the descriptions of each component described Joe and me as individuals and as a unit.
Chocolate mousse is a real treat. The texture is light and airy and its chocolate flavor is intense yet soft.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting is light, fluffy, and not overly sweet.
Vanilla Chocolate Chip Pound Cake is the PERFECT combo of buttery, rich, and soft pound cake with sweet chocolate chips baked in.
Our next dilemma was that we didn't save a slice in our freezer to have on our one-year anniversary. This was something a lot of friends and family had a hard time understanding why we didn't do it. People tend to forget that food allergies do not just turn off because there is an age-old tradition to save a slice of your wedding cake and eat it a year later...a tradition I just don't fully understand, food allergies or not.
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To save Joe from having to eat a one-year-old slice of cake, I decided that for our anniversary each year, I would recreate our wedding cake, baking it at home, and making it safe for my food allergies Now, this is a tradition I can get on board with and one we can look forward to enjoying year after year!
The Food Allergy-Friendly Recipe for our Wedding Cake:
Vanilla Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
with a Chocolate Filling and a Vanilla Frosting
Ingredients:
For the Cake:
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup palm shortening
1 ¼ cups date sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
⅓ cup milk
½ to 1 cup of mini chocolate chips, give or take
For the Frosting:
2 cups palm shortening
5 cups corn-free powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
½ cup of aquafaba, room temperature
½ cup cocoa powder, for the chocolate filling
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Directions:
For the Cake:
Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease your cake pans and line them with parchment paper. We used four 6-inch round cake pans and only frosted 3 layers. You can opt for two larger cake pans if you prefer. About 8 to 12-inch round cake pans will work.
In a medium-sized bowl combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the palm shortening until smooth and creamy. Then add in the sugar and beat for about 1 to 2 minutes to whip it. This will add air.
Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating in between each egg.
Add in the vanilla and lemon juice, then mix just until combined.
Add half of the flour mixture and mix until combined. Add the second half and mix until everything is incorporated. At this point, the batter is going to be very thick.
Add in the milk and mix to loosen up the batter a little. You don’t want to over-mix it as the batter does need to remain thickened.
Spoon the batter into your prepared pans and level the top. Bake for 60-65 minutes or until the center is set and the top is brown. You can check the center with a toothpick to see if it’s done.
Remove from the oven and let cool completely before moving to a flat baking sheet or cake stand to decorate.
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For the Frosting:
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream your palm shortening on low speed until smooth. Then turn off the mixer.
Add all the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until completely incorporated. Turn off the mixer.
Add in your vanilla and aquafaba and mix on medium-high for five to ten minutes, or until your preferred level of fluffiness has been achieved. Keep in mind that the fluffier it gets, the less weight the buttercream will be able to hold. I usually go for about five minutes.
For the filling, remove a little more than half the frosting from the bowl, or at least one to two cups, depending on the size of your cake. Add the cocoa powder and mix until fully incorporated throughout.
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For Assembling:
Place 1 cake layer on a cake plate or cake stand and spread 1 cup of the chocolate frosting on top. Place another cake layer over the chocolate frosting.
If you are making the cake 3 layers, add another cup of chocolate frosting and spread. Place the third layer of the cake over the second layer of frosting. If your cake is only 2-layers, please skip this step.
Spread the top and sides of the cake with the plain white frosting, swirling to coat it decoratively. If the frosting becomes too soft, refrigerate to firm up.
The cake can be covered with a cake dome and refrigerated overnight. Bring cake to room temperature before serving.
We had extra chocolate frosting left over so we added a heart on top of the cake. This is completely optional!
Resources:
Wedding day photos were captured by https://unforgettableexpressions.com/
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