"miss havisham's" wedding cake ideas?

Question

In my english class, our assignment is to create the horrendous looking cake spoken of in the novel "Great Expectations". However, the cake still has to taste delicious. Does anyone have any ideas as to what kind of cake I could bake and how I could make it look disgusting and aged without sacrificing taste? I would like it to be a layer cake, since it is supposed to be a wedding cake. Thanks for all your help!!

Answer 1

I'll go with my interpretation of horrendous to Miss Havisham in what I think is a great cake. Any off-kiltered layer cake, white frosting, how ever you can get it on, throw crushed Oreo's over and around it, gummy worms sticking out, but the most important part of this cake........... the top is the face of a clock, you pick the time. Just an Idea and an Interpretation of that part of the story.

Answer 2

Wedding Cake

6 cups sifted cake flour
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine
3 cups sugar
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
12 egg whites

Answer 3

Off kilter layer, yes. You might have to use dowels to hold it in place. My fantasy for this cake would be to make it as tall as the laws of physics allow, but it would be terribly fragile. I'd frost or dust parts of it in gray, to imitate accumulated dust. A little mold, dabs of blue, might be nice. Also, how about some cotton candy strands for cobwebs? At the bottom layer, cut a mouse hole and put in a toy rat, or, if it has to be all edible, make one out of marzipan. You could get really disgusting with gummy insects crawling on it.

Wow, what a fun project!

Answer 4

Haha

Answer 5

Classic White (Wedding) Cake

6 cups sifted cake flour
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine
3 cups sugar
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
12 egg whites

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease bottom of pans and line with waxed paper or parchment paper, or use Wilton Cake Release (Click here for complete instructions on preparing baking pans.). Sift together flour and baking powder. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Set aside. Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Set aside.

With a mixer at slow speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture, alternately with milk. Beat well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract. Gently fold egg whites into batter. Pour into prepared pans. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Makes 12 cups batter.
http://www.wilton.com/wedding/recipes/index.cfm

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Italian Wedding Cake

1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine
2 cups white sugar
5 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
5 egg whites
1/2 cup drained crushed pineapple
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 8 inch pans. Combine the buttermilk, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, then stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla and almond extract.
Beat in the buttermilk mixture alternately with the flour, mixing just until incorporated. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Stir in pineapple, coconut and 1 cup pecans.

Pour batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow cake layers to cool 10 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

To make the frosting: Cream together the butter, cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until blended. Stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1 cup pecans. If frosting is too stiff to spread, stir in milk a teaspoon at a time until it reaches desired consistency.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Italian-Wedding-Cake/Detail.aspx