Have you wondered what is a cutting cake? No, it’s not the top tier of a wedding cake!. It is a small cake made for the purpose of the cake-cutting ceremony. In fact, here is my cutting cake recipe so you can make your own small wedding cake.
The recent trend in weddings is a small cake for newlyweds for the purpose of the cake cutting tradition. It is perfect for a micro wedding with fewer crowds or tighter budgets.
A cutting cake is a small cake made for the purpose of the cake cutting tradition where newlywed couples can cut the cake in front of their guests. This is often when you don’t want to have a large wedding cake. Or sometimes the couple makes a dummy large wedding cake with just a top small cake as a cutting cake. This way you can still have a large cake but don’t want to waste all that cake?
This is no right or wrong when it comes to cutting cakes. It is a smaller cake so there are limitations but the options are endless. Just ask your baker and they are usually very accommodating. You can frost it simple or elaborate. It can be a small cake on its own or topped on top of a dummy-tiered cake if you like a large wedding cake. 
It can but usually, it is never enough to serve more many peoples. It is often the couple shares a piece at the cutting ceremony. Then, it is wrapped and tucked away in the freezer until the first wedding anniversary.
Not really. Unless you want to follow a certain tradition. Many people cut the large wedding cake and serve it to the guests. Not everybody saves the top cake for their wedding anniversary. I didn’t!
A wedding cake is cut differently from dessert cakes. The portion size of a wedding cake serving is much smaller than dessert cakes. This is because at weddings the cake is not the only dessert and eating a piece of wedding cake is often symbolic. (Of course, custom wedding cakes are more expensive)
Cutting Cake Recipe
Below, I have given you the easiest cutting cake with Swiss meringue buttercream so you can make your own cutting cake.
But, you can also use Italian meringue buttercream, French Buttercream, German buttercream, or American buttercream, as well as, chocolate ganache frosting
Description
Ingredients
Vanilla cake
- 2 cups (250 g) Bread flour
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- ½ tsp Baking soda
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
- ½ cup (113 g) Unsalted Butter room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) Sugar white granulated
- ¼ cup (60 ml) Cooking oil
- 2 large Eggs
- ½ cup (120 ml) Sour cream (or yogurt)
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
Buttercream frosting
- 3 large (90 g) Egg whites
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ⅙ tsp Cream of tartar
- ½ cup (100 g) Sugar
- 1 cup (227 g) Unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
Decorating
- 1 lb (450 g) Fondant (various colors or food gel colors to dye white fondant)
- 3 – 4 Fresh or sugar flower sprays.
Chocolate Cutting cake
- 4 tbsp Replace flour with Cocoa powder
Strawberry cutting cake
- ½ cup Replace sour cream with strawberry puree
Orange cutting cake
- ½ cup Replace sour cream with orange juice
Lemon cutting cake
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 tsp Lemon zest
Instructions
Cake Batter
- Oven/Pan – Preheat the oven at 325F/ 165C/ Gas Mark 3. Grease and line 3 x 6-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
- Dry ingredients – In a small sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Wet ingredients – In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream together the butter, oil, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla extract.
- Combine – Next, combine the flour mixture and sour cream into the wet ingredients until smooth but do not overmix.
- Bake – Divide the batter between the prepared baking pans and bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool – When baked cool the cakes in the pans for 5 minutes then invert onto a cooling rack and cool completely. Pro tip – all cakes must be cooled completely (at least a few hours) before frosting. Otherwise, the frosting will melt.
Swiss meringue buttercream
- Temper – In a bowl of a stand mixer over a pot of boiling water, add the egg whites, sugar, and salt. Continue to whip until all the sugar has been dissolved.
- Meringue – Transfer the to the stand mixer at medium-high speed and whisk until stiff peaks form. When whipped continue to whip on low speed until the bowl feels cool to the touch.
- Butter – When the bowl feels cool to touch, turn the mixer on medium speed and add the butter one cube at a time. Add the vanilla extract and any other flavoring.
- Whip – when all the butter has been incorporated turn the mixer back up to medium-high speed and whip until light and fluffy almost whipped cream consistency.
Assemble
- Level – Using a bread knife or cake leveler, cut the domes off the cake layers. Brush each cake with simple syrup.
- Stack – Place a cake layer on the cake board or cake stand. Top with a big dollop of buttercream – spread evenly using a straight-edge spatula. Top with the next layer and more buttercream.
- Crumb-coat – Using a spatula crumb-coat the cake and place the cake in the fridge to chill for 10 to 15 minutes. Pro tip – crumb coat is a thin layer of buttercream around the cake. When chilled this prevents cake crumbs into the final frosting.
- Frost – Spread the remaining buttercream around and on the top of the cake. Smooth the buttercream on the sides with a bench scraper and on top with an offset spatula.
- Chill – Place the cake in the refrigerator to chill completely. At least 2 hours so it becomes a firm canvas for the fondant.
- Fondant – Roll 4 to 5 colored fondant sausages together. Twist and coil them around to create a marbled effect. Shape into a ball and roll fondant on a lightly dusted work surface.
- Drape – Cover the cake with the rolled fondant and smooth it with a fondant smoother. Cut the excess fondant and use the excess fondant to create a border for the cake.
- Decoration – Top the cake with a spray of sugar flowers.
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Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
