Wedding Cake Recipes

As promised, here are the cake recipes used in our recent wedding cake.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake:

 Ingredients:
1/2 c. shortening
1 1/4 c. sugar
1 c. pumpkin
2 eggs
3/4 c. milk
1/2 soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg
2 1/4 c. flour
12 oz. chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately. Combine and mix just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Batter will be thick.
Pour batter into 2, greased 8 or 9'' round cake pans.Bake at 350 for 25-30 min.

Cream Cheese filling/frosting:
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use, up to one week.

Lemon Blueberry Cake adapted from here

Ingredients:
3 1/3 cups flour- sifted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon (packed) grated lemon peel
4 large eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans
Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually add sugar, beating until blended, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in lemon juice and peel, then eggs 1 at a time. Continue to beat until well blended. Beat in dry ingredients in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions.
Pour blueberries into medium sized bowl. Add 1/4 cup of flour and stir blueberries until coated. Fold berries into cake batter.
Transfer batter to pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks for 10 minutes before removing.

Lemon Curd filling from here
yields 3 cups
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 3/4 sticks butter, cut into tablespoon pieces


Whisk together zest, lemon juice, sugar, eggs, and a pinch of salt in a heavy saucepan. Add butter all at once and cook over moderately low heat, whisking constantly, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubbles appear on surface, about 10 minutes. Immediately pour curd through a fine sieve into a bowl. Place piece of plastic wrap directly over curd, touching, then chill, covered. Keeps for up to one week in fridge.


Chocolate Cake:

Hershey's 'Perfectly Chocolate' Chocolate Cake- adapted 
Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Cocoa
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans. 

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans. 

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely before frosting.


Chocolate filling/frosting:
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.