Quick storytime- many of you don’t know that I also work as a wedding planner and have been one since 2017. The whole industry was packed with events and weddings. It was supposed to be the year of weddings. Sadly with the hit of covid-19 many of our clients had to postpone their weddings, and I’m sure you know a few of those couples, but it got me thinking with my cake decorating hat.

Since many of our clients decided to move forward with their inmate ceremonies and postpone the large receptions to next year, the backyard, courthouse weddings have inspired me. Today, I will teach you how to make an elegant modern wedding cake that’s perfect for an intimate ceremony.

Learning how to make a wedding cake is a valuable skill. Who knows, maybe one day you can make someone unique in a beautiful lifetime memory.

In this case, for a modern design, we are going for the clean, sleek, elegant look with white buttercream, smooth sides, flecks of edible gold, and coral-colored white chocolate feathers.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn techniques and basics like getting smooth buttercream, stacking 4 cake layers high, and using white chocolate decorations that will help you make any wedding cake in the future!

As a bonus, I’m also sharing the cake recipe with you, light and fluffy scratch-made vanilla cake with fresh strawberries and decadent Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

Tips for Success:

Read through all the ingredients and instructions so you can get a better idea of how much time and what you need to make this cake.
A single batch of this cake recipe makes three, 6-inch round cake layers or two 8-inch round cake layers. Double the cake recipe to make enough cake batter for three, 8-inch cake layers.
In this cake recipe, you need 1 cup buttermilk; if you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can easily use 1 cup whole milk mixed with 1 Tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar to make your own.
To make cake flour at home, mix 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour and ¼ cup cornstarch. Sift or whisk together to get rid of any lumps.
Be careful not to overmix this cake batter, or else the cake will come out dense. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.
You can bake the cake layers ahead of time. Wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze for up to one month.
You can make the buttercream several days ahead of time and refrigerate it for up to one month. Then take them out to come back to room temperature. Make sure the buttercream is at room temperature before re-whipping.
To save time, you can make all the white chocolate feathers ahead of time and wrap the baking trays holding all the decorating in plastic wrap until ready to decorate.
Serve the cake at room temperature and use a hot knife to cut and get clean slices.

What Tools You’ll Need to Make This Cake:

5-quart, Stand Mixer with mixing bowl & paddle attachment
4, 6-inch cake pans or 3, 8-inch cake pans
Offset spatula (small and large)
8-inch or 10-inch white cake board
Serrated knife or cake leveler
Turntable
Cake scraper or bench scraper
Whisk or sifter
Rubber Spatula
Non-Stick Cooking Spray and Parchment Paper
Ice Cream Scooper with Trigger Release (for dividing cake batter evenly)
Piping Bags (I use reusable silicone bags)
Baking Sheet Tray
1 dinner spoon
Mixing bowls (small, medium & large)
Measuring cups & spoons
White Chocolate Candy Melts (Make Coral use white, pink, red, and yellow)
Edible gold luster dust
Clear alcohol like vodka or lemon extract
Paintbrush
Cake Stand, optional

Here’s how to make this Coral Wedding Cake with Chocolate Feathers!

Let’s Get Baking!

How to Make Vanilla Cake From Scratch

Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Spray four 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.
In a medium-size bowl, whisk and stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on medium-high for 5 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time, to the stand mixer bowl and beat on medium until well incorporated.
Turn the mixer on low and add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
Pour in the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Mix on medium for another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Evenly distribute the cake batter among the four cake pans and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
Remove cakes from the oven and let cool in pans for 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling racks to cool completely. Wrap cakes in plastic wrap and place them into the freezer to chill for 1-2 hours before decorating them later.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC)

On the stovetop, place a medium saucepan filled ⅓ of the way with water over medium heat, bring to a simmer to use as a double boiler.
In a stand mixer bowl (or large glass or metal mixing bowl), add egg whites and sugar mix with a whisk to combine.
Lower the heat on the stove to low, then place the mixer bowl over simmering water. Whisk constantly to prevent eggs from overcooking, continue for 3-5 minutes.
Continue to whisk until the mixture has reached 160 °F on your candy thermometer, or until the sugar has dissolved between your fingertips.
Immediately remove from the heat and transfer to the stand mixer with the whisk attachment and add the salt. Begin to mix on medium-high speed to create a light meringue for 10 minutes.
Mix until the meringue is room temperature and has a stiff peak.
Next, lower the mixer speed to low and add the butter a few cubes at a time until all the butter is incorporated into the meringue.
Then whisk on medium speed until the mixture is silky smooth and has doubled in size. It’ll look like freshly whipped butter.
With a rubber spatula, add vanilla extract and food coloring and mix by hand until incorporated.
Finally, place the buttercream into the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to set the buttercream before using it.

(Coral) White Chocolate Feathers

In a small microwavable mixing bowl, melt together mostly white, pink, red, and yellow candy melts in 30-second increments. Mix until you have a coral color.
On a baking tray lined with parchment paper, place a small spoonful of the coral candy melts onto the paper and quickly pull the large offset spatula downwards, creating a feather. Continue to the next coral spoonful and brush down, creating another feather.
Make about 36-48 feathers (just in case a few break). Set aside to dry for 15-20 minutes. To remove the paper’s feathers, use the offset spatula to scrape off the dried coral feathers.

Putting It All Together

Remove the cake layers from the freezer and unwrap the cake layers. Next, use a serrated knife to cut off the cakes’ dome to make the layers flat and even.
Add a small amount of Swiss Meringue Buttercream onto the center of the cake board. Layer one cake layer, cut side up onto the cake board. Pipe ⅔ cup of buttercream and use an offset spatula to smooth the buttercream layer. Add fresh strawberries on top of the buttercream.
Place another cake layer cut side down over the top. Repeat the process for two more layers — Crumb coat with buttercream and freeze for 30 minutes.
Add a thicker layer of buttercream to the cold cake. Use an offset spatula and cake scraper to make the sides and the top as smooth as possible.
Mix the gold luster dust and clear alcohol like vodka or lemon extract to create a paint consistency.
Carefully paint the edges of each feather with edible gold.
Use a paintbrush to splatter the cake with edible gold.
With the offset spatula, spread a small amount of buttercream on the back of the feathers and place the feather onto the cake’s top edge.
Continue this process until the feathers create a cascading effect from the top and work your way down to complete the cake.
Serve the cake at room temperature and use a hot knife to cut and get clean slices.

Happy Decorating!

P.S. Hey, if you liked this tutorial, you really should check out Cake Decorating for Beginners, my online cake program. I coach you on everything I teach on these cake tutorials so that you can uplevel your baking and decorating skills. We 10x it so you get the results you want most. Like any new skill, it’s essential to learn from the ground up to build a foundation so that you can take on any cake challenge. It is an investment your future self will thank you for. Check it out at XOKatieRosario.com/online-cake-course. I will see you there!

Watch The How-to Video Below:

Print Recipe

Coral Wedding Cake with Chocolate Feathers

Vanilla cake with swiss meringue buttercream, fresh strawberries, white chocolate feathers, and edible gold.

Prep Time2

Cook Time1 30

Cooling/Decorating Time2

Total Time5 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Baking, Buttercream, Cake Decorating, Cake Recipe, Champagne, Frosting

Servings: 1 3(6-inch) layers or 2(8-inch) layers

Author: Katie

Ingredients

Vanilla Cake

1 cup (or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups granulated sugar
5 large whole eggs
2 large egg yolks
3 cups cake flour (or 2 ¾ cup ap flour & ¼ cup cornstarch)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC)

8 large egg whites (or 1 ¼ cup liquid egg whites)
2 cups (or 15 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups (or 6 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small cubes
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Filling

1/2 lb 1 1/2 cups Fresh strawberries, cut in quarters

Garnish

Edible gold paint (edible gold luster dust mixed with vodka or clear lemon extract)
White Chocolate Candy Melts (Make coral with white, pink, red, and yellow)

Instructions

Vanilla Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Spray four 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper, and spray again. Set aside.
In a medium-size bowl, whisk and stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, and sugar on medium-high for 5 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time, to the stand mixer bowl and beat on medium until well incorporated.
Turn the mixer on low and add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
Pour in the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Mix on medium for another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Evenly distribute the cake batter among the four cake pans and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
Remove cakes from the oven and let cool in pans for 10 minutes before inverting onto cooling racks to cool completely. Wrap cakes in plastic wrap and place them into the freezer to chill for 1-2 hours before decorating them later.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC)

On the stovetop, place a medium saucepan filled ⅓ of the way with water over medium heat, bring to a simmer to use as a double boiler.
In a stand mixer bowl (or large glass or metal mixing bowl), add egg whites and sugar mix with a whisk to combine.
Lower the heat on the stove to low, then place the mixer bowl over simmering water. Whisk constantly to prevent eggs from overcooking, continue for 3-5 minutes.
Continue to whisk until the mixture has reached 160 °F on your candy thermometer, or until the sugar has dissolved between your fingertips.
Immediately remove from the heat and transfer to the stand mixer with the whisk attachment and add the salt. Begin to mix on medium-high speed to create a light meringue for 10 minutes.
Mix until the meringue is room temperature and has a stiff peak.
Next, lower the mixer speed to low and add the butter a few cubes at a time until all the butter is incorporated into the meringue.
Then whisk on medium speed until the mixture is silky smooth and has doubled in size. It'll look like freshly whipped butter.
With a rubber spatula, add vanilla extract and food coloring and mix by hand until incorporated.
Finally, place the buttercream into the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to set the buttercream before using it.

(Coral) White Chocolate Feathers

In a small microwavable mixing bowl, melt together mostly white, pink, red, and yellow candy melts in 30-second increments. Mix until you have a coral color.
On a baking tray lined with parchment paper, place a small spoonful of the coral candy melts onto the paper and quickly pull the large offset spatula downwards, creating a feather. Continue to the next coral spoonful and brush down, creating another feather.
Make about 36-48 feathers (just in case a few break). Set aside to dry for 15-20 minutes. To remove the paper's feathers, use the offset spatula to scrape off the dried coral feathers.

Assemble

Remove the cake layers from the freezer and unwrap the cake layers. Next, use a serrated knife to cut off the cakes' dome to make the layers flat and even.
Add a small amount of Swiss Meringue Buttercream onto the center of the cake board. Layer one cake layer, cut side up onto the cake board. Pipe ⅔ cup of buttercream and use an offset spatula to smooth the buttercream layer. Add fresh strawberries on top of the buttercream.
Place another cake layer cut side down over the top. Repeat the process for two more layers — Crumb coat with buttercream and freeze for 30 minutes.
Add a thicker layer of buttercream to the cold cake. Use an offset spatula and cake scraper to make the sides and the top as smooth as possible.
Mix the gold luster dust and clear alcohol like vodka or lemon extract to create a paint consistency.
Carefully paint the edges of each feather with edible gold.
Use a paintbrush to splatter the cake with edible gold.
With the offset spatula, spread a small amount of buttercream on the back of the feathers and place the feather onto the cake's top edge.
Continue this process until the feathers create a cascading effect from the top and work your way down to complete the cake.
Serve the cake at room temperature and use a hot knife to cut and get clean slices.

Notes

Read through all the ingredients and instructions so you can get a better idea of how much time and what you need to make this cake.
A single batch of this cake recipe makes three, 6-inch round cake layers or two 8-inch round cake layers. Double the cake recipe to make enough cake batter for three, 8-inch cake layers.
In this cake recipe, you need 1 cup buttermilk; if you don't have any buttermilk on hand, you can easily use 1 cup whole milk mixed with 1 Tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar to make your own.
To make cake flour at home, mix 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour and ¼ cup cornstarch. Sift or whisk together to get rid of any lumps.
Be careful not to overmix this cake batter, or else the cake will come out dense. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.
You can bake the cake layers ahead of time. Wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze for up to one month.
You can make the buttercream several days ahead of time and refrigerate it for up to one month. Then take them out to come back to room temperature. Make sure the buttercream is at room temperature before re-whipping.
To save time, you can make all the white chocolate feathers ahead of time and wrap the baking trays holding all the decorating in plastic wrap until ready to decorate.
Serve the cake at room temperature and use a hot knife to cut and get clean slices.