Cheap and Easy Wedding Cake

This one goes out to all the brides and grooms who want to make their own wedding cake on a shoestring budget and in less than an hour.

EASY: 20-30 minutes to create, no baking required.

CHEAP: I bought all the ingredients for less than AUD$25 at Coles.

$1.35 icing sugar

$1.55 x 2 cans of passionfruit pulp

$4 frozen mixed berries (defrosted in fridge overnight)

$4 whipped cream

$5 x 2 sponge cakes (2 cakes per box)

$4 whipped cream

= $22.45 total

Ingredients:

2 C frozen mixed berries

3 unfilled round sponge cakes

2 x 170g can of passionfruit pulp

250g aerosol whipped cream

1/4 C icing sugar

Utensils:

• Sieve
• 4 dinner plates
• Large chopping knife (NOT cerated)
• Teaspoon
• 2 small bowls
• 1 large wooden skewer

1. Put your bag of frozen mixed berries in the fridge overnight to defrost them.

1. Strain the berries using the sieve. Place the berries in a small bowl.
2. Clean the sieve.
3. Strain the passion fruit pulp thoroughly. Place the pulp it in a small bowl.
4. Clean the sieve and dry it thoroughly. We're going to use it for the icing sugar at the end.

1. Place each sponge on a dinner plate. You should have 3 sponges for a three tiered cake.
2. Draw out a cutting circle on 2 of the cakes. I used a skewer but you can use whatever you like. The top tier should have a small circle and the middle tier should have a circle approximately 1.5cm in from the edge of the cake.
3. Using the large chopping knife, cut the middle tier sponge and the top tier sponge down to size. Regularly clean the knife of any excess cake as this will keep the edges of the tiers smooth.

MY TIP: Dust off any crumbs by gently whipping a clean tea towel over the cake. Sounds funny but it works better than using your fingers.

1. Using the chopping knife again, chop each sponge in half horizontally. Please each sponge back on their own plate. This is to prevent them sticking to each other and crumbling.

MY TIP: Hold the edge of the cake in one hand and slide the knife halfway through (not all the way through). Then roll the cake away from your and continue gently slicing through until you come back to where you started. Make sure you keep the knife centred along the side of the sponge.

1. Lay the bottom layer down and spread passionfruit pulp over it using a teaspoon.
2. Cover the passionfruit with whipped cream. Place extra around the edge so that it spills out slightly and looks yummy.
3. Place the next layer of sponge on top and repeat until you place the smallest top tier piece on.

The layers go like this:

1. Sponge
2. Passionfruit pulp
3. Whipped cream. Repeat.

MY TIP: I regret not putting more cream on my cake. Don't have regrets like me. Go cream crazy because it looks so much better that way.

MY TIP: Reinforce the cake structure by cutting a skewer down to size and sticking it through the centre. The end of the skewer should just come through the bottom of the top piece of sponge but it should not poke though to the visible top of the cake.

1. Five minutes before serving, place berries all over the cake. I recommend pressing down on them a little so they don't roll around.
2. Spoon any extra berry juice and berries over the top and around the plate. This makes it look like you actually know what you're doing. Maybe you should be on Masterchef after this?
3. Dust icing sugar all over the cake using the sieve, tapping gently on the side of it. Scraping the sieve with a spoon with get more through it but be careful you don't smother it.

MY TIP: If you do this final step too early, the berries will soak through the cake and the icing sugar will be absorbed (and disappear) into the berries. So at your wedding, ask a good mate or the catering staff to complete this final step for you just before cake time.