Saturday, May 29, 2010

A Peruvian Wedding Cake

I first met with Paola and Xavier about making their wedding cake almost a year ago. They came in for a tasting and consultation last summer. While they loved all of the samples I gave them, Paola had her heart set on having a traditional Peruvian wedding cake. I usually have a strict policy against using any recipes but my own, but the Pastry Chef in me was curious about this traditional recipe. I agreed to work with them to try and give them their traditional Peruvian wedding cake.

Paola sent me recipes for the “Torta de Nueces” and the “Manjar Blancperuvian cake 001o” filling. I did a trial run of the recipes and was not happy with the results. The cake was too light and crumbly and the filling was so thick I couldn’t spread it between the layers. I could picture the servers from Sage Catering (the caterers for the wedding) trying to cut and serve this cake. It was not a pretty picture.

I re-worked the recipe to make the cake a little denser and the filling a little softer. I also split the cake into four layers instead of the traditional two layers. This way there would be three thinner layers of the filling, which I generally prefer.

Over the holidays Paola and Xavier picked up a small sample cake and they were happy with the result.

I delivered the cake to Appleford Estate in Villanova yesterday. It looked so pretty in the garden setting. I hope Paola, Xavier and their guests enjoyed their traditional Peruvian wedding cake. I sure had fun creating it!

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