Vertical Lines Buttercream Luxury Wedding Cake
This Vertical Lines Buttercream Luxury Wedding Cake is one of my all-time favorites (for a lot of reasons) and I’m gonna share all the details, including how to make vertical lines on a buttercream cake.
When I shared this on Facebook, I got several questions and I thought I’d answer them here for any of you. If you have a question I don’t answer, leave me a comment!
What size are the wedding cake tiers?
Here are the sizes for this wedding cake:
- 5-inch tier, 5 inches tall
- 7-inch tier, 5 inches tall
- 9-inch tier, 6 inches tall
- 11-inch tier, 5 inches tall
- 13-inch tier, 10 inches tall
- 15-inch tier, 10 inches tall
In other words, it was a big, BIG cake. I don’t know the total weight, but the bottom three tiers alone weighed about 65 pounds and the bottom tier was a Styrofoam (dummy) cake. I cannot fathom what the whole thing weighed or would’ve weighed had it been all cake.
What flavors were the cake tiers?
- 5-inch tier: Lemon Cake
- 7-inch tier: White Almond Sour Cream Cake
- 9-inch tier: White Almond Sour Cream Cake
- 11-inch tier: Butter Cake
- 13-inch tier: Lemon Cake
- 15-inch tier: Dummy Tier
All tiers were filled and frosted with cream cheese buttercream ⬅️the best recipe!!
How many servings was the Vertical Lines Buttercream Wedding Cake?
The wedding cake had 234 servings. If the bottom 15-inch tier had been real, it would’ve been over 400 servings.
How did you do the vertical lines on the cake?
This is a great question. When the bride showed me an inspirational photo of the vertical combed buttercream design (or ribbed buttercream design) she wanted (this photo, to be exact), I spent quite a bit of time looking for a comb that would do what I wanted. I ended up buying this small Wilton comb set and this scalloped comb from Evil Cake Genius.
After trying both, I decided on one of the the smaller Wilton combs. But after doing four tiers… I realized it just wasn’t looking like I wanted it to. The texture wasn’t deep or significant enough on such a large cake. So I added more buttercream, smoothed them down, and started over with the slightly bigger comb.
It was exactly the look I wanted and both my husband and Sarah agreed it was the right choice. This was a new design and texture for me and I love it when I get to do new things… so this was right up my alley!
How did you assemble the cake?
A few people have asked about the assembly, so here are some step-by-step photos and explanations. You can also see the video above.
At home, I assembled the bottom 3 tiers onto the drum it would be presented on and doweled it.
This consisted of first gluing the dummy cakes (two 15-inch drums, each 5 inches tall and glued together) to the bottom drum, then covering it with cream cheese buttercream.
For the remaining tiers, they were frosted in buttercream and chilled before the following steps (no texture yet).
For the 13-inch tier, I had two layers of cake (with filling) on a cake board. I placed about 16 bubble tea straws in it (spaced about 2 inches apart). Then I stacked another two layers of cake (with filling in between) on another cake board.
I placed the second cake onto the first cake (making a ‘double-barrel’ cake), then stacked and centered that onto the 15-inch dummy cake.
And then I placed the 11-inch cake on top of the 13-inch cake. I measured the total height (including the drums and cakes with frosting) and cut a dowel the length needed. Then I put a center dowl all the way through from top-to-bottom.
I repeated this (separately) for the top three tiers (the 5-inch, 7-inch and 9-inch tiers) except I didn’t cut the dowel off. I left it tall sticking out of the cake so I could remove it at the venue.
Once the two separate sections were assembled, I used the small scalloped comb to do the texture on all the tiers. I started at the bottom, held the comb perpendicular to the cake, and scraped upward. Then I used a small pallet knife to smooth out and remove any extra frosting on the top edge of each tier.
I transported all of the assembled parts in my Cake Porter boxes.
Okay… so now for a video of the steps and lots of pictures.
Video
Step-by-Step Tall Wedding Cake Assembly
- First, my husband Richy carried in the top three tiers and left them on the table next to the groom’s cake (sneak peek for you… it was 100% edible as well). Once he set the cake down, I pulled the dowel up and out of the bottom drum and slid this huge cake spatula underneath it.
- Then he carried in and placed the bottom three tiers on the cake stand. Yes, we drove this assembled cake for about a 40-minute drive in my Cake Porter boxes (this is the only way I transport cakes these days!).
- Next, he stared at it for a solid 3 minutes trying to catch his breath and mentally prepare to put the top tiers on the cake 😉
- Now it was time to place the top three tiers. He picked up the top cakes, and then we both climbed on stools. With my guidance, we slid the top three tiers off the cake lifter onto the bottom three tiers. And it could not have gone more smoothly.
- He can breathe now – and I’m a happy girl! We were both SUPER stressed about this cake so it was a relief that it was maybe one of the easiest assemblies ever – Praise the Lord!! That was an answered prayer and I’m so grateful that my friends were praying for us!!
- Then it was time to secure the top three tiers to the bottom three tiers. The hubby grabbed my hammer for me and I hammered it in – be extra careful not to miss the mark and put a hole through the top of the cake (been there, done that – not kidding!).
- Fully assembled – before flowers:
- Elaina Anders Designs did most of the flowers but I did the topper and a few final touches. Richy had to point out “holes” on top that needed flowers and I had to blindly place them… that was a little scary, but we’re a great team. I’m no florist but I do love decorating a cake!
- Then more flowers being added to the top from a stool with Richy standing by to support me and also pointing out empty spots I needed to fill (but couldn’t see). I was placing some of them blindly with his help. I love this man so much!!
- And then the final touches…
Vertical Lines in Buttercream Wedding Cake
Here are lots of pictures of the finished cake with the ribbed buttercream texture. OH – my 16-year-old son Christian served as an extra set of hands and photographer for the delivery and set up. He did a fantastic job!!
I’ve always wanted to do a wedding cake that was surrounded by flowers and this set- up was a dream come true. Elaina did a phenomenal job with this floral display!!
The lighting inside The Lodge was not great but Christian overcame that in most photos (you’ll notice some are a little grainy and dark). This one below of the backside of the cake is no exception (as far as being dark), but I love that the lines are more visible here:
The Wedding cake you made is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!! You are so talented.
All the best to you!
Thank you! xx
Beautiful!!!
Thanks!!
Oh my goodness, this is INCREDIBLE! You’re so talented!
Thank you so much!
do you have a recipe for the cake layers and frosting for this size cake? I want to make it for an anniversary party.
Aaaack – I forgot the recipes! I added a section in the post and linked to them!!
That is beautiful! What a gorgeous table to setup the cake. Haven’t done a large wedding cake in years, but always seeing the finished product makes you feel proud you can accomplish such a feat.
The cake is huge but awesome. You are certainly my go to place for baking and decorating and I recommend you to a lot of my friends. Thanks for all the wonderful helpful hints too.
thanks for info.