While the average wedding cake costs around $500 in Australia, this doesn’t always have to be the case.
Crafty home baker, Inthu Siva, shared how she transformed a $4.50 mud cake from Coles into the middle tier of a wedding cake for a friend’s upcoming nuptials.
Her decadent dessert, one that is a three-layered masterpiece, couldn’t look more professional – and it was her first attempt at such a creation.
‘My first ever wedding cake done for a friend using Coles mud cake (middle tier),’ Ms Siva wrote on social media post alongside photos of her cake.
Inthu Siva revealed how she transformed a $4.50 mud cake from Coles in order to create the middle tier of this wedding cake (pictured)
This mud cake from Coles (pictured) was made over using a rainbow confetti and gold dust mixed with vodka
‘As a hobby cake maker [I am] quite pleased with it. First time using a store-bought cake and definitely won’t be the last,’ she added.
Rainbow confetti from Coles (pictured) was used to create a feature on the wedding cake
As to be expected, her creation generated a flurry of comments from those who’d seen the cake online with many questioning Ms Siva about how she created the gold effect.
Ms Siva explained she used a combination of Rolkem Super Gold Dust and Rainbow Confetti which she purchased from Coles for $3.50.
She said she mixed the gold dust with vodka in order to create a paint for the confetti and applied this to the decorations after they were put on the cake.
‘But I realised I needed a generous amount of dust with the right amount of vodka to get the consistency right,’ she wrote.
‘Also two coats did a decent enough job.’
Ms Siva’s creation also inspired others to share how they had ‘hacked’ unfilled sponges from Woolworths to create beautiful cakes
An inexpensive sponge cake from Woolworths, $5, (pictured right) was covered filled with cream and covered with white icing (pictured left) for a simple but elegant wedding cake
Ms Siva’s wedding creation also inspired others to share their clever cake ‘hacks’, ones they’d fashioned using sponge cakes which had been purchased from Woolworths for less than $5.
One revealed how butter icing between layers of a double unfilled cake made for a delectable dessert, especially after it had been covered in white icing and gold and blue ribbon.
Another revealed her two-tier creation, one that used the unfilled sponge as the bottom layer of a double-storied cake.
Textured white icing and a trail of red roses transformed the budget buy into a cake that could easily pass for one that was professionally made.
Another baker revealed how a two-tier creation could be fashioned using the inexpensive sponge as a base
Jade Neil’s wedding cake was the perfect minimalist addition to her dream rustic wedding – but what many don’t know, is that it was whipped up using three Woolworths mud cakes
Another bride-to-be, Jade Neil, revealed how after her $500 wedding cake failed to turn up on her big day, fashioned a stunning creation using three $6 Woolworths mud cakes, Betty Crocker icing and a hessian cutlery holder.
The 26-year-old, who married in 2017, sent social media into overdrive with her photo of the makeshift creation after posting it on the Woolworths Australia Facebook page.
‘Every week when I go food shopping at Woolworths in Townsville, Stocklands I always see the little display of what you can do with a good ol’ Woolies mud cake,’ she wrote alongside the image.
The 26-year-old, whose $500 wedding cake failed to turn up on the big day, sent social media into overdrive with her photo of the makeshift creation (pictured with the cake makers May, left, and Candice, second from left)
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Mrs Neil, from Queensland, said when she found out her expensive wedding cake was a no-show, she was livid.
‘When we arrived at the reception at 6.30pm the caterers said the cake hadn’t arrived and asked me whether I was sure I had ordered it correctly,’ she said.
‘I spoke to the bakers weeks prior about the flowers I wanted on it and had paid them the $500. What made me the angriest though was that when I called them they told me they had no record of me at all.
‘The first hint was that when we did a walk through of the reception venue before the wedding at 1pm, the cake wasn’t there. But I didn’t think anything of it.’
Mrs Neil’s sister-in-law Candice and family friend Aunty May had made their way to Woolworths while the couple were having their photos taken and purchased items
Then, between entrees and mains, the duo put together the dessert and completed the impressive creation by tying a hessian cutlery holder around the middle
‘My wedding was rustic country theme and it just fit in perfectly,’ Mrs Neil, a mother-of-two, said
As the night went on, Mrs Neil had accepted that they would have no wedding cake.
But what she didn’t know was that two quick-thinking family members had raced out to Woolworths to find a replacement.
Mrs Neil’s sister-in-law Candice and family friend Aunty May had made their way to Woolworths while the couple were having their photos taken and purchased three mudcakes, vanilla icing, fresh flowers, a knife and a wooden board for the display.
Then, between entrées and mains, the duo put together the dessert and completed the impressive creation by tying a hessian cutlery holder around the middle.
‘Candice and May were the real heroes of the day, I had no idea they had gone out and done that,’ she said
‘But now we can celebrate every year by buying a mud cake from Woolies!’ She said
‘My wedding was rustic country theme and it just fit in perfectly,’ Mrs Neil, a mother-of-two, said.
‘Candice and May were the real heroes of the day, I had no idea they had gone out and done that.
‘The cake was an absolute hit too – I believe one bridesmaid actually had three or four slices it was that good.’
Despite not getting her dream cake, Mrs Neil was thrilled with the result.
‘The funniest part is I wanted a wedding cake so I could freeze the top tier and we could have it the next year on our anniversary,’ she said.