When I was 14, out of love and happiness for the engagement a close friend of mine, I volunteered to make the wedding cake. This volunteering of myself ultimately went on to include the volunteering of my mother because of course a wedding cake was a new kind of challenge and adventure and we usually did those things together. Little did I know that would be only the beginning of my amateur cake decorating career.
First, I'm going to tell you that putting together a wedding cake is no easy feat. When you look at the price tag on those store-bought cakes YOU might see your savings account draining before your eyes, but what you don't see is the sweat and the tears that go into making those pieces of mastery....and that's from professionals, with the rest of us there's also blood and swearing....
My Mother's and my experience took several weeks of reading, cake testing, icing exploring, and late nights of laughing till our sides hurt (have to burn off all those calories somehow ;). In the end, after 50 boxes and brands of cake mix (hell no, we weren't doing this from scratch), an equal amount of icing mixes both store bought and homemade, and many sugar headaches later we discovered several things:
- The generic Western Family brand of chocolate fudge cake is WAY better than the Betty Crocker brand. (Visa Versa for the yellow cake...)
- Fondant is just a gross option for not messing with icing.
- In those days, if you wanted a decent royal frosting you had to make it yourself.
- You'll never want to eat cake again.
- Never take it too seriously...especially at midnight when you're trying to finish up that last dozen got-damt rosettes.
My mother and I swore we'd never do it again....
....that lasted about six years. The next cake I did, I did on my own and was for my high school best friend's wedding. This time I needed to up the challenge. This time I did the cake, in a similar style to the one above, AND I was the maid of honor. Yes, along with helping the bride pick out bridesmaids' dresses, find decorations, and many crazy trips to Portland, I also tried to assemble a cake. This one was only partially a success and was where I would learn tip No. 7. I had successfully assembled the cakes and much of the trim on the wedding day...however, my roses were a disaster and I did not have the skill to fix them. Luckily, the bride's aunt was a professional cake decorator and she was able to save the day...thus, tip No. 7:
7. When pre-making icing flowers; let them air dry not freezer harden, otherwise they will melt into little sugar pools when you take the from the icy cool of the freezer to the humid, August heat of the Oregon Coast.
Unfortunately, I have no pics of this cake.
AGAIN, I swore I would never, never, EVER do this again, and managed to make it ten years this time....
....and then my best friend and coworker announced that she was getting married....Annnd, she wanted me to be one of her "Best Persons". This time I thought I was being smart. I was going to make a SMALL cake and....CAKE POPS! How hard could that be? Just a few decorations for a small cake and then dozens of little balls that you dip into chocolate? It can be A LOT harder.
Thanks to Walmart, Royal Icing is now available in little tubs for $2.99. So, the stress of trying to get an icing to the right constancy from scratch being taken off my shoulders....the first thing I did was decide to fill that void by baking the cake from scratch. Along with this, I spent a lot of time running lists with the brides, picking out music, did mental checks, and worked on setup of another surprise I wanted to make for them. On top of that, it was 90 degrees and humid, and making two different things was harder as both needed icing and assembling in different times and in different orders. But it was done....and it was eaten....
I LOVED doing this for my friends....But, I swore I'm NEVER EVER EVER EVER again....
...this lasted one week....
No, I'm not doing a wedding cake, but after talking about devils food cake, raspberry filling, and ganache for the last couple of weeks folks around town began asking about when they were going to see some cake from my kitchen. (This might have also stemmed from me promising cakes and then having them fail....now that I had success, I was going to have to deliver.) So, here it is; the last cake I'm ever making....
....till the next one. :)
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