My First Wedding Cake!

A year or so ago I offered to make my Niece's wedding cake, at the time she wanted cheese cake for 40. I thought that that was something I could do no problem. Well, the plans changed a little and the cake changed from cheese cake to Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Butter Cream. I have to say RV cake is not one of my favorites and was not something I had a "go to" recipe for...eeek! And the count changed from 40 to 100.

I panicked at first, but I am never one to walk away from a challenge - and besides she was depending on me!

So here is what I came up with - Red Velvet cake layered with Cheese Cake instead of butter cream. I am ever a cheese cake fan, and was determined that she would get the cheese cake she originally wanted. I kept this secret until the day I brought the tasting cake to Jess and Tony.

The Tasting Cake

I was so pleased when they saw the cake and Jess said it was perfect! Sigh, I was terrified that they would think my design was too simple...I was even more thrilled when I told Jess that I had layered cheese cake with the red velvet - she actually clapped her hands and said "cheese cake cheese cake cheese cake" with the biggest smile I have ever seen. Well, I'll tell ya I almost started to cry - I had hit exactly what she wanted! Another huge sigh of relief!

Practice Practice Practice - the form

I worked up a form so I could get it just right. (If you want a perfect form made to order by a really nice vendor try www.thefoamstudio.com). The wedding was to be outside in the middle of August so as you might have guessed the butter cream was kind of a problem! Well, I decided that I would try my hand at fondant...I know I know fondant tastes like (as my step son puts it) a$$. So I was pretty worried - I scoured the web looking for some direction and I found a website - cakesupplies4u.com. I called them and they were super helpful - recommended a few different kinds and steered me clear of Wilton (which I had tasted and yes it does taste like a$$). I tried two, Satin Ice and Fondarific. I went for the Satin Ice - I liked the flavor and it was a much whiter white...just my humble opinion.

Can I just say that The Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes make fondant look WAY easier than it really is!!! OMG my first attempt at covering the six inch layer ended up thrown across the room! Fondant is definitely an art and I don't recommend to anyone to try to teach yourself on a wedding cake that you need to serve the next day!!! I did get the hang of it - after what, 10 teirs? Ya I had to do some slicing cakes because I made the display cake out of foam...like I said August, outside - we wanted the actual cakes for eating kept cool. So there were the tiers for the display, plus the one for the Bride and Groom to cut, plus 5 10 inch cakes for serving. I had made an extra to serve because there was a danger of there being more than 100 guests...

Once I got the hang of things - about tier number 3, I think, it went fairly quickly, but the whole thing still took me 5 hours...They were not all perfect - the foam tiers were much easier to work with than the 5 butter cream coated tiers - but they were pretty darned good if I do say so my self!!! I was proud and pleased and REALLY sore when I was done. If anyone tells you rolling out 20 pounds of fondant ain't a workout they are wrong! My arms ached for 2 days!!

The roses - which arrived 3 days early...

I ordered the flowers from Costco, there were a few problems though. Costco recommends that you order your flowers to be delivered a day before you need them - I called and was told this. That's all well and good but, they also reserve the right to deliver you flowers earlier than your delivery date - THAT'S not in the fine print and they did not tell me that when I called. Anyway, the flowers showed up on Wednesday and I did not need them until Saturday...and it wad freakin' 90 degrees outside! The arrive cut and not in water so keep that in mind. I followed the directions to a tee - cut off 1-2 inches and place in warm water (I used cool water) with some preservative. I placed them in my office with the AC at 64 and the door closed. I figured I was good to go. Well when I looked the next morning they had all opened!!!!! That photo was taken on Thursday. Well I panicked and called every place I could think of to find a cooler to put them in...Thank you Country Trails Antiques in Hubbardston for emptying out a soda cooler and allowing me to use it! They saved this cake! The flowers stopped opening and were much the same Saturday morning as they were Thursday.

I did call Costco and complain and they did send me new flowers, but the flowers I had ordered originally were not available and so they sent me the closest thing...Those flowers arrived at 11:30 Saturday morning and were tea roses - WAY too small and pretty much dead...Not their fault they tried...They have made restitution and I will try them again - just not in the summer!!!!

The Cake!!

The cake was finally finished and we drove it the hour and a half up to New Hampshire - AC blasting and me hugging the darned thing like a baby so it would not tip...Well, it did tip a little and then a little more going down the steps but all in all I am proud of my first Wedding Cake and might even try another one...just as soon as I recover from the first one - in about a year!!!

Congratulations Jess and Tony!

Thank you for letting me a part of your special day!!!