Crazy, I know. Here it is June and I've only done one wedding cake for the year thus far; that's just the way things go sometimes. I've had plenty of other things on my schedule to keep me busy though, so no worries.
Since it has been a while since my last foray into wedding land, I had somewhat forgotten how stressful wedding cake orders can be. Lulled into a comfort zone, perhaps? And, while I take every cake I create very seriously, wedding cakes bring a special kind of worry with them; this one was no exception.
But, first! The groom's cake, which I absolutely loved and had great fun creating. This was the first time I have ever made 3D objects using a 2D mold - make the two halves, put them together, blend the seams, yadda, yadda - I wont' bore you with the details...it was an adventure, to say the least.
Pretty nifty, eh? Here's a close up of some of the chess pieces:
Oh, and did I mention the squares on the board were also made from chocolate? And the cake was chocolate? Complete chocolaty chess goodness!
Now, about the wedding cake.
I may have mentioned, but I'm not the biggest fan of fondant covered cakes; I prefer buttercream finished with fondant accents. True, I might come to love covering cakes with fondant if I practice the process a little more, and one of these days when I have the time, I'll take the "good 'ol college try" at perfecting the process, but for now, fondant covered cakes and I will continue our love/hate relationship.
This cake is a perfect example of the above mentioned relationship...it was fondant covered AND included an extended tier; double whammy! It took me over 3 hours, several aborted attempts and restarts, and lots of patience to cover the extended tier to my liking. (Luckily, the other two tiers played nice and covered in mere minutes!) And, additional lesson learned - always insert your separator plates/legs soon after covering the cake with fondant; waiting until the next morning will result in cracks in the fondant. *sigh* Luckily, I'm a pretty good repair-woman, the cracks were nearly invisible when I was finished!
Oh, and before I reveal the cake... What? I have to keep the suspense up!
Anyways, before I reveal the cake, I have to share the absolute best remodel decision I ever made, and I wasn't even caking at the time I made the decision! Haha!
Yes...that is one of my kitchen cabinet doors. And, yes, I am utilizing the wire mesh front panel (that I chose not to back with anything during the remodel, score!) as a drying rack for gumpaste hydrangeas. Who needs a fancy store bought drying rack when I've got 15 cabinet doors available? Side note - please excuse the mess that is the interior of the cabinet.
So, are you ready to see the wedding cake? By now you know it was fondant finished, three tiers, and included the color blue.
Here it is. Tah-dah!
The bride was supremely pleased with the finished cake, and it certainly drew plenty of attention while my helper (Hi, Madre!) and I were finishing the set-up at the reception room. All the floral work was hand-made using gumpaste (yep...made by my hands!) and took several days to complete; the borders were fabric ribbon that matched the main color of the wedding.
Here's a closer look at some of the flowers, which included roses, hydrangeas, stephanotis, stylized dogwoods, and several types of leaves. The colors were a bit brighter than they appear in the photos, but, as is so often the case with wedding reception locations, it was fairly dark in the room. One of the drawbacks of having to finish a cake on site - not always good lighting for taking photos!
Talk to you soon!
Oh! And a shout out to my eldest sister for helping me load the cake for transport to the reception location. It wouldn't have gotten there without her assistance!
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