I successfully made a wedding cake!
I made this. Really. I kind of can’t believe I did it. Planning the cake and buying the supplies and test baking kept me busy for weeks and weeks. Many test cakes were baked and frosted (and many samples were taken to both my office and the boyfriend’s office). Some test cakes were covered in fondant. Two of them were even stacked on top of each other just to make sure that we knew what we were doing for the real thing. Despite all of the samples and tests, I have to admit that I doubted I was going to be able to pull this off…right up until the morning of the wedding.
This cake was made for my younger sister’s wedding. She asked me to bake the cake shortly after she got engaged. I’m not going to lie…the thought of it kind of scared the dickens out of me when she asked. But I happily agreed to do it and hoped that I wouldn’t fail her on her big day.
I’m now proud to say I didn’t fail her. We (the boyfriend was a huge help in the entire endeavor) did it! A three tier wedding cake was successfully baked, decorated and transported an hour’s drive from my house.
Details about the cake: Each layer is a different flavor. The top was carrot cake with caramel buttercream frosting, the middle was red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and the bottom was amaretto cake with amaretto buttercream frosting and a layer of strawberry jam. The bride and groom chose the carrot and red velvet layers and I chose the amaretto. All 3 layers were covered in a thin layer of vanilla buttercream and all of the layers were covered in Wilton fondant. Contrary to what you think you know about fondant, Wilton fondant is actually edible. I’ll even go so far as to say that it’s kind of tasty.
The ribbons around the cake were picked out by the bride. The flowers were a last minute decision that really worked. My mom grew all of the flowers used for the wedding and did all of the arrangements herself. The night before the wedding I asked her for a handful of flowers “just in case” I needed them for the cake. My other sister, Tasha, lent some moral support while were assembling the cake and arranged the flowers for me.
That’s all I’ve got for now. I might write a longer post later with more cake making details.
And just in case you’re interested in seeing something other than the cake (the bride perhaps?), here’s a slideshow of the handful of photos of the wedding I’ve shared on Flickr thus far. There will be more…many, many more. Probably a zillion more to be exact.
Monday, 27. July 2009 21:34
This cake is beautiful! You should be proud of yourself – it’s a lot of work. Congrats!
Monday, 27. July 2009 21:56
This is gorgeous!
Tuesday, 28. July 2009 0:54
So beautiful! Nice job.
Tuesday, 28. July 2009 8:24
What a beautiful cake. I love the fact the family made & grew things for the wedding, makes it much more special
Tuesday, 28. July 2009 8:55
It’s stunning! The ribbon and flowers look brilliant! Well done.
Also, I’m dying to know more about that amaretto cake layer and the caramel buttercream for the carrot cake. YUM!
Tuesday, 28. July 2009 9:20
WOW!!
This cake is beautiful!
Tuesday, 28. July 2009 13:24
What a beautiful cake! I was just at a wedding where the cake was “homemade” and it was very lumpy…yours is perfect!
Tuesday, 28. July 2009 14:33
Oh, wow. The cake is so lovely. I bet it was so fun to make.
Were did you get the recipes for the different cake layers?
Tuesday, 28. July 2009 16:34
Saw this on serious eats, its totally beautiful! Well done, it looks completely professional and flawless!
Tuesday, 28. July 2009 18:39
Amazing! I told you already (on Twitter, I think? or Flickr) but it’s gorgeous!
I’d have been a nervous wreck during that hour-long ride!
Monday, 3. August 2009 15:16
Truly amazing job! I made my own wedding cake almost 7 years ago and, while it tasted great, it didn’t look nearly as gorgeous as this one. Bravo!
Sunday, 9. August 2009 12:38
Jeremy actually *loved* fondant and was disappointed when he realized the slices I brought home after the wedding didn’t have any fondant on them.
I think I need to put in an order for an amaretto cake with fondant for the 4th annual McWeiland Chili Cook-Off in October.
Saturday, 29. August 2009 6:23
Wow! nice decoration and wrapping. There is nothing good gift rather than home made cake.