Wedding cakes and adventures

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of working on the wedding cake of some amazing people. This was a process that took a lot longer than a week. Months of planning and trial runs and classes and fretting culminated in one week of intense baking and execution. How did all of this turn out??

I'm quite happy about it! The bride and groom were too and it was so amazing to watch them cutting into it on the night! People around me were asking if it hurt to watch all my hard work being sliced up but I couldn't have been happier. You see, the real work in this cake had gone into the inside; the combination of flavours and cakes that met the bride and groom's desires, provided an awesome tasting experience and would present perfectly. Well let me tell you that was the challenge! So watching the cake cutting to me represented a moment of pure anticipation on the cusp of knowing whether I had succeeded or not.


So what were the cakes?

Bottom tier - Victoria sponge with a balsamic strawberry preserve and buttercream center covered in a dark chocolate ganache

The middle tier? Light and fluffy carrot cake with a cream cheese filling, covered in a white chocolate ganache and fondant

Herein lay the biggest challenge!! When I attended the wedding cake course this summer I was told unequivocally that I could not do a carrot cake in a wedding cake. However when I presented this idea to the bride she was crestfallen and I just could not accept that so ..........  I figured it out!  

The top tier was traditional fruit cake, covered in marzipan, and I used a traditional family recipe that's a bit lighter than old fashioned fruit cake and keeps all those traditionalists happy.

So three tiers, three different cakes and so so much flavour....

So how was the experience of making a wedding cake? Absolutely amazing!!! I enjoyed every minute of it and apart from one particularly panicked night 2 weeks before the big day, I felt relatively calm and prepared as much as possible, then put it together. The look on the grooms face when he saw the final product and applied the figurines was amazing and seeing the bride so happy about it was all the thanks I needed. They were extremely appreciative, but all I needed was their smiles.

I will definitely hope to make more wedding cakes and am considering going into the cake business officially but until then I will cherish the memories of this bake =)

Wedding Cake course

This past week I had an amazing opportunity. My wonderful bf and parents gifted me with a tiered wedding cake course at Fair Cake London and it was the most enjoyable week. The course included three tiered cakes, as well as flowers and decorations. We learnt amazing techniques and tricks from professional cake bakers and decorators. The instructors were incredibly kind and approachable, willing to discuss anything regarding cake decorating, working with cakes, and wedding cake essentials etc. The pace of the class was intense as we were learning a lot in a short period but yet the instructors were willing to slow down at certain points and help each student with any part they may have been struggling with. So enough gushing, let me show you some of the cakes I made this week -

The Pink Ruffles Cake

The square base provides a nice contrast to the softer ruffles and rounded tiers. The powdered pink finish also softens the look.

The Four-tiered Simple Elegance Cake

And a better look at the rose -

I liked the simple elegance of this, with gold highlighted dots and then the golden rose

The School Board Character Cake

The lesson for the class ;)

The side of the cake tells a story

Love and love and love leads to wedding cake ;)

Large cake decorating is completely new to me and, there was definitely a bit of a learning curve. It was absolutely amazing to have instructors to facilitate the learning process and be there to ask little questions or address little problems. I will definitely continue working with larger cakes and improve my skills and gather new techniques. In the mean time I hope that you enjoy these photos.