"Got hitched. Reception at my place, Saturday night. You in?"
Impromptu wedding celebration? Hell yeah, I'm in!
"Y'all got a wedding cake yet?" I asked. "Nope," he replied, "Feel free to bring one!"
That was all the excuse I needed. I put down the phone, picked up my coat and hustled over to the cooking supply store to pick up the necessary provisions - fondant, cake boxes and a teeny little flower shaped cookie cutter. I know it's totally crazy, but I have been fighting off this insane impulse to bake my own wedding cake. I know that a last minute DIY project is the last thing I need, and our venue would probably never even go for it, but... I totally want it! And I figured that baking this cake for my friends would probably give me a pretty good idea about whether a DIY wedding cake would be a complete disaster... or maybe not so crazy after all.
On my way home, though, I started to get a little nervous. Though I'm a pretty experienced baker, I've never even tried to pull off a tiered cake before - and my cake decorating skills, though improved through lots of practice, are still not the best. But hey - a free cake is a free cake, and one can only expect so much on twenty-four hour's notice. Besides, I had a feeling there would be enough champagne and good cheer around to make even the cruddiest cake look like Sylvia Weinstock herself decorated it!
One day, two-and-a-half pounds of butter and five zillion rejected fondant flowers later, I unveiled my masterpiece:
Okay, so I'm probably not getting my own Cake Boss-style TV show anytime soon, but it certainly could have been worse! The bride and groom were thrilled and the other guests seemed suitably impressed. Most important, the cake was delicious. I used a Smitten Kitchen recipe for the cake, which was perfect beyond belief - sweet, buttery and dense enough to hold up to stacking. In the interest of saving time, the frosting was a standard butter-and-powdered-sugar buttercream - not the velvety, indulgent French buttercream I usually whip up for cakes, but a whole lot easier to make. Final verdict? I'd call this mission a success... but now I know that I am definitely not up to the task of baking my own wedding cake. It's way too much stress for the week before the wedding - and try as I might, I just couldn't make it look professional enough to satisfy my tastes.
But would I do it again for another friend's elopement? Absolutely. Because getting paid in champagne is all right with me!
I think it turned out really cute, and far better than anything I could ever come up with. Although I would love to be able to learn to make and decorate cakes better before we have kids, so I can make their birthday cakes.
ReplyDeleteAnd just letting you know, I'm Miss Ariel on weddingbee!
Aww, thanks! I've found Youtube video tutorials really helpful - not that you can tell from this cake, but I learned how to make icing nice and smooth by watching tutorials. :)
DeleteLike everything, it just takes practice - and even if it's not perfect, it's still delicious!
Oh, and I'm KatieBklyn on weddingbee!
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