It seems to be one thing after another in my life these days. I am SO busy!!! First I had the CRHP Renewal Weekend. Then last week I was busy baking cakes and helping make last minute preparations for my niece's wedding on Saturday. Again it's that family tradition of celebrating with family-baked cakes. This time, it was not only the bride's cake but the groom's cake as well. And one of my sisters did all the silk flowers.
We got off to a slow start early in the week because we were looking for identical pairs of earrings for the bridesmaids. We hit 5 Beall's stores in 2 days and found 4 pair - all at different stores. Then we got down to baking the cakes - groom's cake first. We froze the layers so that when we put on the frosting, the cakes wouldn't crumb into the frosting so much. It's a process. What can I say?
The groom's cake was a basic devil's food cake. But it had the most incredible chocolate frosting that was like a thick chocolate amaretto mousse - almost a gnocche. We could have thinned it, but we decided to put on a textured frosting rather than smooth it on. It fit the venue of a wedding in the woods at Angel Mountain. The center of the tiers had a layer of frosting mixed with strawberry jam. Mmmmmm! Good! When we finally put the tiers together, we topped it off with chocolate covered strawberries. Now how's that for decadence?
The bride's cake got a late start too. We were just not getting things off the ground on Wednesday, so I spent the day making batches of white frosting and refrigerating them. So it was Thursday - after getting new hair styles - before the white cakes were baked and frozen.
My sister - the mother of the bride - took a cake decorating class last spring and she used all the technology she learned to make the cakes the best they could be. So the cakes would cook more evenly, it included using moistened bake even strips pinned to the sides of the layers - then wrapped in foil - and rose nails placed in the larger layers. Patricia even timed the mixing of the layers. I'm not sure I would like baking everyday cakes like this, but the finished product was excellent!
We iced the cake with a basic pure white buttercream frosting flavored with almond extract. The layers were filled with frosting mixed with strawberry jam. Once the tiers were stacked, the final touches were added - gum past flowers made by my sisters. The flowers were a mixture of orchids, roses and freesias. They look pretty real, don't you think? The only thing I would have done differently would have been to put pearls of frosting to separate the layers and I would have put the bottom tier directly onto the cake stand.
When all was said and done, the bride and groom were happy and that is all that matters. May this be the first of many cakes that will celebrate their lives together.
This was definitely a family affair.
Mary Ann with her husband, Ken. She arranged all the silk flowers as well as worked on the gum paste flowers for the cake. She also worked on the final assembly of the cakes
Susan, with her husband Kenny. Susan helped make the gum past flowers, added the cocoa to make the chocolate frosting, and she helped frost the cakes.
Karen helped with the gum paste flowers and the final assembly of the cakes. She is her with her husband, Butch.
Sarah, another niece, pictured here with her husband, Daniel, dipped the strawberries and worked on final assembly of the groom's cake.
My son, Chris, with his wife, Diane, who sifted powered sugar for the frosting and ironed table clothes.
Of course, there is my sister, Patricia, the mother of the bride (on the right). I didn't get a photo of her with Ragan at the wedding, so separately will have to do. Too bad I didn't get one of Patricia in her dress. It was beautiful! And so was Belinda's!
Well, actually, I did get one, although it isn't very good of Patricia. I think I was confusing the guys here. They should have been looking at the main photographer. I was just a back-up.
May Belinda and Marshall live happily ever after!
