I can't believe that Labor Day is right around the corner, and that summer is coming to an end :( This summer was full of surprises, adventures, and lots of love in the air! I was lucky enough to not only attend two wonderful weddings, but was also asked to make their wedding cakes for their special day.
The first wedding cake was for my old friend, Laura. We met back in early 2003, and have been friends since. We used to have our weekly sushi lunches.... I'm getting hungry. She wanted something traditional, but not old fashion; modern, but not too over the top. After a few exchanges of ideas, I showed her a sketch of a buttercream cake with a modern swirled finish. The tiers would be accented with gumpaste and royal icing flowers of her wedding colors. The cakes were torted and filled with strawberry preserve, and crumb coated. I then used a Wilton icing tip and doubled iced the cakes. To achieve the finish, I used a small angled spatula and ran it across the sides in a radiating rainbow motion, and alternating the direction as I go. Make sure to overlap over the end of previous swirls. I did this for all the tiers before stacking them. Once stacked, I piped different borders on each tier. The cake was then accented with gumpaste red poppies and royal icing hydrangeas that were airbrushed with a lavender sheen for some sparkle.
The second cake was for my co-worker and friend, Jenn. This cake was definitely different from any other I've made... only the top tier can be eaten! Jenn, as crazy as it may sound, is not a cake person... I know! Who doesn't love cake?! But, that didn't mean she was skimping on the sweets. She had an entire sweet table, candy buffet, and a popcorn corner! Needless to say, she didn't want to end up with tons of cake. However, she wanted one for show and a top tier for their 1st anniversary. The solution was to have two large dummy layers, and a top tier of scrumptious cake made with pink muscato champagne. We looked through the internet for inspiration, and we decided on a white base with ribbons of grey fondant. The pop of color came from the fantasy yellow flowers that were shaped from gumpaste. No wedding could be complete without lovebirds! The dummy cake layers were first prepped for the fondant by rounding the super sharp corners. I trimmed the corners with an blade to prevent them from tearing into the fondant. They were then misted with water, and then covered. The bottom layer was attached to the cake drum with skewers that I measured and trimmed. I just hammered it through the covered dummy cake until it hit the drum. The middle dummy cake was then attached to the bottom dummy with the same skewer method, except it didn't have reach the cake drum. The top cake tier was torted and filled with champagne buttercream. I cumb coated the cake and covered it in white fondant. The bottom and top tiers were then decorated in the same matter, with winding ribbons of grey. The middle was the canvas to a blossoming tree branch where the lovebirds perched. Due to the top heaviness of the cake (dummy cakes are really light), it is much safer to attach the top tier (which is much heavier) onsite. I simply placed it on top of the dummy layers and attached it with buttercream.
Congrats again to the two couples!!!!
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