Saturday's wedding cakes were the first of the season to be made and delivered on a really hot day.
They also were both cakes that had a lot of decorative piping, which is not my thing so I have to work extra hard and spend extra time. I started early and kept good control of the kitchen and cake temperature all day. Another complication was my lack of refrigerator space. I intended to have two refrigerators this season but when we went to use the second, found out that it had stopped working. It's a good thing I bought a brand new one last winter or the demise of that one (that I took out of my kitchen when the new one arrived) would have left me in a world of hurt. With some shuffling, I managed to keep both of these cakes in the refrigerator in each phase of their construction. I'm glad I started early because the piping was problematic. Between the occasional lump in the chocolate plugging the decorator tip, to the consistency changes with temperature, and of course my own self-flagellation about the execution, I re-piped several parts.
The bride wanted "lace" on this cake. I've never piped lace before. After several hours and a redesign or two, I was satisfied. (I straightened out that piece of ribbon on the bottom after this photograph.)
My car was nicely cool and the AC was miraculously working. The delivery drive was very, very stressful. At 52 mph, in a 55 zone, I had a line of cars following me down the mountain, including a sheriff's car, fer cryin' out loud. This is why I put a
Fleur Cakes~Wedding Cakes decal on the back of my car! Maybe it should say,
Back off! Cake on Board! Or
After twenty hours of work I'm not speeding up!
Delivery #1 went perfectly and the cake was in perfect condition. Delivery #2, not so much. The steep, bumpy driveway to the vineyard location was the worst part of all. It jiggled and rocked the cake and caused the weight of the roses to pull on the many layers of cream filling.
This is how it arrived. Can you tell it is starting to sag under the weight of the very expensive, blush and peach colored roses? I stole a couple more roses from some arrangements in the venue and covered up the worst parts. Then I asked the coordinator to please serve the cake earlier rather than later. The lovely bride complimented the cake and seemed to be very pleased so I guess that is what counts the most.
The funny thing is, after all the hours spent on these cakes, baking, filling, icing, decorating, delivering...they don't exist any more! Except in memory and photos....
