It's Showtime

Flowers for the cake.

I especially love the Ebony dahlias.

Today's the big day. It's Jeff and Amy's wedding day and I need to transport, assemble and decorate the cake at the venue.

First thing this morning, I went to the neighborhood florist shop to pick up the flowers. I brought a container with me so that they could be put into water straight away and be kept as fresh as possible.

I also put dowels cut to the height of cakes into the three bottom tiers. The dowels will help support the weight of the stacked cakes. If you don't use dowels, the cakes would be crushed by the weight. A baked, filled and frosted cake is surprisingly heavy.

Six 1/4 inch dowels cut to the height of the cakes are in each of the bottom three tiers.

I am also bringing a sketch I drew of how I want the flowers to be arranged on the cake. Instead of going the traditional route of putting the flowers on the top tier,  I'm going to drape them down the front of the cake, putting the biggest bunch on the bottom right of the third tier. That's going to be the focal point of the decoration.

My handy dandy sketch.

I know this makes me sound crazy but I have been thinking about flower placement pretty much nonstop for the last three days. Arranging flowers artfully and naturally takes thought and consideration.

I'll post a picture tonight of the finished cake.

Wedding Cake Preparations

My wedding cake task list.

This is wedding cake week since I have the honor of making the cake for my friend and fellow Wednesday Community Meal volunteer Jeff's wedding this Saturday.

My kitchen of course is still not in working order because of my remodeling project but my kind sister has come to the rescue. She lives nearby and has prepared her kitchen for me to use. She is even making space in her fridge so that I'll have room for the cake layers to chill.

Initially I had planned for my kitchen to be done by now but the counter top installers are running weeks behind schedule and that's just how it goes. It's a lesson in patience and flexibility. In the grand scheme of things it's not that big of a deal and the show must go on.

There is a lot to do this week so I'm making lists and breaking up the tasks.

Early in the week is devoted just to getting ingredients and supplies and assembling the decorative cake board.

Wednesday is for making the fillings and frosting bases.

Thursday and Friday are just for baking and frosting the cake layers and letting them chill, chill, chill since I'm expecting it to be hot on Saturday when I need transport the cake. I'll transport the cake in layers and then assemble it and add the fresh flower decorations at the venue.

Planning Another Wedding Cake

Sketching and planning the cake.

My friend and fellow Wednesday Community Meal volunteer Jeff is getting married later this month and I have the privilege of making the wedding cake.

He and his fiance are so nice and very easy going. I'm going to make a four-tiered cake and a two layer 14-inch cake and decorate them with fresh flowers. This past Tuesday, I put in my order for the flowers (roses, dahlias and mums) at my neighborhood florist.

Last month, the couple chose a few cake flavors to taste and decided upon pumpkin cake filled with dark chocolate ganache and cream cheese frosting. I teased Jeff that pumpkin was more suited for a Fall wedding but he said, "I don't care. We like pumpkin."

Jeff's right. The bride and groom should get what they want and I have to admit, the combination of cinnamon spiced pumpkin and dark chocolate was pretty great and the pumpkin made the cake super moist. Jeff did agree that the extra 14-inch cake should be vanilla raspberry as another option.

My mission is to please the bride and groom.