The Cake

Lisa and Matt asked me to make their wedding cake.  It was a TON of work but so worth it.  I think everyone liked it and more importantly, I achieved my main goal of it NOT tasting like an ordinary wedding cake but more of a gourmet bakery product.  I'm a firm believer that wedding desserts & specifically cakes, can and should be a unique gourmet experience that reflect the tastes and personalities of the bride and groom--not some generic pulled out of the freezer, from a box concoction that so many  cake decorators pass off as wonderful because of a nicely decorated exterior.  (ok, I won't rant anymore!) 

The bottom tier (14") and weighing in at 47.5 lb (yes I weighed it on my sis-in-law's scale before hauling it to the reception center) was made of dark chocolate cake with a dark chocolate orange ganache between the three layers.  The middle tier (10") and around 28lb was a moist pumpkin coconut with a whipped cream cheese filling.  And last, but definitely not least, was the top 6" tier--three layers of lemon poppy seed pound cake with a lemon cream filling.  Although I'm a chocolate lover at heart, the pumpkin was my favorite.  Lets just say I buy cream cheese in bulk at Costco and any occasion to add cream cheese to ANYTHING is fine by me!  The icing was a white chocolate butter cream.  For you cake connoisseurs out there, it was a basic Swiss mmeringue butter cream with added Guittard white chocolate for a better, less greasy, less buttery flavor.  It also helped stabalize the butter so that even in a warmer indoor climate, there wasn't a risk of the frosting softening and falling.

Moral of the story--cakes take a lot of time--especially with kids and trying to make half of it in Las Vegas and transport it to Utah to finish it up for the reception AHHHH.  The hubby was a single dad for about 4 days and is glad I don't have another sister getting married anytime soon :-)  I'm hoping it will be like labor and delivery--where you remember it not being pleasant but the specifics are dulled enough that you are willing to do it again and again (for his sake).