So at 1 a.m. we finished making the buttercream frosting, Fuzz left and we decided to wait until morning to frost the cakes. LLT wrapped all the cakes up except the carrot cake, which we knew from experience could last five days on a counter and still be moist.
I woke up at 7:30 and started to think about rolling over and going back to sleep. Instead I decided I should get up and make coffee since LLT was really dragging before she went to bed and I figured if she hadn't woken me up yet she was probably still asleep. So I made her expresso and started frosting the carrot cake. When I took LLT coffee I found she was already up and soon she joined me in the kitchen. While I frosted the carrot cake she added chocolate and coffee to our favorite buttercream recipe. When it was time to add the second layer to the carrot cake (yes, we were insane enough to make all of the tiers two layered) we started collecting spatulas so we could flip the cake. LLT found the largest one which looked rusty so she decided to wash it. While washing it she remembered that it was ACTUALLY a knife. This of course happened when she cut her palm. It wasn't any deeper than a paper cut which was really good, but still is an issue.
Once she was done making the chocolate frosting, I started frosting the chocolate tiers and she made LLT eggs (scrambled eggs with thyme and cheese) and maple sausage patties. Then she started working on rolling out the fondant. It seems like we end up buying some piece of equipment or other with every cake. This time it was a set of square cake pans and a large sheet of silicone material designed for rolling fondant. This turned out to be a pretty good purchase and we actually want to get another one to make the flipping easier. I had bought a five pound bucket of fondant she was being very frugal since we weren't sure we had enough. Sure enough, by the time she got to the 12 inch tier I was glad that I had some left from a previous project. We added a pound and ended up heating the fondant in the microwave for about 25 seconds with a moist towel over it so that LLT was able to work with it better.
Every time LLT would finish rolling out the fondant and covered a cake I would box it up so when we finished the last cake at 11 am we were basically able to load the car. I hopped in the shower, washed my hair and was actually dressed in about 10 minutes. I could never have done that when I had long hair. :)
We finished loading and were able to leave about noon. We were actually only an hour later than what we had planned, so we were doing pretty good.
We got to the site in time to see the bride and groom arrive for a brief fly by visit to make sure things were set up okay. The staff of the club was wonderful and helped us move a table into the hall for the cake and found us another table cloth. They saved us some greens from the decorations so we could have them on the table.
frederich helped us carry everything into the hall and then cut the dowels for each layer. Once we got the entire cake stacked we shooed him off to read his book while we painted the cake. Yep, you read right, we hand painted the entire cake. I think it turned out pretty well, though I would have LOVED to have a stiple sponge. I think I'm going to get one because I think it would have made a good tool for marbeling. The hall was about half full by the time we got the cake completely painted (for those who are wondering we used luster and petal dusts with a little congac as a fixative). Then we decorated the cake table with candles, leaves and small pieces of fruit. We also decorated the cake with grapes, blackberries and raspberries. We were pretty happy with how the cake turned out and throughout the day I kept seeing Cussata pointing us out. When I gave her a hard time she said that it was because everyone kept talking about the cake and she was pointing out who made it.
We got
frederich to take some pictures. The only problem with the set up really was that the cake seemed to be compressing in the back. Everyone who looked at the cake (besides us) seemed to be afraid that it would collapse. In hind sight, I think that was at least in part because the carrot cake, which was on the bottom, wasn't level to begin with. Since we were stacking layers anyway I suggested putting the highest point of that layer in the front. This of course, made it look like the cake was sinking slightly. After the bride and groom cut the cake, the club staff cut the slices for everyone. This was really cool, since it is the first time we haven't cut the cake since our first wedding cake two years ago.
I generally judge how well a cake is received by walking around and seeing how many half pieces of cake are left. In spite of the slices being a lot bigger than we usually cut them, I saw very few pieces go uneaten. Those seemed to be in the possession of people who had already had a slice. Since we made two different flavors of cake, a lot of people went back for seconds. It was really cool since we usually have cake left over. This time, when we left there were only about 5 and a half slices left unserved - and all of those were carrot. The bride and groom didn't even get to keep their 6 inch top tier which we plan to be extra. There were less people then expected at the wedding (somewhere about 80) and we had made cake for about 150 yet there were only five pieces left. This was REALLY cool.
