Orange is such a great colour don't you think? (notice my spelling of colour, eh. I've just returned last night from Canada) However, in wedding cake vernacular I preferred to call it 'cantaloupe'. Doing so gave me 'vision' for the project.
I had fun doing a photo shoot of the photo shoot. That's why I took the inferior backgrounds -like the ghastly blue chair violating this shot and the photographer herself in the shot below. Can't photoshop do something about those things?
The dozens of hand painted blossoms on the cake were done with sisters in Canada and traveling in the car - thanks Kathi and Keli and Cheri. Niece Anna helped too before I left.
I just love weddings. Ahhh.
Trivia: How long does it take to decorate a cake such as this? Just in case you REALLY want to know read on (this may be painful to some, so don't say I didn't warn you. . .
PERSONAL ESSAY
Answer: 11 1/2 hours. That's AFTER: the consultation and designing, drawing, assembling supplies, shopping, baking, cleaning up several times, hand painting and molding each blossom, transport and set -up. Those hours INCLUDE: whipping up a quadruple recipe of buttercream icing, smoothing that over each tier, mixing and kneading 3 batches of fresh marshmallow fondant, rolling out and smoothing to perfection, setting in place the 'hardware' so this 40 pound cake can be stacked and transported and not fall into itself or onto anybody, the placement and glueing of each tiny detail. I TOLD you this would be painful So why do I do it? Answer: The creative challenge and pleasure is inspiring. The interesting, wonderful people I get to meet. The fragrance of baking cake and sweet buttercream and marshmallow fondant make my creative heart sing. The colors, and feel of the fondant under my hands is sweet indeed. I never dreamed that hours of Christmas fun at our Mother's kitchen table with Keli, molding and shaping salt dough, with an eye for the tiniest detail would develop into an art that others want and pay me for. Some have asked me at the weddings if it is hard to see the cake cut up and destroyed. The answer is no, never. It (the cake) was created for a moment of beauty, a symbol of the sweet, ennobling promise just made. Seeing it with our eyes is only part of the pleasure of having one at a wedding. Tasting it, sharing it, taking it in - that's an important part of the experience too! Besides, a photo preserves it forever and no one has to wonder where to put the durn thing!
Trivia: How long does it take to decorate a cake such as this? Just in case you REALLY want to know read on (this may be painful to some, so don't say I didn't warn you. . .
PERSONAL ESSAY
Answer: 11 1/2 hours. That's AFTER: the consultation and designing, drawing, assembling supplies, shopping, baking, cleaning up several times, hand painting and molding each blossom, transport and set -up. Those hours INCLUDE: whipping up a quadruple recipe of buttercream icing, smoothing that over each tier, mixing and kneading 3 batches of fresh marshmallow fondant, rolling out and smoothing to perfection, setting in place the 'hardware' so this 40 pound cake can be stacked and transported and not fall into itself or onto anybody, the placement and glueing of each tiny detail. I TOLD you this would be painful So why do I do it? Answer: The creative challenge and pleasure is inspiring. The interesting, wonderful people I get to meet. The fragrance of baking cake and sweet buttercream and marshmallow fondant make my creative heart sing. The colors, and feel of the fondant under my hands is sweet indeed. I never dreamed that hours of Christmas fun at our Mother's kitchen table with Keli, molding and shaping salt dough, with an eye for the tiniest detail would develop into an art that others want and pay me for. Some have asked me at the weddings if it is hard to see the cake cut up and destroyed. The answer is no, never. It (the cake) was created for a moment of beauty, a symbol of the sweet, ennobling promise just made. Seeing it with our eyes is only part of the pleasure of having one at a wedding. Tasting it, sharing it, taking it in - that's an important part of the experience too! Besides, a photo preserves it forever and no one has to wonder where to put the durn thing!