Every baker has her day...

Yes, I create cakes as a job. Yes, I always deliver my cakes on time. Yes, I'm proud of my work....but it doesn't always go as smoothly as it seems. If you've ever watched "Ace of Cakes" or "DC Cupcakes" then you've probably witnessed their stress or one cake collapse. It's just part of the business. When you work with sugar it doesn't want to stay- it wants to pull away, separate, melt, etc. So here I am admitting I've had my fair share of mishaps, forgotten steps and fondant failure. When that happens it ends up like this: 

But as I've told myself hundreds of times, "it's just cake. It's not the end of the world". Go ahead and get any tears out you need to. Give yourself a little break. Then come back and start over. I know it's not what you want to happen, but it just does. And it's ok. This is why I watch cake shows - as horrible as it sounds it's nice to see them stress out and see their $1,000 creations collapse. It makes me feel better :) 

But it's usually fixable. In this case my fondant didn't go on right....grrr...yes, still a lil bitter about it. But I went back and removed all fondant and cut the cake underneath (a crucial step). This is what it looked like- a bit bare:

But it turned out like this:

Hopefully this will inspire someone not to give up. Everyone has challenges, but you can work through them....even if it keeps you up till 2 am multiple nights in a row. In the end, it'll all work out and maybe it'll turn out beautiful. 

It's done!

Phew.... once I stepped back from the table and admired the wedding cake I had just assembled I wanted to jump for joy. There is a lot of work and a lot of stress that goes into a wedding cake. And this cake just happened to be delivered on Friday the 13th.... (insert twilight zone music here). 

As you can imagine the stress goes beyond the date on the calendar. It's from the being up late at night baking the cakes, filling, icing and trying to make them look perfect. It's from the bumps and turns on the road while the wedding cake is in the back of the car. It's from those late night calls from the bride worrying over the table cloth being under the cake properly. All of which is totally understandable....and yet it all went smoothly.... thank goodness. 

The venue that the bride picked out was gorgeous. The room had 2 full walls of windows that looked out onto the marina. Absolutely gorgeous. I really hope this couple has a very special day. And I REALLY hope they like their cake :) I already got a text from the bride saying it looks amazing which totally made my day. Now, I think it's time to relax, at least before tonight, when I start on a chocolate cake.

Wedding Cake Tasting

With wedding season comes tastings! And most of them start off like this. I've made mini cakes and a whole lot of fillings and icings. It may not look like it at this step in the process but it took hours of work just to get to this point:

After the "assembling" is complete it's time to cut. It's very important to have straight, uniform pieces. I start with a tall, well stacked cake. Then I take an apple corer and remove a small circle of cake from the middle of the cake. Then I make about 1" pieces. They are approx. 2  inches long and 4 inches deep. This is the standard size for wedding cake pieces. And yes- there is a method to cutting wedding cakes. For ex. a 6 inch round cake can easily feed 8 people and could maybe feed 10. 

After cutting the cake comes the plating. Which means I'm almost done! This is my favorite part because I get to see the final product. I must say I really enjoy seeing all the uniform pieces of cake layed out. Maybe it's my OCD or just my love of cake. Hmm... anyway- the bride and groom seem to like this part too :) 

 In the above picture: 

*Oreo cake with vanilla buttercream 

*Amaretto cake with almond buttercream

*Bananas Foster cake with a rum/brown sugar caramel layer and vanilla buttercream

*Lemon cake with a lemon cream cheese frosting and a layer of strawberry buttercream

The Ups and Downs of Wedding Cake Season...

So most of you know that my "real" job is a baker. For those of you who don't know that, well, I bake. I started my own home run bakery last year and it's been an amazing journey. And there have been a lot of long nights spent covered in powdered sugar. When the end of summer comes around it begins a wonderfully stressful time I like to call "wedding cake season." In addition to actual wedding cakes that I am doing I have brides who are planning their weddings for next spring. Which means, lots of cake baking for tastings too. I actually don't mind the tastings at all. It's typically a fun time for the bride and groom and I enjoy talking to someone who's just as excited about a cake as I am! I know, I'm a little cake obsessed :) But I figure that's a good thing in a baker.

Now, I'm off to go bake. And wash....lots of washing involved with all this baking. Thus, the yellow rubber gloves. They look real cute when my hair is pulled up and covered with a cap and I have on my apron. A sight that I'm very grateful no one has ever witness except for my kids and husband.

And I should have some new cakes up on my bakery blog soon : http://beccasbluebakery.blogspot.com/