~* Ash *~
In my last post, I left off with Lu and me finishing the Bride and Groom Challenge and sucessfully making it to Maryland. Instead of going straight home, we detoured to see our photographer and baker. Since Lu's latest obsession is photography, then I'll leave that post to him. However, since my lifelong obsession is dessert, then I get to share the details about our cake tasting and design.
We arrived at the bakery at about 3:00 pm, a few hours after lunch, and just in time for a late-afternoon sugar fix. Whew! Did we ever get one at Mrs. Oliver's Cakes!
When we walked in the door, we were greeted by Toni, the owner of the bakery and a variety of samples, including: lemon cake with lemon curd filling, chocolate cake filled with coconut, chocolate filled with chocolate buttercream, almond filled with buttercream, red velvet with cream cheese, and butter rum with almond icing.
After trying to daintily take a forkful of each -- at least I was, Lu was shamelessly enjoying everything -- we got down to details.
I didn't realize how important it was to try to bring everything from the wedding into the cake design. I thought it'd be a matter of just selecting colors and a design that looks cool. Of course, you can select a cake that way, but it's fun to pull in the parts you want to highlight.
In addition to talking about cake flavors and round vs. square layers, we really sat down and discussed a way to make our cake be a mini, edible representation of our wedding. I brought in fabric swatches of the bridesmaids and junior bridesmaids dresses with me, as well as a sample bouquet with our flower colors. I'd also emailed Toni the previous week with our inspiration board and pictures of my dress.
To summarize what we came up with in one sentence: I'm in love with our cake.
The cake is going to be covered in yellow fondant with rouching to complement my wedding dress. The rouching will be joined with edible brooches to pull in the vintage theme. Our "topper" will be a cluster of burgundy, yellow, and orange sugar flowers, and there will also be a few flowers on each of the three layers. The base of each layer will have a white fondant "ribbon" around it, dotted with fondant pearls. Finally, if it doesn't look too busy, there will be a lace pattern (similar to the one below, also in the fondant) in the background.
The cake will look almost too good to eat, but wait until you hear about the flavors we selected:
Bottom Layer: Lemon Cake with Raspberry Filling
Middle Layer: Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Filling
Top Layer: Chocolate Cake with Kahlua Filling
It's going to be absolutely delicious! I was a bit worried about the fondant taking away from the flavor. After all, most fondant tastes like play-doh. (Who cares how pretty the cake is if it tastes like something you ate when you were in first grade?!) However, Toni was adamant that the fondant that she uses actually blends into the cake. Still skeptical, she let us sample the fondant with the cake, and she was right! Instead of play-doh, the fondant tastes more like marshmallows. Yuummmmm!!!
Maybe we'll start a new wedding tradition by eating the cake first....
We arrived at the bakery at about 3:00 pm, a few hours after lunch, and just in time for a late-afternoon sugar fix. Whew! Did we ever get one at Mrs. Oliver's Cakes!
When we walked in the door, we were greeted by Toni, the owner of the bakery and a variety of samples, including: lemon cake with lemon curd filling, chocolate cake filled with coconut, chocolate filled with chocolate buttercream, almond filled with buttercream, red velvet with cream cheese, and butter rum with almond icing.
Just one example of what Mrs. Oliver can do!
I didn't realize how important it was to try to bring everything from the wedding into the cake design. I thought it'd be a matter of just selecting colors and a design that looks cool. Of course, you can select a cake that way, but it's fun to pull in the parts you want to highlight.
In addition to talking about cake flavors and round vs. square layers, we really sat down and discussed a way to make our cake be a mini, edible representation of our wedding. I brought in fabric swatches of the bridesmaids and junior bridesmaids dresses with me, as well as a sample bouquet with our flower colors. I'd also emailed Toni the previous week with our inspiration board and pictures of my dress.
To summarize what we came up with in one sentence: I'm in love with our cake.
The cake is going to be covered in yellow fondant with rouching to complement my wedding dress. The rouching will be joined with edible brooches to pull in the vintage theme. Our "topper" will be a cluster of burgundy, yellow, and orange sugar flowers, and there will also be a few flowers on each of the three layers. The base of each layer will have a white fondant "ribbon" around it, dotted with fondant pearls. Finally, if it doesn't look too busy, there will be a lace pattern (similar to the one below, also in the fondant) in the background.
The cake will look almost too good to eat, but wait until you hear about the flavors we selected:
Bottom Layer: Lemon Cake with Raspberry Filling
Middle Layer: Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Filling
Top Layer: Chocolate Cake with Kahlua Filling
It's going to be absolutely delicious! I was a bit worried about the fondant taking away from the flavor. After all, most fondant tastes like play-doh. (Who cares how pretty the cake is if it tastes like something you ate when you were in first grade?!) However, Toni was adamant that the fondant that she uses actually blends into the cake. Still skeptical, she let us sample the fondant with the cake, and she was right! Instead of play-doh, the fondant tastes more like marshmallows. Yuummmmm!!!
Maybe we'll start a new wedding tradition by eating the cake first....
Umm cake first....I can live with that. Especially with the flavors you have choosen.