Wedding Cake Adventures Part 5

I read once that creating a wedding cake is like giving birth.  You don't love the process but are thrilled with the outcome.

This is my 5th wedding cake and I mostly agree with this statement.  I'm not always thrilled.  And I do love parts of the process, but yes, it's stressful and nerve wracking and one of my most creative endeavors to date.

Our dear friends, the Rings had their only daughter, Lizzy, get married a few days after Christmas.  My daughter, Emma and Lizzy grew up together and spent equal time in each others house, so their was no question, when asked, that I would make a wedding cake for her. 

Lizzy is in the military, in TX and didn't have a lot of time to contribute to her wedding, but I got a few important directives from her.  Colors.  Flowers.  Pearls. 

I think this is my favorite, least problematic cake to date (yes, those two things go together!). 

I am getting better.  Learning new tricks and skills each time I do this.

Most of the cake was made before Christmas (Sugar paste, cakes), but I had to fondant, layer and decorate right after Christmas, while I was just sick with the flu.  I literally got this done just hours before I got so sick I could hardly get out of bed.  Obviously and very disappointedly, I wasn't able to attend the wedding or reception.  I just sent my 'emergency fix-it kit' with Debi and hoped it tasted good.  They reported it did taste good.  Yay!

I took these pictures on my kitchen table, so they aren't the greatest, looking forward to seeing the professional pictures.

I thoughts I'd share a few step-by-step photos of the process.

Calla Lilies are actually one of the easiest gum paste flowers to make.  As you can see, just cut out a heart, thin out the edges (I also used a mold for some extra detail) and wrap around a cone cup and mold into a calla lily shape.

You have to make the centers the night before to give them time to dry.

I painted them with gum-paste 'glue' and rolled them in corn meal.  I prefer this to yellow sugar crystals, I think it looks more natural.

I made tons of small purple flowers in two sizes and two shades.

I also made some white berries (which I thought lent itself nicely to a winter wedding).  I really loved how the berries added to the arrangement.

After 2 1/2 days all my decorations were done and ready to go.  You would think that the hard part is over, but actually arranging all these pretty things on the cake is what stresses me out.  In fact, I made a Calla Lily cake for my friend, Audrey, and really struggled with the arrangement.  I actually much prefer this more natural looking style, but as I said, I'm still learning.

I really enjoy doing the Cornelli lace technique.  I used a slightly larger tip compared to the one I used on my niece, Leia's cake, which you can see here.  

As you can also see, I really enjoy doing the diamond shape effect on one of the layers.  I just think it looks very wedding-ish. 

Here is a link to my very first wedding cake.  It was for my daughters wedding a few years ago.  I seriously can't believe I managed to get a decent looking cake out!  I haven't used my Cricut Cake since and I'm not sure why exactly, because it is pretty cool.  Wait, actually, I did use the Cricut cake for the monograms on Leia's cake. 

I still need to do a post on Cake #4 that I did for my son Jordan and his wife Kelli.  Sadly, it's my worst cake and I'm a little embarrassed...but I will get to it!

Now, I just wonder...what will be my next wedding cake?  Who's getting married next?  Hmmmm....  Honestly, no hurry, I can wait a bit, I'm tired.