I don’t do big cake orders at home, as a rule. My days of owning my own business are behind me and I have no desire to return to them. Twice a year or so, though, someone I really like will have an important event and I wind up breaking my rule. Between you and me, it’s almost always the dangled carrot of creative freedom that gets me to give in. My day job is great, but I don’t design anything I make and sometimes I just miss creating things from the ground up.
This year the 2 cakes I got talked into doing happened to fall on the same weekend, which was… a logistical challenge. Time wise, I had a light week at my bakery job and figured I could work ahead enough to make it doable. I emptied out my home fridge entirely, loaded up my garage freezer chest with everything I could and prayed I’d on my fridge Tetris game. I managed to store 8 tiers of cake (nearly 300 servings total). I’m still not 100% sure how I did it.
Here’s how I organize a week like this (considering I still have to work at the bakery inbetween):
MONDAY – Bake everything and freeze it. 2-3 days in the freezer is extremely unlikely to effect cake in an adverse way as long as everything is wrapped well. Some cakes actually get more tender and moist after a couple of days in the freezer, especially if they’re wrapped warm and you trap the moisture in there!
TUESDAY – Make any fondant/chocolate/royal icing bits and bobs that can be done ahead of time.
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY – Make all the fillings that are shelf stable, finish fondant stuff.
FRIDAY – Make fillings that must be fresh. Fill, ice, decorate as much as possible.
SATURDAY – Finish decorating and deliver. Pat yourself on the back and have a cocktail or something. I’ve got a sparkly new alcohol intolerance so I went with mulled apple cider.
So, that’s the method I used, except one cake was due on Sunday. I just kinda shifted the second half of the week by one day for that one and it worked out well.
So, you guys ready to see the cakes? Because I’m proud as hell of both of ’em.
#1: 1930’s ART DECO CAKE
This cake was for the 30th anniversary of Good Mews Animal Foundation, the cat shelter I volunteer for! They had an amazing fancy gala to mark the occassion, and everything had a 1930’s theme with teals, pearls and gold. You might remember Good Mews from previous entries, as I’ve baked for them more than a few times. (Check out some previous goodies here, here and here!)
Serves: 150+.
Flavors: Vanilla bean cake with whipped ganache. Vanilla bean cake with triple sec Italian meringue buttercream. Strawberry cake with Italian meringue cream cheese icing and fresh strawberries.
Shapes: 12″ square, 10″ modified square (cut corners), 8″ extra tall hexagon, 6″ extra tall round with domed top.
Nuts and bolts: Covered in Carma Massa Ticino fondant. Flowers and most decorative details made with gumpaste. Gold patterns airbrushed with stencil.
TWIN PEAKS WEDDING CAKE
Y’all, I am especially excited about this one. First of all, my friends Shelley and Chris got married! Ahhhh! But also, they had an amazing Twin Peaks themed wedding with everything from log centerpieces to Laura’s journal as guestbook. It was incredible. Since they knew I loved the show, they basically let me do whatever I wanted. I was given permission to “get weird with it.” You give me that kind of freedom, you get a screaming drawer knob.
Serves: 100+.
Flavors: Damn Fine Cup of Coffee Cake: Espresso cake soaked in kahlua, espresso Italian meringue buttercream. Cherry Pie Cake: Vanilla butter cake with streusel and a tart cherry filling. White Lodge Cake: vanilla bean cake with triple sec Italian meringue buttercream.
Shapes: 12″ tall hexagon, 10″ short hexagon, 8″ tall hexagon, 5″ extra tall (2.5x usual height) round.
Nuts and bolts: Most tiers covered in fondant, but bark texture was achieved using wafer paper. Owls were fondant base with royal icing exterior. Doorknob, cherry and ring all fondant/gumpaste. Coffee cup was solid white chocolate with semisweet ganache for the drip. Wood finish and trees hand painted, chevron airbrushed with a stencil.
A couple of detail shots, because this one warrants it! I was especially proud of the floating effect on the ring. I inserted it using a toothpick, but painted it so it was only really visible from an overhead angle. I figured nobody was going to be looking at the cake from a ladder.
I was proud of the coffee cup. I couldn’t find a chocolate mold for a cup I liked in the right size, so I ended up modifying a half dome mode a bit and carving the handle out by hand. The owls also turned out well; I have come to like royal icing for fur/feather finishes on animal figurines.
Final note: Tappits remain the only letter cutters that can hang. All hail Tappits.
THINGS I USED:
