Shoop/White Wedding

A friend from my hometown of Berrien Springs, MI asked me to make her wedding cake on August 19th, 2011 and I was, of course, very excited to do so.  She wasn't exactly sure of a design she wanted but her wedding colors were fuchsia and teal with a country chic theme.

After looking at her wedding website, I noticed the reception venue had no air conditioning.  Those of you who work with icing know how easily it can melt... even in a Michigan summer.  I was concerned that a traditional wedding cake might self destruct in the heat so I made a few suggestions to the bride and she chose a naked wedding cake.  That's right, a wedding cake with no icing!  This cake still had icing between the layers just not on the outside where it could risk sliding off.  I actually used just as much, or more, icing on this cake than others I have made.

It might sound easy to just fill a cake between the layers and not "decorate" the outside, but it was very challenging.  One of the main purposes of icing is to fix your mistakes, cover cracks and holes, and make not so level cakes look level.  In the process of baking 9 layers I only had to redo one... all thanks to Wilton's "cake release" that stuff is AMAZING!

After baking the cake, I filled the layers with buttercream icing using a piping bag and a big star tip.  I also added a support system of internal pillars.

I never completely assemble a tiered cake until I am at the venue, but transportation is still the worst part of any wedding cake order.  It was especially challenging since we were guests to the wedding and needed to keep our clothes clean.  I held the smallest top tier, my sister looked after the middle tier, and the biggest tier rode in the back.  Grandma held the fresh flowers that would later be put on the cake, and a huge thank you goes to my sister's fiance, Chad for his amazing driving skills on Michigan's infamously bumpy back roads!

Once we got to the venue and found the cake table, we started to assemble.  First stacking the tiers, then adding the flowers (that grandma cleaned before hand) and positioning the topper.  Once the cake was all put together, I could finally breathe and step back to admire it.  The cake turned out great and matched the "country chic" theme and venue perfectly!

 

Thank you, Katie, for allowing me to make such a nontraditional cake for your beautiful wedding!