Lace Wedding Cake "Dress"

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to watch one of my oldest friends tie the knot with her high school sweetheart. I was even more fortunate to be able to create her wedding cake and be a small part of her big day! A lot of preparation and heart went into this one- from the tasting we did last fall, to the making the playlist I jammed out to while baking it. The bride Molly had a specific vision for her wedding that she wanted the cake to compliment, and we ended up designing it around the beautiful lace details on her dress. The result was a very elegant and traditional tiered cake with a little twist. You can check out my pinterest page for Molly and Michael to see what I used for inspiration. Here was the original sketch:

The venue for Molly's wedding was the gorgeous Oak Ridge Estates in Arrington, Va. The event coordinators along with the catering staff were wonderful to work with and a big help to me when setting up the cake on the day of the wedding. The room it was sitting in was so beautiful it made the cake look that much better. Molly had provided a vintage style mirror for the cake to sit on, and the flowers were given to me for the table by the venue manager.

The topper was also provided by the bride and groom, and has been in Michael's family for over 65 years of happy marriages.

The first and third tiers are dark chocolate cake with raspberry mousse filling. They're covered with an ivory tinted Italian buttercream frosting and detailed with delicate fondant lace. 

The middle tier is lemon lavender cake also filled with raspberry mousse. This one is covered in fondant, and ruched to look like the sash on Molly's wedding dress. 

A close up of the lace details.

 Me with the bride and groom after I had changed into guest-mode.

Nothing but the best wishes for these two, and couldn't have been happier to be included in their big day.

Spring Wedding Cake Preview

I'm still recovering from a busy weekend of cake baking, decorating and delivering, but in the meantime, here are a few to preview my wedding cake this weekend at Oak Ridge Estates in Arrington, Virginia:

Freshly picked lavender from our yard to flavor the lavender cake.

Adding the lavender to the cake batter.

 Lavender cake tier in the oven.

Ready to start the decorating phase! From left, buttercream, raspberry mousse filling and dark chocolate cake layers.

In addition to a tiered cake, this wedding had three extra sheet cakes to cover the guest count. This one is pink lemonade that has just been frosted with citrus cream cheese filling.

A close up shot of the fondant lace detailing on the top and bottom cake tiers.

Check back for many more pictures and details later this week!

Spring Wedding Cake Tasting

Last September I did a cake tasting with one of my oldest and dearest friends for her Memorial Day weekend 2013 wedding. It's safe to say that Molly and I go way back. Like Britney-Spears-talent-show-dance-routine back. It's not every day that you get to reconnect with a friend like her, and to do it over wedding cake samples and sketches was exciting to say the very least. We sat down at her Mom's kitchen table in Charlottesville, Va this past fall to discuss these beauties:

Clockwise from left: raspberry lemonade cake with citrus cream cheese filling, dark chocolate cake with raspberry ganache filling, and lavender cake with raspberry mousse filling. Molly and Michael love chocolate and raspberry, so they knew they wanted chocolate in their cake, but also other seasonal flavors to give their guests a variety. We ended up with a delicious flavor combination that will accomplish both! For the design she wanted to have the cake compliment her wedding gown, so we settled on a design that incorporates delicate lace detailing as well as a ruched banded middle cake layer. 

Without Molly, I never would have made it through glitter eye shadow, glasses, or calculus. I can't even express how excited I am that she chose me to make her wedding cake, and I can't wait to be there now when she gets married! At the risk of extreme embarrassment, here's a picture of us circa 1999:

And to redeem myself a little, 2008: