My best friend from high school got married recently
and after I saw her ideas I couldn't wait to make this cake.
It was a fuchsia color themed wedding and the newly weds
could not have picked a better location or day for the big occasion!
The reception site had a large outdoor patio that
was filled with whimsical animal statues and water features.
(Asher stayed with grandma for the day, but we kept commenting
on how much he would have loved to dive into the pond and lake on site)
The brides choice of bright bold colors was perfectly
offset by the 85 maybe 90 degree weather for the day,
which was admitedly hot for us prego's
but even I couldn't complain too much since
the whole day was just so pretty!
The indoor reception site had lots of natural wood tones.
Did I mention how much I loved this wedding yet?
Besides the ruffled cake I also did cupcakes
with buttercream and ruffled flowers mixed in.
I always get a little nervous that between dropping
the cake off and the cutting of the cake.
My fear is the details will soften too much and sag..or worse just fall off.
But the tried and true combination of fondant and modeling chocolate
stands up to the test every time, even after hours of wedding activities!
Here's how the cake came together
The centerpiece cake was layers of the
groom's favorite red velvet and white cake.
Buttercreamed and chilled to harden.
Then covered with white fondant.
The bottom layers were double stacked. Since the layers were going
to be covered with ruffles I covered the layers seperately instead of
trying my hand at one solid sheet of fondant.
I added a few supports between the bottom layers.
The ruffles do pack on the pounds to this cake
and I wanted to make sure nothing
drooped or sagged during the night.
The ruffles started with a 50/50 mix of white modeling chocolate
and different shades of fuchia fondant.
I've made modeling chocolate before but this time
splurged for actual "good" quality chocolate
(for the locals I used Malley's Creamy White)
The difference was evident, the modeling chocolate much
more silky and easy to manipulate and mixed very nicely into the fondant.
Next a large heart shaped cutter cut out the leaves for the ruffled petals.
Cut in half....
and elongated slightly at the bottom.
Yes here I was using a sharpie marker dipped in
corn starch to just lightly ruffle the edge.
(It was clean!)
Adding a small amount of pressure and rolling the marker...
or other small dowel thins the edges just enough to curl slightly.
About 1/2 way through the cake I was getting tired and
ate my lunch to an inspirational episode of Cake Boss.
Coincidentally or divinely the cake Buddy was working on
used a technique of laying petals on crunched
up foil to give a natural waviness.
Worked like a charm, thank you Buddy!
Starting with the darker color on the bottom each petal was
glued to the cake with a little gum paste dissolved in water.
The final layer of petals were white and stretched so
that the top of the cake would be covered and neat.
I love using cornstarch when working with fondant to prevent it sticking to anything. Usually I use a handheld fabric steamer to wet the fondant just enough to get rid of the excess corn starch. Although with the addition of modeling chocolate the fondant just about melted off the cake as soon as the steam hit it.
Instead after a long chill overnight in the refrigerator
I used a very very lightly dampened paintbrush
and 'dusted' off the cake.
A solid white top layer and decorative ribbon were added to the cake.
A few of the cupcake flowers finished off the cake.
The bride added the intertwined hearts which perfectly finished this cake!
Great friend, great wedding, great cake! Loved every minute of it!
Oh and no unexpected surprises...early babies.. came to join the party!
(Which being 35 weeks preggy was at
least a little worry in the back of my mind!)
Congratulations Jen and Tim! Thanks for letting me share in your day!
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