Not Really a Wedding Cake

Last week a good friend of mine asked if I made wedding cakes.  My first response was "NO".  I don't want the pressure of the Bride and Mother of the Bride and being responsible for a key part of the "big day".  No I do not make wedding cakes.

Then she clarified.  It was for her parents' 40th wedding anniversary.  She wanted a wedding-ish cake for the 25 or so people who would be celebrating with them.  Oh.  No Bridezilla possibility.  Sure.  I can make the cake.

And so I begun.

The two tier cake required two 10-inch cakes and two 8-inch cakes.

Since they would be stacked.  I needed them level.  So I got to get a new toy.  A cake leveler!

I used this fun tool on all four cakes and ended up with four flat, level cakes.

Next I applied a crumb coat of butter cream icing to each layer with strawberry filling between the two layers of each tier.

Next came the homemade marshmallow fondant.  I rolled it out and rolled it and rolled it until it would cover both layers of the 10-inch tier.

I learn something from each cake I make.

From this cake I learned I should have stacked all the layers before adding the details. I used a cookie cutter to add fondant flowers to the bottom layer.

Then I stacked the top tier on the bottom cake and secured it with a small dowel rod.

Then I covered it with fondant and more flowers.

Since this was a 40th wedding anniversary, I thought a heart on top would say just the right thing.

Then I used more butter cream icing to hide my flaws and mistakes, and add a few details.

I heard after the surprise anniversary party, they 1) loved the cake, 2) had never seen fondant in real life, only on TV, and 3) I had been by the family, "The Cake Boss".

Happy anniversary!

You can click on the pictures for a larger view.