Sister Act
by Mary-Beth Rubin
(Joshua Tree, CA)
A Joyous Occassion
My sister, Suzanne, and I live 1,200 miles apart. It had been almost 3 years since our last reunion at our mother's funeral services. However, our next reunion, this last week, was for a joyous occasion: our niece’s wedding.
The Twist
We were not just attending as favorite Aunts, we were making our niece, Jordans wedding cake. The interesting twist to this request was the fact that Suzanne and I had never baked, frosted, stacked, or decorated a wedding cake before. Neither one of us is really a baker.
Homemade Wedding Cake In A Rented Cabin
Suzanne, however, is an artist, and she made and painted the sugar flowers that turned my basic cake into a work of art. Suzanne had been working on her flowers throughout the summer, but I had one ½ days to bake and frost Jordan’s cake in a rented cabin—and after a 2 day drive with totes of baking equipment in the van, including hauling my kitchen aid mixer through three states.
Wedding Cake Recipes
I chose to be confident and not have anything less than a good time with Suzanne while baking my first wedding cake. I downloaded the
white wedding cake recipe and
buttercream icing recipes from this website. Each day was a full day in the kitchen.
I did whip the butter before adding it to the glossy and cooled egg whites. I used an ice gel pack to cool the mixing bowl while the eggs and sugar syrup were whipping. I didn’t have 2 seven inch pans, so I did have to trim down a 9’ pan for the top cake.
Freezing the cake the night
before really helped there, because I wasn’t afraid to handle the cake frozen. I did put dowels in the 12 and 9 inch cakes, and one larger dowel straight through all three cakes. Since I am not a cake decorator, I kept the piping as simple as possible, using a leaf tip.
Delivering The Cake
I held the cake on my lap in the car, and it was fine, and then Suzanne placed the flowers on the cake once we were at the venue.
Tears Of Joy
When Jordan saw her cake she cried big tears, which in turn made Suzanne and I cry. The cake exceeded Jordan’s expectations, and there were a lot of compliments. The cake tied together the colors of the wedding so nicely. A wonderful, happy day with a cake made with a leap of faith on my part and a lot of love.
Sister Act
"Thank you for being instrumental in the success of the wedding cake I made for my niece. This is a great site with many resources to explore and from which I learned a lot.
Again, thank you for being here for folks such as myself who need the support. It was so much fun making the wedding cake, I can't wait to make more."
Sincerely,
~Mary-Beth Rubin~ Mary Beth and Suzanne, A stunning cake and a wonderful story. Your tips are helpful and your story is very inspirational. Just shows how much we can accomplish if we set our minds to it. Thank you so much for entering the wedding cake contest. Good luck to you both. Don't forget to ask everyone to come and take a look.
