Bake me a cake

 So, I've stepped away from the house projects for a bit-- and embarked on cake design this past week. A girl I knew in college, Melissa, asked me months ago if I could do their wedding cake. Of course I was up for the challenge. I haven't done a cake in over 3 years-- and mostly deal with fondant cakes vs. full icing ones. However, this proved I could do both.

The flavor: Lavender.
Icing: Honey Buttercream. Using Tea honey from the Savannah Bee Company.

Lavender can be a overpowering flavor. And NO you can't just snip lavender out of your yard. There's culinary lavender that was used and there's also lavender extract. I opted for the culinary buds instead.

Cake was also colored lavender as well. Unfortunately I think most of the coloring baked out of the cake.. But I'm not entirely sure. Food coloring and cake batter don't mix when you're trying for a light color..

 After cakes were baked they were filled..

 And crumb coated-- basically a thin layer of icing to seal in the crumbs from your outer layer of icing.

 After a second coat of icing and plenty of time between the refrigerator and the work space, it was time to smooth.

 Working with a super cold cake, Viva paper towels came to the rescue. In addition to a pitcher filled with hot hot water for constant dipping and smoothing of my spatula. I used Viva because of the texture-- they are super smooth and don't leave an imprint like most other paper towels.

 Tiers were stacked. Each layer had it's own cake board and wooden dowels were inserted to support the weight of the cake. It was VERY heavy when complete. After some more smoothing it was time to decorate!

 The bottom tier was piped, leaving just a little bit of space towards the bottom where a ribbon was going to go.

 After the piping was done, a piece of parchment paper was cut to slightly smaller the thickness of the ribbon. That way it was behind the ribbon and the ribbon wouldn't stick into the icing-- and the icing wouldn't bleed thru the ribbon. Win Win.

 Accented with candy pearls and adored with hydrangeas, the cake was complete and waiting for transportation and glamor shots.

 Per the Bride, some bees were incorporated into the top.

 A large box with plenty of room provided transportation safely.

 At the venue.

 It was a great evening for an outdoor wedding. The venue was a quaint little spot which turned out beautifully with the decorations.

 These mason jars hung around the fence in the outdoor patio. Super simple and cute idea!

 I think my favorite part was the cake topper.

 I look forward to doing more cakes soon. I forgot how much I loved doing them and the artistic freedom and stress relief that comes with it!

 

At any rate, the homestead has spring cleaning in full effect. I'm a lean, mean, pitching machine lately. Goodwill will love me!

What did you accomplish this weekend?