FaceTime

A friend asked me to make her Grandmother's 80th birthday cake this weekend. I called my partner to see if she was available to help that weekend and she of course said yes. My friend requested a floral cake which was great because I love making flowers. A week before I started to make the flowers. But as I was making them I was thoroughly bored. I was on my own except of course my little sidekicks, my three and six year old daughters. My mom who is my partner in my cake decorating hobby was not here.

My husband being incredible thoughtful got the IPad, called my mom on FaceTime and set it up in front of me so we could chit chat and make the gumpaste flowers together. I love sitting around with family doing crafts, cooking, baking or just catching up. I'm from the Midwest and I think it's ingrained in me. I can remember as a little girl watching my great aunts, my mom and our dear sweet friend Cola drinking their sweet tea, sitting around the table chit chatting. I loved it then and I love it now.

The cake was a two tiered carrot cake covered in a vanilla buttercream, then covered in vanilla fondant with gumpaste flowers. My great aunts and Cola would have loved this one, especially the carrot cake. We just need to make some sweet tea to go with it.

Will You Make Our Wedding Cake?

At one of the birthday parties for my niece, some friends asked who made the cake. My mom and I said we did and the next question was if we do wedding cakes and would we make theirs. I was shocked because this was only a fun hobby for us.

Now let me give you a little background on my wedding cake. Besides obviously marrying my husband, this was the most important part of my wedding. I wanted the cake to be perfect and it was. Our friend Roberta made it and she did an amazing job. It was a five tiered gorgeous fall themed cake. Each layer was a different flavor and filling. It was the wedding cake I had always dreamed of.

So when asked to make someone's wedding cake, I was a nervous wreck. My mom had made one wedding cake before but this would be my first. We planned for months on this cake. It took us 3 full days to make the cake and flowers. We delivered the cake which took at least 45 minutes to get there because I drove about 15 miles below the speed limit. My stomach was in knots! All I could think of was, "Just get it there in one piece!"

Thankfully we did get it there and all went well with the set up. Except maybe when my mom stepped in and said she would put on the flowers because my hand was shaking. Yes, I was nervous. I had a long drive home that day but we waited until after the ceremony to leave because I had to see if the bride liked it. She cried...good tears. That alone made it worth it because that's exactly how I felt when I saw my wedding cake.