This may be the most difficult cake I’ve ever made. Seems unlikely? The lovely, sweet bride who ordered it was very specific about her needs. She wanted the simplest of simple wedding cakes. Three tiers of moist delicious lemon cake, filled with buttercream and covered in white. A few pink fresh flowers with leaves randomly placed to serve as accents. No bride and groom figures, no other ornamentation, no flourishes or frills. In other words, no possibility of covering mistakes, flaws, or uneven surfaces.
I’ve had years of practice and for the most part, I’ve ironed out the most common difficulties that arise when preparing a tiered cake. Yet somehow this one loomed as the most daunting of challenges. I cut and measured, spread buttercream and measured, crumb coated and chilled and measured and measured and measured. I think I wore out the ruler. But the cake turned out straight and completely even, dagnabbit.
Two days earlier Prince Harry married Meghan Markle. Their cake was a deconstructed three tiers. That meant that instead of a traditional stacked cake, the baker presented each tier separately on golden plates and cups. It was made up of layers of lemon sponge soaked with elderflower syrup, filled with Amalfi lemon curd and covered with Swiss meringue elderflower buttercream. It was decorated with 150 fresh flowers, including peonies and roses and was large enough to serve 600 guests at the reception. An additional 4,000 slices of fruitcake (no doubt baked separately) were sent out by the Prince of Wales in tins as gifts. The estimated cost? $71,600.
This was a sobering lesson for me. The very next time royalty contacts me to order a cake of any sort, I’m going to think long and hard about design and pricing. In the meantime, here is a photo of this more modest cake in situ.
(9722) 563-9668
