Oh go on then! I'll make the wedding cake!!

My First Ever Wedding Cake!! 

  One of my closest friends lives next door to me, my friend Stephie.  When I drop off some cakes (can't keep them all, so I have a circuit of friends & neighbours who share my baking!!)  she says 'Oh the Cake Fairy is here!!'  You can tell where I get my blog name from, can't you?  A couple of months ago, we were having coffee and she asked me to do a wedding cake for her sister 'Oh No, couldn't possibly, far too important, what if I make a pigs ear of it?'.   Phew! Close Escape!! 
  She didn't give up though, a couple of weeks later, she asked again and I heard these words come out of mouth 'Oh, go on, I'll make it!!'

Nudey Wedding Cake!!

  Aaaggghhhh!!!   What had I done!    Panic stations!!  The next day when I had calmed down somewhat, I sat down and had a think about the design. All I had been told was 2 tier, traditional fruit cake, serve about 120 people, and white with blue accents.  Hmmmm.....   So, I got busy!!

Finished cake!!

  After baking a test cake, I soon had the two fruit cakes made and wrapped in greaseproof paper. Feeding the cakes with lovely brandy became a ritual ~ as I unwrapped the cakes and trickled the brandy on, the scent would fill the kitchen, delicious!  That went on for about 6 weeks, and then it was time to assemble the cake!!  This is the scarey bit!
  So, I covered them in marzipan, left them about a week to dry, then covered them with fondant. Blimey, covering a 10 inch cake, that is 4 inches tall, you have to roll the marzipan/fondant out to a circle about 20 inches in diameter!!  Thats about 4 kg of fondant, and a lot of rolling! 
  Whilst the fondant was still soft and fresh, I embossed a design of flowers, butterflies, ladybirds and bees on to the sides, and then painted the cakes all over with a pearlescent lustre dust ( got that everywhere in the kitchen, its so light, it floats about!).  Then the next day I popped dowels into the bottom tier, and stacked the cakes. I made about 40 sugar roses, and coloured them to match the ribbon, and stuck them around the step between the two cakes. Then all I had to do was pop on the mini bride & groom that Stephie had chosen for the top. So there we are, my first ever Wedding Cake!
   Oh, and Stephie told me the couple loved the cake, and all the children at the wedding were running off with the roses!! Result!!
  I really enjoyed making this cake, despite my reservations at the start.  I have learnt loads about cake decorating, and had tonnes of support and advice from people on the Cake Fairy page, couldn't have done it without them!!