Peony Wedding Cake

Happy Monday, everyone! I thought I'd share something a little special to kick off the week. I love making & blogging about food. It's a true passion of mine. I may not have the nicest camera, endless experience in the kitchen, any photo editing software at all (you would die if you only knew), or even what some would call "the basics" when it comes to properly making this ship sail properly, but I still enjoy every second of it.

 What I love most, though, is the support I've received from dear family, friends, and all you amazing followers - I feel like such an underdog, and like I have a long way to go, but every now-and-then, one of you throws me a bone, and I feel like I'm on top of the game in my kitchen again. Every email, comment, like, message, and even compliments in person are each something I cherish, and I feel so blessed for those who have believed in me along this slowly growing, but beautifully blooming, blogging journey. 

Aside from food blogging, I also make cakes. Mostly it's been for family & friends, but here and there I make cakes for word-of-mouth clients. Those last ones scare me to death, but have forced a learning curve that I've always appreciated. I've made a couple larger cakes for various events, but not often do I have the guts to accept the offer for a wedding cake. Why? It scared the life out of me. It's someone's special wedding day, there are a million things that could go wrong, and quite frankly, WAY too much pressure.

However, sometimes I take the leap. And for this wedding cake, I'm sure glad I did! 

The groom's sweetheart Mother wanted a thicker cake (8", 10" and 12" rounds). It was a little different in dimension than I'm used to, but ended up looking really full (so. much. cake.). They also wanted chocolate on the bottom, yellow in the middle, and red velvet on the top. The frosting was just a simple vanilla buttercream, and they wanted the sides of the cake to have these special horizontal lines/layers. It was much trickier than I thought, but mostly because I'm used to such straight edges, and the unkempt/messy look of the sides made me crazy! However, I think the sides turned out alright, and the flowers really balanced out everything on the sides of the cake. 

 

The wedding reception, and flourists, were by Le Jardin in Sandy, Utah. They are INCREDIBLE, btw. Super classy, super professional, and check out those flowers! I want to get married to Ryan again just so I can have these flowers. haha! Anyway, we live in West Jordan, so delivering the cake was kind of hilarious. I drive a very small car, so I knew right off-the-bat we wouldn't be able to fit it in our car, let alone lift the thing with just the two of us (it was pretty heavy). So I enlisted my sister's Venza, her Crossfit arms, and my brother's strength, to help me deliver the beastie. Despite my never-ending nightmares of this cake toppling down three flights of stairs, or tipping over, everything turned out perfectly. I was so happy with how it turned out, and so were the darling clients. Such a cute Mom, and beautiful couple! 

**If you're in the Utah County or Salt Lake County area and would like a quote, email me at bakingwblondie@gmail.com, thanks!**