This cake was a real adventure into the world of gold. Shabnam and Tauseef wanted something really impressive for their wedding day so after a good bit of discussion at their consultation I came up with their perfect design.
Shabnam had provided me with a folder of pictures illustrating all of her favourite cake elements from various cakes she had found on the internet. I then combined all the best bits into a cake she loved. We also decided that I would display the cake on a base of fresh cream roses to give it extra height and display matching cupcakes around the base.
I was really excited about making this cake, not only because it was going to involve using real edible gold leaf, but also because I got to go the flower market and visit my favourite flower boys!
The roses I chose were Avalanche. They have a lovely big head to them and after a couple of days in the warm they open up beautifully.
I started off by applying the gold leaf to the sides of the base tier. Now this is one job you do not want to get wrong. Obviously being gold it is not cheap, so you have to hold your breath when working with it. I find the transfer gold the best, loose leaf will just blow away at the slightest breath!
Being an Indian Wedding I wanted the cake to have a slight Indian twist so I took some design ideas from a fabric border and created a scalloped edge, then I added a cutout that looked like something you would find on a temple. With a bit of extra piping work the border really started to come alive.
I then started working on some of the floral embellishments for the cake and cupcakes. I also made an extra large wired flower for the side of the second tier. Lustre dusts and lots of sparkle helped to add an overall bling factor and gold richness.
I was really pleased with this random fantasy flower once finished.....I think I will be making it again for another cake soon....maybe in a different colour.
Here you can see a bit more of the detail I added to the bottom tier and some of the floral ruffle flowers I added to the sides. I used the same centres to these ruffles as I did on the large fantasy flower, just to make sure everything tied in nicely. I then got to work on drawing out the curves for the beaded work using a good old bit of grease proof paper!
And here are those lovely beaded scallops. This cake was going to be super heavy so I decided to take it in two parts and finish off the remainder of the work at the venue. This way it is much less stressful to drive across London and I can also just about manage to carry it. So I left the top 8" tier already dowelled and supported ready to take the last two on arrival. For those of you that don't know, dowels are the special rods we push into the cakes to stop them all crushing one another :)
Oh and I must not forget all the little cupcakes that were designed to match. These were baked and decorated within only a few hours of the Wedding to keep them super fresh. The sugar flowers I had prepared in advance and the final detail was added the morning of the Wedding. I chose gold cases to keep it simple and tie in with the theme, which was GOLD if you hadn't guessed already.
I like to take a few pictures in the studio before I deliver a cake. You never know what the lighting or backdrop is going to be like so if you have time (in between last minute cupcake icing)...it's always worth grabbing a quick shot.
Here are all the lovely gold embellished cupcakes which were to be displayed around the base of the cake. I have to admit I've never been a fan of gold cupcake cases but they suited this cake to perfection. It's a little hard to see by the photo but half of the cakes had a slightly beige coloured top and the others were cream. This helped guests to distinguish which ones were lemon and which ones were vanilla.
And finally to the finished cake, pre-delivery shot! The flower that was to go on the cake couldn't be added until I had assembled the cake properly at the venue, so I popped it to one side as a bit of photographic styling. The whole cake then got carefully boxed and driven off to Leyton Football ground 'Starlight' marquee. There are not many venues around that cater for 500, but this purpose build marquee certainly did the job. I arrived to many people beavering around building the Indian Bridal Mughal, the perfect backdrop for the cake.
And here is the finished result. Displayed against some lovely wooden fretwork which set it off perfectly. You can just about see the double layer of Avalanche roses to the base and all of the little gold cupcakes adding to the display. It was a Gold Whopper. I hope you like it and enjoyed the story of it's creation.
Congratulations Shabnam and Tauseef. April 6th 2013.
