Now, when I tell people that with some weddings I do not sleep the night before I am really not sure they believe me. Please believe me when I say that very little sleep was to be had the night before delivering this wedding cake!
Sometimes I am really not quite sure how I got into this business and why I put myself through all of the stress involved in it!
Actually, I do know why and I hope you can see why too. It is because of the immense satisfaction and personal achievement it gives. Plus it is because when you receive such wonderful feedback from the bridal party you know it was all worthwhile. Well, until the next time..
I have to say that Roland’s interest in the design consultation was really about the tasting samples. Is that a fair comment Michelle? I think it is! Roland was happy if Michelle was happy so really, Michelle had a free reign on the design of the cake.
From searching the internet, Michelle showed me many images of designs she had seen that appealed, but none of them quite blew her away. However, we established a few key points that were ‘must haves’:-
The cake needed to be tall. With the grandeur of Leeds Castle I couldn’t have agreed more.
The cake needed to be ‘fluffy’. Michelle had picked out various images that include some ‘fluffage’(!) but was not entirely sure as to how this should be incorporated.
The cake could (but didn’t have to) incorporate their theme colour of what I would describe as cappuccino or latte. This was to be the colour of the bridesmaids dresses.
Michelle also liked some of the traditional elements of a some of the designs in the studio so I had a vision of including just a touch of ‘classic’ within the cake.
This commission was such an enjoyable one (despite the stress) as Michelle completely trusted our judgement and let us design and create a cake that was not only unique but one which she really did not know how it was going to look on the day.
We spent many many hours in the kitchen trying out different ideas and also trawling the internet for little bits of inspiration.
The cake comprised various flavours and fillings but another must have from Michelle was that the biggest tier was to be coffee sponge with our gorgeous expresso rum buttercream. We layered the buttercream twice through the sponge and if I say so myself… it was absolutely lovely.
I don’t need to tell you what an amazing venue Leeds Castle is and it is just an absolute honour to deliver one of our cakes there.
On the day of the wedding the castle looked stunning against a clear blue sky – literally not a cloud in the sky. A very hot day ahead.
Delivering cakes is, to say the least, not for the faint hearted. We deliver cakes week in, week out, but it really never gets any less nerve wracking or less stressful. However, what does make our job much easier when delivering a particularly big cake, is expert planning and co-ordination by the staff at the venue.
The car was parked outside the main entrance to the castle and from there, to the cake table in the main Banqueting Hall is a little bit of a walk. Due to the weight of the cake, there was no way it could be carried this distance so we had to finish off cake in situ.
We had about two hours to work on the cake to assemble the top tiers and complete the design.
I had contacted Steven Brooks a few days before the wedding to ask if he would be able to get some shots of the cake for us. Perhaps some close up detail and a few different angles.
Steven couldn’t have been more obliging and all of the images you see here are courtesy of Steven Brooks Photography.
We have worked with some fantastic photographers over the years but it is only occasionally that we meet one who exceeds all expectations. Steven is not only very talented but is a a lovely lovely guy. Thank you so much Steven.
Thanks to Michelle and Roland for commissioning Hall of Cakes and thanks to Leeds Castle for always making the job as painless as possible!…