A short time ago I got a call from a dear friend in California. He said his daughter was getting married and wanted me to make her wedding cake. My friend, Peter is from Australia and their traditional wedding cake is fruit cake with a marzipan covering. Peter's mom, the brides grandmother, had recently passed away and this was a way to honor her. Peter shared with me that his brother was driving from Naples to LA the next week and could bring the cake out with him. I was in the middle of hosting a large Mother/Daughter tea when I got the call so I told Peter I would see what I could do. I started my research and the more I found the more I realized this was a long process and we would not be able to send the cake by car the next week.
After cutting and dredging all the fruit and making my "lacing sauce" I put the cakes in the oven with high hopes. They smelled incredible and I hoped that the process would lead to one perfect wedding cake for Emily. Every 4 or 5 days I would brush the lacing sauce on the cake and carefully wrap it up. After the 3rd week I carefully unwrapped my new friends, they felt like part of the family by now! I covered them in marzipan and sealed all the edges with royal icing. I wanted to make sure that there was no way for any of the yummy goodness to leak out onto the decorations. They next day I draped the cake and decorated it, complete with handmade sugar orchids.
I took a few pictures and e-mailed them to Emily...the response was immediate. A phone call confirmed her delight! Now, I just had to get the cake to California in perfect condition. A few more phone calls and coordinating schedules and the cake was ready for a long trip!
It first traveled by car to Naples, FL then four days later it headed for the airport. I put the top tier in one carrier and the bottom tier in another. Peter's brother Colin and wife Sherri started their cross country journey in the security line with their special carry ons. Each time the cakes were placed on the belt to be examined the story was told of how they had to get the cake to LA for their nieces wedding. The trip was amazing! Each security personnel, flight attendant and even the pilots all were extremely attentive. I waited anxiously for the phone call...would the cake make it and would they be able to put the cake together, were my instructions clear enough? Finally the call came in. "The cake arrived absolutely perfect and it was the talk of the wedding!" Yeah!!!! What a relief, what a thrill to be part of something so special.
