Like a (Cake) Boss!

I have recently started watching episodes of "Cake Boss" on Netflix. Since I dropped my DirecTv subscription and lost home access to The Food Network, I've missed watching the reality cooking/food shows (I can still watch it while I'm on the treadmill at the Y, but that's another story). I like watching the shenanigans of Buddy and his sisters and coworkers at Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, NJ, and it's fun to see the elaborate cakes they come up with there.

A few weeks ago I was invited to make a cake to share at a dessert reception for a friend's wedding. About the time that I was asked to participate, the December issue of Southern Living came out with a cover photo of a beautiful white cake decorated with snowflakes made out of fondant icing, which became the inspiration for my cake. My mom and I were reading the magazine and talking about the cake on our Thanksgiving road trip and she offered to help bake the cake and I could do the fondant snowflakes. I thought it sounded like a good arrangement and so we made our plans and I bought/acquired the supplies (thanks to my friend Leanne for giving us the snowflake cookie cutters).

The wedding was this past weekend, so last week I took an evening to make the snowflakes and then Mom baked the cake. On Saturday morning she cooked the icing and I put some finishing touches on the snowflakes before my sister helped me transport the cake to the reception site. I waited until we got there to add all of the snowflakes and it all turned out so pretty! Like a (cake) boss!

 

I have to give a huge THANK YOU to my mom for baking the cake from scratch and even having to do it twice due to a slight problem with the cake sticking to the pan. As an aside, the slightly damaged cake was revived and she gave it to some other friends who my sister was taking a meal to that night. Double blessing!

I also want to thank my sister for letting me borrow her cake plate and for taking the time to go with me to bring the cake to the reception site. She held the cake while I drove and did such a great job, even when I accidentally hit a pot hole and the cake bumped against the side of the dome. It was her good idea to wait until we got there to add the snowflakes, so the little smudge on the cake was easily covered up!

It was fun to step out of my normal comfort zone and to be able to share in the beautiful wedding reception. Seeing all of the cakes that were made and all of the cake stands (those are a work of art all by themselves) made me want to try more cakes, but I think I'd still want my baking team by my side, unless it's a pound cake made in a Bundt pan!