May 24, 2010

The Wedding and The Cake

From left to right, that's me, Sarah (bride), Liz (sister/matron of honor), and Jim. The wedding is at the Lake Harriet Peace Garden. We know it's going to rain. It's just a matter of when. We're waiting for it to start.
This is little Esme, the flower girl. Esme really got into the whole idea of strewing rose petals. She would have done it all day if she hadn't run out.
Sarah, James, and his mother Mary. We're still waiting for it to start raining.
We actually had a Plan B in case of rain, but Sarah really wanted an outdoor wedding. We kept checking the hour-by-hour forecast, which changed every few seconds, going from a 10% chance of rain to a 50% chance of thunderstorms. That's when I said, "I don't want to have this wedding outside," and Liz said, "Let's go to Target and buy matching umbrellas." Sarah didn't answer her phone.
Naturally, as soon as all the guests arrived, it started raining.
But then it immediately stopped.
Liz signs the papers--it's official. That pink and white umbrella on the ground, no longer needed, is one of the matching pair we bought in case of rain.
And now, on to the reception, at Solera, in downtown Minneapolis.
Have you ever seen a more beautiful cake?
Can you tell how stunned I am by its beauty?
Okay, the cat's out of the bag.
Rose and Woody baked the cake themselves. I didn't cry at the wedding--why should I? Sarah was so happy. But I did cry at the cake, because it was so beautiful, and it was such a wonderful, generous, amazing thing to do.
This cake almost stole the show from the bride. Seriously, people were having their pictures taken with the cake! Jim did his best with his little shirt-pocket camera, and I think you can get some idea of how incredible this cake was, but I'm not sure that you can get the whole breathtaking effect unless you saw it in person.
You may recognize this lovely lacquer glaze from the cake that we just finished. This version is more perfect than the one I completed. It's decorated with hundreds of carefully hand-rolled chocolate fondant "pearls," each one individually weighed so that they'll all be uniform in size. Rose also made the beautiful rolled chocolate hearts from the same fondant.
And look at the flowers! Those are all from famous cake-baker/decorator Ron Ben-Israel, who did various sugar flowers, petals, and leaves.
Of course, everyone expected the cake itself to be a deep chocolate. But surprise!
It was even more astounding when cut, because it was a stunning red velvet cake, enrobed by a white chocolate buttercream underlayer. I'd say that it was so beautiful that you didn't want to eat it, but it would be a lie. Beautiful it was, but you definitely wanted to eat it, and, unlike most wedding cakes, it was actually good. No, it was delicious. I looked around, and I didn't see plates of delicately picked-at cake pieces; I just saw empty plates.
What a happy family!
And here's the top layer that Sarah and James can eat when they get back from their honeymoon in New Orleans.

Thank you, Rose and Woody! You are the absolute best!

35 comments:

faithy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
faithy said...

Congrats!! Your daughter Sarah looked beautiful and i love her gown! And it's so romantic to have wedding outdoor! And you looked fabulous! I love that last photo of you dancing..showed the fun side of you!

And of course the CAKE!! Sarah is so fortunate to have both Rose & Woody make her wedding cake! And on top of that Ron Ben-Israel made her sugar flowers etc..he is the master of sugar flowers and cake decorating!! The cake is beautiful and the inside red velvet cake looks so moist and so delicious. Maybe i'll try making the red velvet cake for free choice week..lol!

Thank you for sharing! :) These are wonderful photos. Congrats to Sarah & James! Wishing them a wonderful journey as they build their new life together

faithy said...

sorry..i accidentally deleted my comments and then repost it back again. :)

Vicki said...

Oh my gosh it makes me teary just reading and seeing what a happy day it was! And the cake!!! Words fail!

Lois B said...

Thanks for sharing this special day with us, Marie. And the special cake surprise.

You said it, "what a happy family."

Anonymous said...

Oh Marie!

How wonderful! I was sitting here after a long day, just smiling reading about your day, and the threat of rain, and the rain, and the stopped rain and the discarded matching umbrella and when I got to the cake picture I just stopped and thought...no, couldn't be...it IS! What a treat, such generosity. Isn't it amazing the connections and wonderful memories that have come out of your two blogs. Would you ever have imagined when you started breadbasketcase that in a few years RLB (and Woody) would make your daughter's wedding cake. My warmest congratulations to you and your family. And you go on with your bad self and shake your groove thang.
Feeling all warm and sappy,
Chris in RI

evil cake lady said...

wow, Chris in RI said exactly what I wanted to say! It looks like it was a wonderful day, and how fitting and special that Rose and Woody made the cake! The warm and sappy feelings have made their way to OR :)

Vicki said...

P.S. Your daughters are both so beautiful! You and Jim look pretty dapper, too!

Maria said...

What a handsome family! The cake is a stunner, too. (Though who would expect anything less from Rose and Woody!)

Also, it's so nice to see photos of you and Jim, after reading about you both for so long. :)

Matthew said...

Wow, this post was full of surprises Marie! When I saw the first pic of the cake I thought that glaze looks familiar, and wondered if you had suggested it to the baker--still no clue! Rose and Woody did such a great job! I would have never thought that you could pour that glaze over cream cheese frosting. And the sliced cake--wow, another shock. Perhaps this will be in the next book?

Suzanne said...

Marie, I've been reading all the Heavenly Cake Baker blogs for about three months now- you guys are truly talented. Thank you for sharing the lovely pics from your special day with your readers. I nearly hollered when I saw the pic of Rose, what an awesome thing to bake that cake! And how awesome are you in that dancing pic! Do I detect a little YMCA going on? :)

Michelle said...

I love this cake. It looks amazing - beautiful and fun at the same time. I'm betting it tasted delicious too.

Loopy said...

Thanks so much for posting! I've so enjoyed reading the blogs of the Heavenly Bakers, and checking before every cake I make to see if it's been done yet, to see what I can learn. It's wonderful to see you in person, on such a special day, and having the time of your life!

Melinda said...

Oh dear me! I am stunned and teary-eyed here, too.
Sarah looks lovely and I am glad the weather decide to be congenial when it mattered most.
So, as I scrolled down and saw the cake...I thought, that looks like a RLB cake! And so it was! So lovely.
And then there is the Rose and Woody sharing in the celebrations!
I love the picture of you having a good time.
Just wonderful! Congratulations to Sarah and James.

Anonymous said...

Just want to add to what everyone else has just said! A lovely wedding and what a BEAUTIFUL cake! Love the pictures of you all especially the last one, how happy you look! Jeannette.

Monica said...

You sneaky thing! Here we are all "you did not bake the cake?" and "you should have baked the cake".. and of course why would you bake the cake, when it was in perfectly good hands to begin with!

It looked gorgeous in the pictures and I'm sure that in person it was even more amazing!

And outdoor wedding...and the setting was so beautiful... well worth the sprinkles of rain drops at the beginning - plus some cultures say that rain on your wedding day means lots of children and luck... so they are off to a great start!

Congratulations to your whole family on this occassion - it looked like you all had a blast!

doughadear said...

All the photos are lovely and especially the setting for the ceremony. Sarah looks beautiful and so happy. Congratulatons to James and Sarah!

How wonderful and generous that Rose and Woody made the wedding cake. What a treat!
Thank you for sharing this very special day.

Anonymous said...

I woke up this morning to this wonderful posting. As I got to the picture of Rose, I gasped. Then I saw Woody. I cried out to my husband, "you're not going to believe this, Rose and Woody made the wedding cake for Marie's daughter." As if he cares. Thanks for making my day. Beth

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Awwwww.... how wonderful. I had to comment immediately upon seeing Rose and Woody. I'm holding back the tears - seriously. What a generous thing for Rose and Woody to do!

Okay, back to finish reading the post.

So Sweet!!!

:)
ButterYum

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

I love it, I love it, I love it!!!

1 - it's so very nice nice you, Jim, and the girls.

2 - congratulations to the happy couple.

3 - cake accents a la Ron Ben-Isreal... on top of having the cake made by Rose and Woody?! Does your daughter have any idea??????? Amazing.

4 - I would have thought the glaze wouldn't cover a light buttercream, so I'm very happy to see it did.

Again, congrats to the happy couple!!

Patricia

Anonymous said...

Just noticed someone else busting a move in the last picture!

Chris in RI

Hector said...

Congrats to the happy bride and groom, parents, and cake angels! Stunning setting. There shall be a wedding cake version of Rose's red velvet! The flowers look REAL!

Jenn said...

Congrats to Sarah and James - the happy couple. And congrats to you Marie and Jim. I love MN in the summer, it's so green. Thanks for sharing the beautiful pictures!
Rose and Woody are so nice to bake such a beautiful cake. It's trully gorgeous and am so surprised at the inside!
And Marie, I love the last picture of you dancing, WOHO :).

jini said...

well, how absolutely splendid! the wedding, the family, the lack of a mn downpour and the cake to beat all cakes. i'm so happy for all of you. a day of joy, family and friendships! woohooo!

Rose Levy Beranbaum said...

just read threw all the cake of the week postings and now this with teary eyes! you all wouldn't believe it but marie actually posted last week's summary the day before the wedding and now this a mere few days later. talk about dedication.
it was my dream that sarah would get married as her sister lilly was already--so we could make her cake. if it hadn't been in MN we could never have done it so everything conspired to make it happen. sadly woody and i missed the ceremony as i was still rolling little balls of fondant up to the last minute!
i will leave a separate comment on the palets d'or!

Rose Levy Beranbaum said...

p.s. i meant through not threw!

ok--i was delighted with all your postings on the palets d'or--the ones that didn't work perfectly were at least as interesting as the ones that did. and RAYMOND!!! what a great surprise finally to 'meet you'! and i was picturing you with black hair and holding a sherlock holmes type magnifier! instead you have the color hair i have always envied. and you look so sweet and uncritical! not that i object to your honest appraisals--i look forward to them.
bravo to all of you

p.s. re the cake for sarah: i will be posting photos taken by woody of some of the process. i especially love the one of woody hammering the stake through all the layers. he suggested i leave the room but i bravely clasped my hands together near my heart and agonized my way through it. how relieved we both were when it was sitting in place on the table. and touched when we saw tears in marie's eyes and when sarah held my hand for about 5 minutes so graciously expressing how much it meant to her. unforgettable.

Rachelino said...

WOW! I lave the Heavenly Bakers for the hard manual labor of finishing our kitchen remodel, and come back to this! Contratulations and Mazel tov, Marie! You look beautiful, and I love the picture of you throwing up your hands in the air dancing.

Rose and Woody, you both did a phenomenal job on that cake. And what a treat to bring exquisite flowers from the master all the way to MN!

I miss everyone and feared my membership would be revoked. I wrote this on Rose's site, but I have been in limbo between old and new appliances (stove AND fridge), AND my KitchenAid stand mixer has been in for service, so I haven't been able to bake for Heavenly Bakers (not how I planned it!) Plus I lost my camera. I feel disconnected from my online baking community, so this is a nice treat to come back to this post!
I look forward to joining in now that I have all my new gear. And I can finally do the Rachelino kitchen Before and After!
:) xoxo

Saira said...

Congratulations Marie! Wow, your daughter's a lucky girl! How awesome to have Rose and Hextor make the wedding cake. Everything and everyone looks beautiful.

Hanaâ said...

Congratulations! The bride and groom look lovely together! And the cake is pretty awesome too. How lucky to have both Rose and Woody there. Wishing your daughter and her hubby a very happy and long life together!!

Greetings from Morocco,
Hanaâ

Marie said...

To everyone,
Thank you for all the comments and good wishes. I had so much fun reading through all of them, and reliving the wedding and reception. I had a goofy smile on my face all day today!

Alpha Baker Joan said...

Such a lovely and loving story. The cake and its details were so remarkable, even down to weighing fondant pearls, and chocolate fondant hearts. The bride must have been totally enchanted by the extraordinary experience of this amazing cake designed and presented at her wedding by Rose and Woody. Such a gesture of beauty and love, contributing to the happiness of her marriage, will also bring an additional sentiment never to be forgotten. joan

Mendy said...

ב''ה

Lovely post. Congrats. What a fun cake from Rose! :)

Aspiring Mom2three said...

What an absolutely beautiful bride and wedding! The cake is stunning! I was totally surprised by the hidden surprise of the vibrant Red Velvet. It looked so yummy.

Nicola said...

Oh me, oh my. Teary eyed by such a beautiful wedding. Amazing, amazing cake. Fabulous dancing photos. What a great day. And thank you so much for sharing it with us.

Rozanne said...

Wow! Great post. Your daughter is so lucky to have Rose and Woody make her wedding cake :)