OCCI Student Blogs

Of all the things I imagined I might make in my dorm kitchen I cannot say I ever thought I would make a wedding cake. When the opportunity was presented to make my first real wedding cake I leaped at it with excitement, not completely thinking things through. Seemed easy enough to make a two tier cake and a sheet cake on the side; needless to say it was not easy. I had forgotten about the things that go into making a good cake like a fully working oven and a mixer. Luckily Chef let me use his kitchen to bake the actual cakes, so that part was not bad at all, it actually went by rather fast. But decorating the cake was a whole other story.

I stepped into the kitchen only to realize that not only did I not have a stand up mixer, I didn’t even have a bowl big enough to make my frosting in. After searching for a while I found several small bowls, my roommate’s hand mixer and various small utensils that I hoped would work for decorating a cake. Never have I made such a mess making frosting; my shirt, along with the counters and part of the wall were covered in butter, shortening and powdered sugar. Making frosting should not take three hours!

I probably rearranged the freezer and refrigerator a dozen times between frosting each cake and making chocolate covered strawberries, making sure that nothing would fall or touch the cake. The entire time I was just praying that nothing would go horribly wrong, and luckily nothing did. After what seemed like 30 layers of frosting and lots of chocolate I was pretty excited to take the cake to the bride. Transporting wedding cake = not easy! With each bump and curve in the road, I was trying to make sure that all parts of the cake were in place. I was really excited to arrive where the reception was with only one small smudge on the sheet cake. I must admit though I am pretty happy with how the cake turned out, I think I fulfilled the bride’s wishes and that’s all that really matters. And now I know that if I can make a wedding cake in a tiny dorm kitchen with a work table that comes to my mid thigh and a butter knife as a spatula I’m pretty sure I can make a cake anywhere.