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| Photo by Leah Abbott |
And everyone is still talking about it... about how stunningly beautiful Heather was in her frothy, white gown and lace shrug, about how the happy couple couldn't stop beaming all day long, about how amazing the scenery was, about all the homemade touches that made the event so unique and personal, but mostly about how much fun everyone had! And about how blessed everyone felt to be taking part in the union of two people who are obviously meant to be together, surrounded by family and friends who truly love them. It was a magical day filled with love and laughter, joy and celebration.
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| Photo by Leah Abbott |
Of course, this beautiful day was not without lots of behind-the-scenes work by many family and friends (thank you so much to all of you!!) I, myself, made the cakes for my sister's big day. Yes, you read that correctly... If you would have asked me a couple of years ago if I would consider making the cakes for my sister's wedding, I would surely have looked at you as if you had lost your mind. Me? Make the cakes for a wedding? For my favorite sister in the whole world? Such potential for disaster! I would have shaken my head in wonder that you would even suggest such a thing, and then would have rambled on about how that would just be too scary, too stressful, too much to do, too many people depending on me, too many palates to please, too many eyes on me, just... too much! But somehow, that is exactly what happened... I did make the cakes for my sister's wedding, and it was a complete and total success... so many compliments and smiling faces that I felt like I was floating on a cloud (of course, the glasses of wine I had to drink probably also played a small part in this!). And here I am a week later, still slightly dazed by the whole thing, wondering how in the world did I pull that off?
The idea started percolating in the minds of the Stumptown Sisters sometime last year. We had both read Molly Wizenberg's book A Homemade Life and absolutely adored both the author and her story. In her book, Molly talks about making the cakes for her own wedding , the "Winning Hearts and Minds" chocolate cake, and she made twenty of them. Heather and I both thought this was an intriguing idea - homemade cakes for a wedding - nothing too fancy-pants or pretentious, just down-to-earth, delicious cakes, made from scratch with love, to be shared with all of the people we care about most. As we daydreamed about what kind of wedding Heather might have, and what time of year it would take place, and what colors she wanted to have, we continued tossing around the idea of making our own cakes... though I must admit, that somewhere in the back of my mind I secretly held onto reservations that this wasn't really practical or possible.
And then one day last Fall, we were hiking my favorite trail, Eagle Creek, and we were once again talking weddings and recipes and cakes, and all of a sudden, it didn't seem like such a crazy idea anymore. Maybe it was the magic I feel sure that this trail possesses - or more likely just the adrenaline running through my body as we trudged up the steep incline - but whatever it was, the idea of baking the cakes for Heather's wedding seemed completely doable, and what's more, I knew without a doubt that I would bake them, however many that turned out to be!
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| Photo by Leah Abbott |
And so, since we were inspired by Molly Wizenberg to begin with, we had to make some of the "Winning Hearts and Minds" chocolate cakes. (These cakes are rich chocolate and velvety, almost like a molten cake in the middle, but served at room temperature, not warm. Mmmm....) And to these we added some of the Irish Guinness cakes that I talked about in an earlier blog. And finally we added one of my favorite cake recipes, an Orange Almond cake, that is so simple to make, and yet so fragrant and delicious. We chose all three of these cakes partly because we knew (after putting each cake to the test) that they could be made ahead of time and frozen until the day before the wedding. (The secret to them keeping so well is to carefully, but tightly, wrap each cake in several layers of plastic wrap and then to wrap them completely in heavy duty aluminum foil before putting them in the freezer. Thaw them out starting 24 hours before they are to be served. Let them thaw still completely wrapped in all their layers and they will not disappoint.)
In all, I baked nine cakes, three of each kind, and with the addition of a beautiful and delicious carrot cake that Heather's friend Mike so generously made, the cake table looked decadent.... each cake laid out beautifully on it's own antique cake plate, atop a tablecloth made from the lace veil our mother wore at her wedding, with little pitchers of homemade raspberry sauce to be drizzled over slices of cake...sigh... if only I had taken a picture of this lovely scene....(you will have to use your imaginations here). Since I have already shared about the Irish Guinness cake, and have provided the link for you to read about Molly's "Winning Hearts" cake, I will share with you the recipe for the Orange-Almond cake which I found online a couple of years ago, posted by a woman named Jeanne Lemlin....
Orange-Almond Cake
- 7 to 8 oz almond paste (not marzipan!)
- 1 stick unsalted butter, very soft
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp orange liqueur (such as Grand Marnier or Cointreau)
- Grated zest from 1 orange
- 5 large eggs, room temp
- 1/2 cup cake flour (such as Softasilk)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- powdered sugar for dusting
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-in springform pan, cover the bottom with a round of parchment paper, butter the paper, and then dust the whole pan with flour. Set aside.
- Break the almond paste into smaller chunks and then place it in a food processor. Process for several seconds until the paste looks grainy, like the texture of couscous. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, or in a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes. Add the processed almond paste, orange liqueur, and orange zest. Beat until well-blended, approximately 2 minutes or so.
- Beat in each egg, one at a time, until the mixture is smooth and fluffy, approx. 2 minutes. Add the flour and baking powder and beat for about 30 seconds or so, just until all the ingredients are combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. The sides of the cake will have started to shrink away from the edges of the pan. Cool the cake on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then remove the outer ring of the pan. (The cake might sink a little in the middle - this is normal) Invert the cake onto a plate in order to remove the bottom of the pan, then invert the cake back onto the wire rack to cool completely. Before serving, dust the cake with powdered sugar.
Enjoy!
-Colleen
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