I don't do wedding cakes often, cookies are much less daunting! But when I do them, I really enjoy it. I've done a couple dozen wedding cakes over the last 8 years, but this one was a first for me. I usually use only buttercream, not fondant. Now that I have a bigger kitchen, it's not so bad baking all of those layers! My husband brought home a refrigerator case from a grocery store, and that made keeping the assembled layers cold so easy! I had to make the cake 2 days before the wedding, because we were going to the ceremony a few hours away, and staying overnight in a hotel. Long story short - it went well! The open top refrigerator kept the fondant from attracting condensation - which would have run the hand painted details. The top and bottom layer were dark chocolate with an almond cream filling. The middle layer was red velvet poundcake with cream cheese filling. Making all the batter and frosting from scratch and baking and assembling the layers took about 12 hours.
I made the monogram out of royal icing, and hand painted the scroll work with food coloring. After the groom saw my had painted cookies, he asked if I could paint the cake! The hand painting took about 8 hours.
It was a labor of love and so worth it! I will have to post pictures of the inside of the cake later - my battery died wight when they cut the cake! I'll get the images from their photographer later.
