When I was too stupid (actually too inexperienced) to know better, I volunteered to make a wedding cake for my friends (around 1976). I'm from Chicago, so I used the Pope School Cookbook (local school, my Mom went to classes there). At any rate, having no retail outlets for graduated tier pans, I went to the Wilton showroom in suburban Chicago for them. When told that I wanted to do 4 tiers, the saleswoman asked what I was doing for supports. Thinking she wanted to sell me some of those pillar jobs, I said I was just going to stack them one upon the other. She then informed me that cake is heavy and it would sink. Fortunately, she explained the wooden dowel and cake-board business. Since the "platform" for the cake was a curved platter, I built a stack of 3 corrugated cardboard rounds that fit in with the top one big enough for the bottom layer. I used a pencil sharpener for the dowels and stuck them each all the way through all the layers into the cardboard base (6 for the bottom, 4 for the next, 2 for the next, and one for the top). I frosted it with Pope's "Mrs Miller's Quick French Buttercream" (a half-shortening, half butter whipped with superfine sugar, then mixed with scalded and cooled milk mixed with vanilla--very smooth frosting that holds layers without bulging...it's no IMBC or SMBC, but it works very well and got raves). Now here is the tricky part. I had to transport the thing 150 miles in 85 degree weather. I pre-froze the assembled cake overnight (friend had a chest freezer), put it in a tall box, and it just fit on the floor in front of the passenger seat in my Audi. I cranked the A/C up full, wearing hat, gloves, etc. all the way to the venue (3.5 hours or so). The cake only started to jiggle a bit at the end of the journey when I had to drive over the railroad tracks. Removed from the box at the venue, I only had to do minor touch-ups before putting into the venue's walk-in. With my planning, help from the Wilton lady and friends (and only a hand mixer) it worked like a charm. Now that I've recently completed a Display Cakes class in culinary school, I am utterly embarrassed at my hubris at thinking I could do what I did. Now the colored roses I made with Royal icing at the bottom looked more like carnations (and I think I forgot leaves), but the pale yellow shallow basket with silk flowers and thin white silk ribbons as the topper pulled it together. One day I'll scan a picture in. It still cracks me up what I did 40 yrs ago without training or the internet (BTW, it was a whole egg butter cake...simple but yummy).

• Reply