09/10/2024
I had the privilege of creating this wedding cake and cupcake display for one of my sister-friends this weekend. Her request was for a black wedding cake with a cottage core theme. This was outside of my comfort zone and competely opposite of anything I've created in the past for anyone.
Shopping for items to add to the cake for decor was an adventure. I made a trip to our local food co-op hoping to get some inspiration from the produce aisle. While shopping for fresh herbs to use as greenery, a container of baby oyster mushrooms caught my eye. After convincing myself it wasn't an abomination to use mushrooms as decor on a wedding, the whole vision started coming together in my head. Blackberries, blueberries, sage, thyme, rosemary, mint leaves, red figs all went into the basket. I thought I had everything I needed to bring the vision together so headed to check out. Next to the register were the most beautiful, deep, dark red dahlias and I must have looked like a crazy person grabbing them with a huge smile, knowing they were the final puzzle piece to the picture in my mind π I got lavender from friends who stepped in to help me get my hands on some.
The request was for a chocolate cake with "maybe some cream cheese or something" because my bff is as easy going as they come. Luckily, I know her love of chocolate and caramel and all things oohey-gooey and sweet, and baked her a Killer Chocolate Cake with a layer of caramel buttercream filling, topped by a layer of cream cheese buttercream filling. The cake is frosted with a deep, dark chocolate buttercream. I achieved the black color by using dutched cocoa powder rather than food coloring to ensure the flavor wasn't affected.
There were 3 flavors of cupcakes:
*Killer Chocolate Cake with cream cheese buttercream and a dusting of espresso powder
*Birthday Cake Batter with vanilla buttercream and colored sprinkles
*apple cider cake with caramel buttercream and a caramel drizzle.
The transport of all the baked goods and display set up involved lots of help from Rick and our daughter Alyssa β€