I don’t post often, but this group has been invaluable in offering information and advice on my first wedding cake journey. Every time I had a question, all I had to do was search here and find the answer. Thank you!

I thought I’d share the results of our collective efforts. Phew! They survived and looked perfect for the rustic, English country setting in a barn in Dorset.

Main cake was Woody’s luxury lemon layers, with lemon curd, fresh raspberries, and the “golden dream” white chocolate frosting.

“Satellite” cakes were:
- biscuit, soaked with hazelnut syrup, filled with hazelnut chocolate ganache, and frosted with vanilla mousseline
- carrot cake (from RHC)
- hot milk sponge, soaked with peach liquor, filled with a peach preserve puree, and frosted with peach mousseline

My husband and best friend managed the decorating with fresh flowers while I did assembly and repair. Great team work.

Hi, Julie!

That is some amazing cake baking!!  And the cakes are all so pretty.

The Woody’s lemon luxury layers is my favorite yellow cake—the Golden Luxury Butter Cake.  That “main cake” sounds so delicious! 

Actually, all of the cakes sound fabulous—hazelnut, peach, carrot, lemon—did everyone rave????

Your hubby and best friend did a beautiful job with the flowers!

—ak

BEAUTIFUL!  And holy cow that is alot of cake!  Fabulous job…truly… and a real labour of love!  They all sound like they are incredible!  Well done and I bet the couple was thrilled.

Goegeous cakes. I love the setting and your cakes were perfect.

Beautifully done, congratulations!  You baked so many different flavors and textures of cake, they all sound absolutely delicious and look perfect.  So happy you posted!

Thank you for all the kind words. Definitely have developed some new knowledge and skills!

Love the various textures of the butter cream. I’ve never seen the one on the lavender cake before—any tips for how you achieved that? What was the favorite flavor of the reception? Beautiful work!

For the lavender cake, I created a smooth surface, and then used a very small off-set spatula (about the width of a table knife) and did overlapping horizontal circles while using a turntable. I tried to stagger where the “lift and reset” points were so they look random. I’ve attached the inspiration picture, so you can see what I was trying to achieve. I’ve also attached a picture of how they looked just after I finished frosting, on the day before the wedding.

With the golden dream buttercream, I did have texture issues. I froze the cakes with a heavy crumb coat, and then applied the final frosting layer the day before the wedding, with the cake still frozen. Between the temperature of the cake, and then going back in the fridge to finish defrosting for the day, the buttercream lost its glossy texture, and instead had a rougher, spongier look. For this wedding it was fine. Nothing was supposed to look too finished, and the lighting was incredibly dim. But if I had the time to frost on the day at room temperature, I think it would have been a better result.

That “frosting while frozen” technique worked beautifully with the carrot cake - the cream cheese frosting was SO easy to apply to the frozen crumb cake and looked glossy and fabulous at every temperature. So, definitely depends on the type of frosting.

Thanks for the explanation. I’m going to try the technique on the lavender sometime. I think it looks great.

Cakes seems wonderful and excellent decoration with lavender!!! I have lavender in my garden but i never had on my mind to decorate some food i make. Very nice idea!

I, too, love the texture you’ve created on the sides with the offset spatula- going to try to remember that for my next layer cake as it’s beautiful but also looks approachable and like it could hide a flaw or two.  
Thanks for posting!

I’m wondering how it is this combination of lavender aroma and cake. I’m trying to imagine but it is very difficult

Very good looking cakes…definitely fantastic for a first cake.

I haven’t been online in a while. Just beautiful!  They look and sound delicious. ...by the way…could you send me your recipe for the hot milk sponge…been looking for a good one.

Thanks so much

Just got back to the States from Dorset, Julie B. We loved it there. Your cakes look amazing.

I didn’t notice any “lavender” contamination. The cake was VERY lemony between the curd and the extra limoncello I soaked it with

In terms of hot milk sponge, I used the one from the new Miette cookbook. A bit of faffing for sure, but seems reliable and good structure.