I am Baker

I am not a baker. Baking for me was grabbing a package of pre-made dough and plopping it on some metal sheet and pray that I didn't scorch them (it happened a couple of times).
I picked up my baking skills from my sweet friends. They taught me that there is a difference between butter and margarine. With margarine your "made from scratch" cookies will come out as flat as a sheet of paper. Today, my fridge carries only unsalted sweet cream butter. I'm pretty proud of myself.

I enjoy baking even though I am new to it. What I enjoy the most are the smiles that come from my children. I love to hear, "Mmmm, this is delicious" each time they took their first bite of a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie or cupcake. Still, I felt very new to baking.  I cannot simply follow a recipe for that perfect batch. I learned techniques to make sure cupcakes were moist and cookies were chewy but not too leathery. I was a novice baker, and I hadn't baked a cake yet.

So, imagine my surprise when one of my coworkers, my friend, asked me to bake her a wedding cake (now, imagine the sound of a music record screeching to a halt). She wanted me to do what?!

I didn't give her an answer although I wanted to tell her no. I almost admired her faith in me that she thought I could pull this off.

My baking friends told me I can bake a cake. I can? And so I started to ask the Bride-to-be questions. What kind of cake? No frosting? Naked what? And with that I was on Pinterest searching naked cakes; cakes with no frosting. The Bride-to-be wanted a chocolate layer and coconut layer for her wedding cake. I experimented baking cakes for special occasions and birthdays like the one I did for my son. 

I didn't like the two tone colors for a naked wedding cake and neither did the Bride-to-be. I decided to bake two wedding cakes, one coconut and the other chocolate.  Talk about added pressure! I took a moment to remind myself to bake with love like I do for my own children. And so I did! I couldn't believe I did it! I based the cakes from Pinterest that linked me to Style Me Pretty The following pictures of my cakes were taken by Milli Mike Photography

She had a book theme wedding in a beautiful barn on Flora Corner Farm. I was treated as a vendor. I was able to capture pictures before the wedding with my cell phone. I loved every detail of her wedding decorations. I loved the simplicity of using wooden letters as wedding toppers.

Books were wedding favors for her guests.

Check out her dessert table! 

I loved her wedding bouquet!

These two pictures by Milli Mike Photography shows more of the beautiful details.

I love the pages of a book bouquet for her bridesmaids. 

All that hard work (and pressure) for love! 

I created my cakes based on Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond and on a Pinterest picture from Style Me Pretty.

It was a gorgeous wedding filled with love and joy! Now the Bride thanked me and with her smile I knew she loved her cakes! She made me a gift box full of the little things I like. Along with my very own wooden letter! Check out the title of the book she gave me. A good book always goes well with a yummy slice of cake. You know what? I am baker!