Conference turris::cooks

    That scene where you cut up the cake and stuck it on racks to cook
    reminds me of the time when I, a much younger I, tried to make
    marshmallows (there's a recipe for 'em in Joy of Cooking).
    Imagine carrying a spoon from the pot to the sink, turning around,
    realizing that you've carried a streamer of marshmallow across the
    room, and it's now hardened... aaah, the look on my Mother's face
    when she saw *that* was priceless!  I'll bet we've all had our
    moments of total chaos in the kitchen which are much funnier in
    retrospect!

    --Louise

    Well, after that first wedding cake, I should've known better, but
    everyone liked it so much that when my new brother-in-law got married
    a couple of years later, they asked me to make their cake.
    
    This time I invested in a couple of professional quality pans. 
    I went back to the same source and found a suitable recipe in the
    Time-Life Food of the World cookbook for Austria (?).
    
    They were having a pot luck supper and dance for their reception,
    at the Concord Girl Scout House.  Because of a no-liquor clause
    in the rental agreement we chose a rum cake with a rum butter cream
    and praline frosting.  I don't remember how many times I multiplied
    the recipe, but as before we had a lot of frosting left over and
    had cans of it in the freezer for quite a few years afterward.
    
    There was something amiss with the balance of ingredients in the
    frosting and we kept adding things to balance it out.  Between what
    got soaked into the cake layers overnight and what we put in the
    frosting, the cake consumed an entire gallon of rum.  Fortunately
    there was also a prohibition on smoking at the Scout House, else
    it might have blown sky high.
    
    How about everbody else?  Know any good homemade substitutes for
    that standard unpalatable crap dished out at most weddings, which
    is usually suitable only for putting under the pillow?
                        

    re .4 - 'unpalatable...'
    
    Through compromise and a clash of cultures I ended up with three
    [yes, THREE] different cakes at my wedding [also tons of Gulf shrimp
    and assorted buffet-type food, but that's not under discussion here].
    I wanted [and made] a traditional Bride's cake, which quasi-recipe
    follows.  My mother-in-law to be and various members of HIS family
    rather insisted upon a wedding cake [the standard white Christmas
    tree which THEY called a bride's cake] and a groom's cake [a.k.a.
    German chocolate sheet cake with a few frothy decorations to make
    it look festive].  [Apparently these two cakes are obligatory at
    weddings in Texas].
    
    The TRULY unpalatable part of the standard white tower turned out
    to be the top.  The top layer of the cake was saved for the happy
    couple [us] to feast upon on anniversary #1. [A thought that struck
    me as sweet, but hardly appetizing as a year in deep-freeze couldn't
    help any cake let alone a dry white one.]  The happy day came, one
    year completed and both of still lokking forward to many more...we
    dined at home on beef Wellington, fresh garden vegatables, the works...
    when the champagne and dessert came, we cut into the long awaited
    top of our wedding cake and [SURPRISE!!!] it was styrofoam! Ick.
                                   
    
    Now on to BRIDE'S CAKE [my way]
              ------------
    
    Cream together:
    
    1 to 1-1/2 c. granulated sugar ['Sugar in the Raw' is best]
    1/2 lb. butter [softened]
    1 tsp. vanilla
    2 Tbsp. orange juice [fresh is best]
    2 Tbsp. Cognac, Cointreau, rum, or something [I like COINTREAU]
    
    Beat in one at a time:    3 eggs
    
    Gradually beat in:
    
    1/8 tsp of salt [I omit this, but my mother doesn't]
    1 tsp baking powder  
    2 c. cake flour
    
    Fold in:
    
    1 tin cherry pie filling [the one pie size]
    1 c. chocolate shavings [I used miniature chocolate chips]
    3/4 c. chopped walnuts [Black or English, whatever you have]
    
    Pour into greased, floured ring-shaped cake tins [not tube pans]
    or two large loaf pans and bake at 300 for 90 min.
    
    Ice with what suits your fancy. I used a standard butter-cream with
    a touch of Cointreau.
    ___________
    
    this may look like a basic imperial pound cake with trimmings; well,
    it is.
    
    No, I didn't have a small wedding.  I came home from work every
    day for a week and made up one recipe's worth and iced the day before
    the wedding. Put five rings at a time around a central floral 
    arrangement and replaced rings as needed.
    
    AnnieJ

    My future sister-in-law made our wedding cake in my kitchen.  It
    took her a day and a half nonstop.  It was the traditional wedding
    type cake, white with white frosting and a filling.  It was three
    layers with a fountain in between the first and second layer.  No
    suprises there.  I had wanted carrot cake since that is my favorite
    but that idea caused such an uproar from my future husband that
    I decided to let him pick his preference on this one matter.
    
    Frankly, I didn't feel much confidence in my sister-in-laws ability
    to create a gorgeous AND delicious cake.  I worried to myself for
    weeks, even thought about ordering a back up cake from a bakery
    just to be safe.  We had 200 people attending our wedding and I
    was afraid the cake might be a disaster!
    
    Well... I was the one who ended up suprised!  And that wasn't until
    a year later!  At the reception, all I had of the cake was the one
    bite that my husband *mashed* into my face, hardly enough to judge
    the quality of the confection!!  A few people did tell me that they
    had enjoyed it, but I had other things on my mind.
    
    On our anniversary we sat down to a nice romantic dinner and afterwards
    I went into the kitchen to check out the dessert.  I had left it
    out on the counter to thaw in the morning.  I opened up what appeared
    to be a large black garbage bag (sister-in-law had packed it up
    for us after the wedding) and found a parcel wrapped in foil.  I
    opened up the foil and found another garbage bag.   ... then foil,
    then garbage bag, then foil (3 layers in all) and finally the cake
    in a ziploc freezer bag.
    
    I had heard all the stories about how awful the wedding cake is
    on the one year anniversary and was expecting the worst.  But the
    cake was delicious!!!!  It was moist, and the raspberry filling
    was great and the icing was great and the whole thing was great!
    We each ate two huge pieces and then invited some friends over to
    help polish off the rest the next day.
    
    I think it had something to do with the unusual amount of foil and
    plastic that helped keep the cake from turning to crumbs or even
    worse, rubber or styrofoam.  I hope those of you who haven't gotten
    married yet try this method of wrapping your wedding cake, it was
    a wonderful feeling to ear our wedding cake one year later and actually
    enjoy it.
    
    Jo Ann