Often in my business there is a cake design and a customer that you really enjoy and this order was definately one of them! Our NJ client's son was married at City Hall in LA and she threw a small family party when the newlyweds came to visit. Her idea was to have the wedding cake look like city hall and I found this to be quite challenging.
First, she wanted carrot cake and those of us in the cake decorating world know that this cake is quite moist and soft so it is hard to shape (I used my mother's carrot cake recipe which went over great with the client but was still difficult to work with). Second, I had never done a large scale building so I had to get out my calculator (and some input from my husband) to come up with the proper sizes for the building.
The building is made from panels using Mexican gumpaste which I find is easier to work with than pastillage and dries almost as hard. We cut out the panels several days in advance to allow sufficient time to dry. Of course, I was nervous my calculations may not be correct, but in the end only a few minor errors were made in the panel sizes and everything fit together like a puzzle.
I was pleased with the outcome, learned some important lessons, and got to work with a wonderful client!
