Am I crazy enough to make my own wedding cake? My fiancé seems to think so! I’m not sure whether to take that as a compliment that he knows I could do it and do it well, or whether he thinks I’m just plain crazy! In any case, I had made this cake for my Dad’s birthday and was really proud of it. So proud in fact, that I actually started thinking “Hey! I might just be able to do this”. So I got to work looking for recipes.

Since Kevin and I got engaged, I have always known I wanted a red velvet wedding cake. I have eaten red velvet a few times and love the texture and the theatrics of cutting in to a beautifully white cake only to reveal its bright red innards. But I have found it a very hard cake to find in Australia. It seems to be more of an American thing and when we were originally looking at buying the cake, I found that a lot of places (and we’re talking very reputable places) just didn’t make it. This (apparently) is where I come in. I’d made it before. It had seemed to be reasonably successful. How hard can it be?

After my Dad’s cake, I was on a bit of a high and feeling slightly unstoppable in the kitchen so when it came time for a birthday celebration lunch at a friend’s house, I thought I would quickly whip up a cake to take over. I wanted to attempt to stack it too as this is what I’d need to do for the wedding. So I made a regular square cake in a normal sized tin and then used a smaller circle for the top layer. I just used a packet cake mix for ease as it was more the assembling that I wanted to perfect rather than the actual flavour … that could come later.

Cakes cooled, I started to whip my butter ready for the icing. All seemed to be going reasonably well. I had trimmed the cakes, split each in half to layer with buttercream and finished my crumb coating. When it came time to pipe, it all went downhill. Fast. There was no pressure on this cake. They didn’t even know I was bringing it – we were only going over for brunch!! But I started getting frustrated and once that happened, it was a frenzy of swearing, sweating and sulking. My poor fiancé Kevin copped a lot of the brunt of my frustrations. The cake was so poorly done that I didn’t even take a photo. I wasn’t happy. I love to cook and get really upset when it turns out awful. Bless Kevin, he kept telling me it looked great, trying to make me feel better but I wasn’t impressed.

In my mind, I had given up. I knew that with the way I had reacted, under no pressure, it would be a million times worse the day before the wedding. With all of those little details to worry about to ensure our days goes perfectly, the stress of making a cake would be too much. What if it didn’t work? What if, we came all this way, and we had no cake? I could go with a Plan B but surely no cake maker is going to have a cake there “just in case” and Coles certainly don’t sell wedding cakes! I know that this was a yes or no situation. Do or don’t. Bake or buy.

I think the best advice I can give to anyone out there wanting to make their own cake – practise is key. I feel like if you are the type of person who will stress easily, then baking this particular cake, for the most important day of your life, is not for you. If not, then you should be fine. Practise, keep calm and do your research. There are a lot of sites out there that actually give you a step by step guide to cake stacking, decorating, transporting. Everything you need to know can be found online.

As for me? We have gone back to searching for a cake place that does red velvet. Admittedly, I had made one cake with no professional training, no courses, and it had turned out ok, but when I attempted a cake with a higher difficulty and it didn’t work, I gave up. In all honesty, I think if I had given it a couple of goes, it might have worked. However, the look in my eyes that fateful day has scared Kevin enough to know that the day before our wedding, is not the day to construct a cake.

But I never say never. I may, in the future, when the scars have finally healed, decide to give it another go. You never know. 😉

Images from Nicole’s blog Dining with a Stud.

Ms Gingham says: Oh Nicole how I feel your pain! I bake for my kid’s birthdays and that’s enough pressure for me let alone before my wedding day. An idea though, red velvet cupcakes are divine and may be quite spectacular …. As a disclaimer, we recommend you only take on DIY projects if you have the time and can cope with the stress. Otherwise, major jobs like wedding cakes might be best left to professionals!

Nicole says: “Currently blogging about food however since the engagement, I haven’t had much time to go out and eat or bake at home hence the food blog is looking a little dry for the past month. Weddings is all I can think about at the moment and I was thinking of starting a bride blog too! I love looking for inspiration and want our day to reflect us. Every bride should feel the same!”