Destination Wedding Cake: Adventures in Fondant

When family and friends know that you bake, a request for a special, homemade cake is inevitable. It can be for a child's birthday cake, where little fingers always find their way into the frosting, so a decorating mistake is no biggie.

Or, there's the occasional call for a bridal shower cake, where the cocktail consumption at these gal gatherings makes everything, including icing imperfections, look pretty! But when we are beckoned to make a wedding cake, the pressure is on!

My brother got married in Kauai on a very popular date. He asked me to be his Best Man, sing at the ceremony, and bake the wedding cake. Best Man duties, I could do, save for attending the bachelor party. Singing at the ceremony, not a problem. Sure, I'd crack up and cry, but that would be seen as "endearing." Baking the cake in a rental house, with the tropical weather, and assembling it the day of... big challenge!

How could I say no to my baby brother? Actually, I tried to get out of it. But the fact there are only handful of bakeries that make wedding cakes on Kauai, who were all booked on their big day, made me cave in. As with most weddings, a big discussion took place about the cake. My brother and his betrothed wanted multiple square tiers, cymbidium orchids, celadon ribbon, and white fondant.

With only forty people attending the wedding, we decided on a 16-inch "dummy cake" for the bottom tier, and real cake for the 12-inch and 8-inch tiers. The cake would be made with my favorite recipe, Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake, and I'd use canned chocolate frosting as the filling between layers, my bro's choice. All seemed manageable, except for the fondant in that unpredictable climate.

The morning of the wedding, I took a deep breath, and removed the cake from the fridge. We both broke a sweat immediately! I pulled out my blow dryer, frantically airing out the fondant, by blowing it with cool air. After two hours, I had restored the fondant to its gorgeous matte finish.

I finished styling the cake by wrapping each tier with celadon ribbon. One trick I use is to back ribbon with clear mailing tape, in case the cake gets moist again. The tape prevents potential watermarks on the ribbon.

We arrived safely to the reception site, where I assembled the cake, topping it off with green cymbidium orchids and a crystal studded "B". I didn't tell my brother about the morning drama, I simply stood up for him, as his Best Man and baker.