Here at Gold Leaf Supplies we have the pleasure of dealing with many customers each and every day, trying to guide them and and advise them through the project they’re are looking to undertake. We’re always especially pleased when a customer takes the time to get back to us afterwards and tell us how it went. This is one such story, written by a customer about her experience in making a wedding cake for her son’s wedding.
“This project felt like one of the most important things I have ever undertaken. I was really privileged when my son and future daughter in law asked if I would make their wedding cake. I had 18 months to plan and create the cake which I wanted to be really special for them. I created a special recipe for the fruit cake by listening carefully to what everyone liked and combining the list of ingredients. Luckily the recipe held together and produced a taste everyone was pleased with. No doubt it will become one of those secret family recipes!”
“The next stage was to design the four-tier cake. I had in mind to make by hand all the decorations on the cake, apart from a Swarovski crystal butterfly topper. The roses were made out of sugar-paste and in order to get a natural movement in the flowers, each petal was wired separately. This was a magical process, taking a packet of icing sugar plus a few additional ingredients, and ending up with many roses of different shapes and sizes, each one unique with its own character! The concept was starting to evolve. The colour theme was white on white. The cake stand was vintage with silver finish which added some extra detail. However, I felt that something more could really make the cake stand out. Thanks to the Internet I was able to search for more ideas and realised that a gold leaf tier was becoming very popular for wedding cake designs. My searching also brought me to Gold Leaf Supplies website. There seemed to be many beautiful products, all available in one place and I made an order straight away. The items were delivered the next morning. The first problem was that I didn’t have a clue how I was going to execute this next stage. I asked around but received conflicting advice and I really wanted to make sure I made good use of the beautiful gold leaf. In the end I decided to call Gold Leaf Supplies directly for advice. Initially I spoke to a gentleman who talked me through a technique for applying the transfer gold leaf. He was very helpful and the advice resulted in a successful application. By slightly dampening the fondant icing with water to make it slightly tacky, the transfer gold leaf was easy to apply and went on smoothly. As this was my first attempt, there were some gaps in the coverage and I decided to order more gold leaf as I was pleased with the gold effect on the tier, which was starting to look really good. The only problem I could see was how to apply another layer without removing the gold already on the fondant. I called Gold Leaf Supplies again and spoke to Sue who was really lovely. She talked through some options and again my order was with me the following day. In order to dampen the surface of the cake which now had gold leaf applied, I ran a basin of very hot water and left the cake in the steamy room for around ten minutes. This slightly dampened the surface and with strips cut out of the transfer leaves, the gold leaf went on beautifully, covering any gaps. I must say Sue was amazing. She must be dealing with people all over the world with projects much bigger than mine, but she made me feel that the success of this cake was as important to her as it was to me. Thank you Sue! The final stage was to take the four tiers separately and build up the tiered cake at the lovely wedding venue Pegwell Bay Hotel. All went smoothly to plan apart from one hitch. The venue is in a fabulous location right on the sea and when I arrived there was a gale blowing. As I carefully removed one of the cake boxes from the car a huge gust of wind swept the lid off the cake box and then continued to destroy the remaining box. To my horror I was left battling the elements with the pristine gold tier in my bare hands. I managed to hang onto it but inevitably there was some damage to the finish. Luckily I came equipped with a repair kit including my spare gold leaf. With more confidence this time, I reapplied pieces of transfer gold, I had after all done this before! The sea spray had conveniently moistened the surface of the cake so no need for steaming bowls of water. All was well once more and I had all the components, four tiers, including the gold leaf tier, plus a spare, countless sugar roses, ribbons flecked with silver and gold, hand-stitched onto muslin strips to tie in the gold leaf and silver cake stand. The addition of some tiny seed pearls to the middle ribbon added extra interest. I sourced the Ribbons by Nkuku from Indigo in Oxford. All that had to be done now was to assemble the tiers and create the final piece. This took a day and a half as each flower had to be carefully placed. The most important thing for me was that my son and daughter-in-law were pleased with their wedding cake. They had after all made an act of faith in asking me to do this for them! The look on their faces as they cut the cake confirms that were very happy. The photograph by the event photographer Shaun Madden and edited by the bride herself!”