'Tis the Season for Weddings and Disasters

When you get to be a certain age, it seems Summer brings a wedding, bridal shower, baby shower, etc. every other week. And sometimes weddings 2 weekends in a row. And, if you're me, you have awesome friends who have way more faith in your cake-transporting abilities than they should.

A few weeks ago, my friends Cat and Levi got married on a lovely day in Salt Lake City, surrounded by friends, family, and community. And as well-loved as Cat and Levi are, many people close to them made food for the reception. In addition to a lot of bread and even more macaroni and cheese (so SO much macaroni and cheese), I was honored enough to make the cakes. 

As glamorous as it may seem to make the cake for the most important day in 2 people's lives, making and transporting items as delicate as cake is not as easy as one would think. I should have known. Because cakes are so delicate, it is best to put boards between each layer, put pillars in the tiers, and stack the tiers when you get to the location. I only did about 1/3 of these things. And about halfway through the drive to the location, the shit, as they say, hit the fan. The main cake had crumbled to pieces. And I fought to keep it together.

Instagram photo taken the day of and then the day after, after it fell apart and then was demolished by hungry guests

As soon as I went and told the bride what happened, she was so wrapped up in wedding day joy, it didn't even matter. Some wonderful guests came to the rescue and went to the store to get a few sheet cakes to supplement, and there were still a few smaller cakes to cut for the ceremony.

photo of the cakes that stayed together by the very talented and generous Amy Beckler
The rest of the photos can be seen on Amy's blog

So, all was well. Cat and Levi were married and I had learned a thing or two about cake transportation . . . . and this awesome lemon cake with this buttercream frosting didn't completely go to waste: about 10 or so wedding guests scooped the crumbled pieces out of the back of my car to enjoy. God bless them.

Thankfully, the next weekend when Charlie and Liz got married, I was smarter and the cake turned out well. And even better, they also chose lemon cake (people LOVE lemon!) and, as a special addition, I made this fantastic lemon curd to go between the layers. It also makes a wonderful pie filling, is delicious sandwiched between a couple of butter cookies or can be eaten guiltily alone by the spoonful. Enjoy!

Lemon Curd 

Makes about 4 cups

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
the peel from 1 lemon
2/3 cup lemon juice
10 egg yolks
1/2 cup butter

In a medium saucepan, place 2/3 cup water, lemon juice, and lemon peel and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. Remove peel.

Stir together cornstarch and sugar in a separate bowl and then stir into the water-lemon mixture. Stir over medium heat until thick and bubbly.

Whisk the egg yolks in a medium mixing bowl. Remove half of the lemon mixture from the pan and quickly whisk into the egg yolks. Return to the lemon mixture and whisk over medium heat until mixture boils. Cook and stir two minutes more. Remove from heat and stir in butter.

Remove curd to a separate bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Cool in the refrigerator.