A Visionary Cake

Baking and decorating cakes is great relaxation for me. It is something I enjoy doing especially in the wee hours of the morning when most people are asleep. I will be standing over a mixing bowl or peering into an oven with a little smile on my face enjoying the smells baking is generating in my kitchen, So as you can imagine being nervous about a cake would be contra-indicated in this situation. Alas, here I was baking and decorating, actually nervous about this cake. Ally was turning 14. As Ally's mom told me, she is very particular about what she wants. She had a vision and it was my job to translate her vision to cake. Of course there is a little twist...I have not met Ally. Her vision has been translated to me by her mother, who I am so happy to work with. I can't say I was nervous the entire time. When we talked originally the cake was to be a big sheet cake (fudge marble cake) with hot pink edges, black zebra stripes, and have a white box in the center with hot pink writing. As Ally's mom continued to explain her daughter, party, etc. I realized a simple sheet cake was not enough, she needed something a little bigger and bolder without changing the concept. I suggested two tiers the bottom being hot pink with black zebra stripes and the top being white with hot pink accents and writing. Mom thought that sounded like a good idea. A week before the cake I got an e-mail asking me to consult before I start baking. Usually, this is not a good sign. However, when mom and I talked it was more about questions and changes in flavors of cake (we ended up with a butter fudge bottom layer and butter cake for the top tier). She kept repeating that her daughter had a vision for her cake and is very particular about this vision and the zebra stripes needed to look like real zebra stripes. Okay, I have to admit there was some pressure here because I knew in my head that zebra stripes look like zebra stripes on a zebra, not on a square cake...but hey, I am game for anything. So I baked and started constructing the cake. Starting with the bottom tier laying out zebra stripes and putting a black dot in them so I knew where I needed to come back in and fill in with black icing. I must admit I went big also...my thinking being after hearing about the parties and possible as many as 75 of Ally's closest friends attending we needed a cake that would feed them all and be big and bold enough to fit her party and vision of the cake. After getting everything filled in all that was left was the top layer and I was not as nervous about that. Once I got everything in place I placed it on a board because it was rather heavy. Thanks to technology I also snapped a photo and sent it via MMS to mom in case she saw any last minute changes and could call me back. Ally's dad came and picked it up. Once we got it loaded in his vehicle to transport to the party there wasn't anything I could do. I must admit I waited with anticipation Monday morning to see if it passed. First thing Ally's mom came in and and let me know it passed, it was huge and she will be eating cake forever, but it passed. I think there was a sigh of relief as I then concentrated on our staff meeting that morning. Happy 14th Birthday Ally!