Hey all! I’m not going to be posting “live” for a couple of weeks. We are heading to Sonoma tomorrow for Kyle and Calla’s wedding Saturday!! Kyle and Calla’s wedding. THIS Saturday! I can hardly stand it. I’m so excited. We just adore Calla (and her entire family). Honestly, we couldn’t ask for a better life partner for our son. The fact that she comes with a wonderful family is just icing on the cake.

Kyle and Calla

And speaking of icing on the cake (Lol…I just thought of that…what a perfect segue)…lest you think there’s no cooking or baking involved for the wedding…I am making the WEDDING CAKE!

Well, technically, it’s cakes (there are five of them) and technically I’ve already baked them. They’re frozen now. Tony and I will be transporting them, frozen, as our carry-on luggage, in insulated bags, on our flight from San Diego to Santa Rosa tomorrow. Don’t even ask how many different ideas I’ve had to transport these cakes…should Ally drive them? No. They’re hiking for three days prior. Should I ship them? Ha ha. Trust someone else with this precious cargo? Should I pack them with dry ice and check them on the plane? Even bigger ha ha ha. Will I need dry ice or frozen gel packs to keep them frozen if I carry them on? TSA says only 4.4 lbs of dry ice(and a whole list of other rules) per passenger for carry-on and frozen gel packs must be 100% solid or they will consider it liquid and you have to follow the whole 3-1-1 rule…just sayin’. But the very nice and extremely helpful ladies at Do it With Icing assure me the cakes will be perfectly fine with no ice or anything for the short one-hour flight. And guess what? Then we will have CAKES ON A PLANE! Ah…hahahahhaha!

We’ve rented a house through VRBO, so I’ll have a full kitchen once we’re there. Ally (and her boyfriend Jackson) have my KitchenAid stand mixer (and a lot of other wedding-related paraphernalia) in the back of my car that is at this moment in Big Sur, being driven to Sonoma. So I’ll be making the frosting and decorate the cakes there.

What kind of cake you ask? Well, we’re not doing a traditional tiered cake. We’re calling it a “deconstructed” cake. It will be five separate 2-layer cakes on five lovely vintage cake pedestals that I’ve collected. And they will be decorated with fresh flowers from the wildflower farm on site at the wedding venue (The White Barn at Oak Hil Farm).

Cake pedestal collection

The cakes are all the same flavor – a Sour Cream Lemon Cake with Lemon Curd Cream Cheese Frosting. It is amazingly delicious. And it only took three “experimental” cake recipes to get it right (my coworkers thoroughly enjoyed the “experiments”, btw.) Thank you to my expert baker friend Dale Brent for discovering the recipe and helping to zest and segment all the lemons!!!! Cake recipe here. The frosting is from a Bon Appétit recipe that I actually used once almost 20 years ago when Tony and I renewed our vows (for our 10th anniversary) and I made a cake for the occasion. It is so good that honestly, I could spread it on a pair of sneakers and it would make it taste good. Frosting recipe follows.

Officially a wedding cake baker

Just one of the practice cakes

I’m so anxious to see how the cakes will actually look, all decorated and on the pretty plates inside the Barn! I know for sure they will taste delicious!!! This has indeed been a labor of love.

Oh, and we’re also having a “Baked Goods Bar”…Calla and Kyle have asked friends and family to contribute goodies. I made my all-time favorite Margarita Cookies and Mexican Wedding Cookies (called Cashew Butter Balls on the blog…just substituted pecans for cashews). We’ll be carrying those on too. (Sure hope I don’t exceed TSA’s “baked goods allowance” Ha ha! Well, I’m not above stooping to bribery…cookies anyone?)

Margarita Cookies and Mexican Wedding Cookies…ready to go!

So that’s if for now folks. Absolutely there will be photos to follow the big day. I couldn’t be happier…I’ve been wearing a permanent ear-to-ear grin for about five days now and I’m sure it will last for a long time to come.

Love is indeed sweet.

Lemon Curd Cream Cheese Frosting

INGREDIENTS

12 ounces (1-1/2 sticks) cream cheese, softened

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1-1/4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup lemon curd (I used Trader Joe’s lemon curd)

DIRECTIONS

Make sure butter and cream cheese are at room temp – butter takes longer!

Cream butter for 2 minutes until fluffy. Add cream cheese. Beat until fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Gradually add cream, beating just until blended. Add lemon curd and beat just until combined. Cover and chill until very cold and spreadable, at least 8 hours or up to one day.