It's been a while ...
Some time ago (mid-July) I shared my latest wedding cake plans and mentioned that I’d keep you posted on progress. And it’s been an eventful couple of months. I was thrilled with the three fruit cakes which emerged resplendent from the oven after several hours of baking. I wrapped them up snuggly once they’d cooled and left them to mature. They just needed a little brandy every so often to keep them moist and help the magic happen.
I began modelling the flowers and foliage (just after baking the cakes) for the mid-September wedding celebration. This was a project to be enjoyed (well, mostly) and not rushed. I was so proud of my creations and despite a few tears I conquered (botanically correct) old-fashioned roses and dahlias for the first time. More modern roses, peony buds, hydrangeas and spectacular foliage completed my design, and I was three weeks ahead of schedule. Wow, a bit of time to relax and get outside. No more gluing semolina to cotton threads in the name of flower stamens for me this year!
With time on my side and the promise of late August sunshine, I swapped my botanical modelling for the real thing. Such a fun Sunday tidying up the garden yielded several bags of recyclable waste and an unremarkable insect bite. Unremarkable until a few days later when I became unwell. Believe it or not, just 50 years after I began full-time work I wasn’t celebrating as I’d planned but wondering how such a small bite could cause so much physical pain. I accepted defeat. This wasn’t likely to be my week for posting, “50 years’ experience, happy to share” after all. So, the 23rd August 2021 came and went without explanation or celebration. But as I’ve explained before, “If I know it, I’ll share it” so the message remains.
Over the next few days (then weeks) I split my thoughts between completing the three-tiered edible masterpiece, which alternative wedding-worthy shoes might fit and extreme pain! It didn’t occur to me that I’d miss such a special occasion, shoes or no shoes. Sadly, I didn’t make it to the wedding, although my husband’s explanations and the photographs soon demonstrated the excitement of the day. The cake was a success thanks to my cake decorating teacher – a great friend and cake inspiration. She kindly iced, then stacked the cakes and arranged the flowers I’d lovingly crafted to great effect. I’m unconvinced that I’d have made such a great job of the cake, but it was an outstanding collaboration.
Baking is such a rewarding pastime, but I’m no “Bake Off” contestant. I enjoy every stage of the process, creating the vision then project planning to delivery … but not in a tent with all that distraction. It’s a great way to relax (mostly). There’s nothing like designing a wedding cake for a couple you love when you have time to get a few things wrong and learn how to recover. Mr. Watt finds my hobby a little more stressful. He worries for me. Maybe that’s because golf is so much more self-contained – good shot, celebrate, bad shot, commiserate!
In truth it’s my desire to extend and test my skills every time that holds my interest in caking, but who’d have thought I’d complete an amazing three-tiered wedding cake for good friends while living in a hotel (between houses) or fail to complete my most ambitious project yet because of an insect bite? Oh, just in case you’re wondering, I baked the fruit cakes before we moved out of our previous house and stored them safely with a neighbour, then created the decorations in one of the “food safe” hotel training rooms. Lots of fun on Saturday mornings when I visited the neighbour to catch up and assemble the different stages – marzipan, icing, edible lace decoration and finally, the flowers and foliage.
Contingency planning is key, although if there aren’t any ingredients for Christmas cakes on the supermarket shelves, who knows where the story will go next for inspiration? I’m gradually getting about again while trying to follow the medical advice to rest and keep my leg raised above my head. Yes, you’re right, its not the best way to create my Tea Break stories, but I hope you’ve enjoyed catching up this afternoon. More about 50 years at work coming soon and, in the meantime, I’m enjoying the garden at arm’s length! What have you been up to recently? I’d love to hear your news, why not get in touch – Let’s talk.
