Living in Los Angeles is a unique experience. It is not for everyone, but if you are open to it, there is a world of discovery and a clash of culture unlike anywhere in America. A huge component of this melting pot is the Hispanic culture of L.A. and the center of that is smack dab in downtown on a little street called Olvera. It was just a stone's throw from Olvera Street that our city was founded and it is there today that Mexican Americans continue to celebrate their culture's impact on the area and serve up some of the best food you've ever eaten!!
Hey everyone, Husband Mic here with the soul raising delicacy known around this pueblo as the Day of the Dead Cake!! The Dia de los Muertos is an exciting and prominent part of Hispanic life, taking place on November 2nd, this holiday centers on celebrating our dearly departed with food and partying. Unlike its spooky second cousin Halloween, Day of the Dead is a happy time where you communicate with your loved ones, so what better way to commemorate this day than to get married and encourage that literally everyone be there, corporeal or not, by creating a beautiful wedding cake!
After speaking with Alan and Tara on the phone, we knew the bright floral patterns and potential for lavish decorations were right for Marc, so we sent him into the fray of the consultation chamber! It's not that bad really, but sometimes I like to pretend our shop is like a cage match where only one of us will survive;) Hint: I get tossed early and it comes down to these two luchadores.
It's especially not bad when you have a lovely couple like Alan and Tara who were focused and dedicated to their cake concept and paying tribute to Alan's grandmother. You see, as I understand it, you put offerings of the departed's favorite food on an altar to entice them to return and hear your prayers etc. In the future, could my relatives please put out Tito's Tacos, Coca Cola, and a case of Twix bars?
With such a clear goal, we set out to make one giant, seven tiered, salute to the Dead. We knew there had to be skulls and bright colors, and Marc, ever the fashion plate, used some insane traditional fabrics to draw inspiration for the different tiers. It was going to be both beautiful and require anyone with sensitive eyes to wear sunglasses to look at it!!
The black chocolate fondant was a bit of a pain. You really have to balance how much you work it before trying to cover a layer. This led to a few tries on the black tiers, but nothing out of the ordinary. Fondant can be a cruel mistress and sometime you just need to sweet talk it!
Once the fondant was on, work went layer by layer, as the decorative elements shaped the individuality of each tier. When I opened the fridge, it was hard to see how any of it went together! But out of chaos came beauty.
Look at those first four tiers, stunning is the only way to describe it. By the way, because we were going for some height this time out and to counter the overall weight this would result in, that bottom tier is a styrofoam base. When working with the bigger designs, we find the added structure and stability of a styro "lifter" is a smart way to go.
It was also one of those cakes where you need to step back and take a look once in awhile. We just had this conversation with a journalist over the weekend. If you just keep working, staying within a whisper of the cake, working on all these minute details, you can lose yourself and get all wobbly-eyed! Since there were so many designs coming together on the Day of the Dead cake, we had regular pow wows to step back and analyze the work.
We all pitched in on the sugar skull production, even me! Well, I made maybe five little ones, but it totally counts! They were so awesome and that tier of skulls turned out way better than the original idea of a couple big skulls to lift up the top. They fit in more with the type of skulls you see on the altars around Olvera Street as well. We thought about even buying some of the lovely sugar skulls available on our research/taquito eating trip to Olvera, but we always knew we wanted to make our own Merci Beaucoup versions. If you're unsure of your sculpting or want a more anatomical skull shape, there are some good molds out there. But I love ours!
They didn't really get into the flower making for this cake on the episode, but there was plenty of that going down. You can see a couple up above and how we were going for a more fabric feel to the roses along with a few more dramatic sugar pieces on the top.
Interesting factoid: the cake got so tall, our crew actually wheeled over this portable marble counter we have so they could put the camera tripod on it to look down on the top the cake!!
Interesting factoid #2: there appears to be a cake pan filled with candy corn in that tripod photo up there! To all the cake husbands out there, always be sure to keep plenty of candy on hand to help fuel the decorators when these cakes go late into the night!
Marc admires his handy work before the delivery:
I also admire the cake, photograph style!
In case you've missed it so far, we delivered the cake to Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles. Yeah, I know, we've been sort of vague about this up till now;) The reception was at La Golondrina, a beautiful old restaurant at the center of the market where Reva and I have eaten a number of times. Thankfully, it is also one of the few places with a back door! This meant we didn't have to carry the cake all the way through the crowded Olvera market, dodging toy guitars and resisting the urge to buy some sweets at one of the candy stalls. We were able to pull right up and even had a nice table in the back to do some primping on the cake before we brought it down front by the fireplace.
Alan and Tara were floored when they saw the cake and I gotta say, we nailed it! It could not have looked better in the restaurant and it absolutely represented Dia de los Muertos. Many thanks to our couple for inviting us in to their special celebration.
That's it for this week everybody! Thanks again for tuning in and for all the kind remarks we've already received on this cake. Now you know what to do for your Day of the Dead celebration next week, so get to it cakers!
Only three more episodes left in the third season of Amazing Wedding Cakes, so be sure to tune in to see how our final cakes turn out, including next week's very special Halloween episode with our dear friend's the Allen Family and their "Through the Looking Glass" anniversary surprise!!
Love love love this cake
Posted by: angelica | 29 October 2010 at 06:50 AM
Great work. I have never seen such amazing wedding cakes. I really like it very much.
Posted by: Bar Mitzvah Caterers Boston | 01 November 2010 at 10:17 AM
:D
Posted by: Erica Soto | 17 March 2011 at 01:15 PM
We will come to YOU!!!
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