My first wedding cake customer was a college chum. She wanted me to do a three-tiered cake covered in edible white royal icing daisies. At the time, my sister and I shared a studio apartment. I do not remember how I managed to store six cake layers in such a small apartment refrigerator/freezer but evidently it worked out somehow.
In the interest of space and style our major work surface was a table that was attached to the wall. When the table was “closed” onto the wall it looked like a picture surrounded by a wooden frame. (The art was attached to what became the table bottom when the table was opened by pulling the frame down with the frame becoming the legs of the table.
At the time which was the first or second year of college, I was completely self-taught in terms of cake decorating. So I did not know about the use of a drafting ruler ; nor did I appreciate the aspect of building a tiered cake on a level surface, or the relationship of such a task with architecture. Anyway I made the cake, assembled and decorated it using my eye as a guide.
The daisies were a challenge but with practice I remember that they turned out reasonably well but I vowed to do better next time. I wanted this project to be finished and delivered on time. Upon delivery the cake was placed on a prominent table in the living room of my friend’s parents’ home. To my horror the cake seemed to lean to one side. In fact I thought I heard the bride’s brother whisper to someone that the cake was crooked. Oh my gosh! I turned the cake such that the lean was minimized. The bride paid me the promised $40 and she really did not seem displeased. It did take me awhile before I made another tiered cake partly due to school schedule and probably due to humiliation. (My own.)
In hindsight, reflecting on the experience, I have to give myself credit for taking on the project in the first place. I think that we need to challenge ourselves otherwise we get stuck never trying anything new and exciting because of a fear of failure or of not achieving perfection. Besides the most profound learning can take place when we experience an oops.
