This is What a Day of Baking Looks Like

This is what a day of baking looks like packaged for the freezer:

Is it just me or is there some quirk of fate that likes to pummel the shit out of me with obligations and just sit back and laugh uproariously?  Not that I take this personally or anything... yeah, right.  Here's the deal.  My friend Jessica at work was talking one night about her wedding and how she's getting married the last Saturday in October with a Halloween theme.  Oh man, that made my heart go pitter-pat. Halloween is my favorite holiday and to theme a wedding around it...ahhhh, she had me at "and as the bride I'll be dressed completely in Morticia black..." 

She had a little trouble finding a bakery who wanted to decorate an all black fondant cake with purple polka dots and blood red gumpaste roses....holy hell, Jessica, welcome to my mind's playground.  When an idea popped into my head and I said to her "You know what kind of cake it has to be, right?" and she didn't miss a beat before replying "I'm hoping you're going to say Red Velvet..."  I could have kissed her.  Apparently we're soul sisters and didn't even know it.  Just the thought of cutting into an all black fondant exterior to reveal and all blood red interior made the words "I'll do it!" come out of my mouth before I could remember that decorating hurts my hands and that I've turned down tons of wonderful people and doing their cakes.  I only felt guilty for a minute. I've been throwing ideas into a file for a cake cookbook and how COOL would that be as a signature cake?  Sure as hell wouldn't be a boring dime a dozen, eh?  Okay, so my motivation was partly selfishly motivated but in a good way. I'm making this cake as an homage to my own Halloween fantasies: part ghoulish laughter, part even ghoulish laughter can be classy.

I knew to save my hands I needed to break up the baking and decorating days.  Also, I work 6pm-7am the night before the wedding so I REALLY have to be organized on this one. Not only do I need to sleep most of the day before going to the wedding and setting up the cake, it's an hour and a half drive from here so that cake has to be done by the Thursday before the wedding and sitting in the fridge.

And then, as these things always go with me...I don't really have any commitments between now and the 20th, the week prior to the wedding. I just work a few days and need to go get an allergy shot...wide open. Great big do nothing but work on my novel days... until the 21st.  The 21st is the first day of National Respiratory Care week and not paying attention to the date, I volunteered to take RT photos at work and put together a display table for the hospital atrium.  Hey, no pressure there!  Then, again not thinking about it and not having a choice, I have ACLS (Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support) training on the 22nd and 23rd.  No big deal, just certification in running a code and half the people who've taken it were traumatized by it. No pressure there!  And then my husband's birthday is the 24th--well, DAMN! No pressure and nothing to do THERE! And THEN, yes it gets worse actually, on the Friday that I work, the night before Jessica's wedding, I volunteered to make some kind of cake as treats for our department for the last day of National Respiratory Care Week.  NO f-ing PRESSURE THERE!

Excuse me. I'm curled up in a fetal ball just from typing it. Have no idea how I'm going to survive it.

The onl y chance in hell I have is to be absolutely organized to the nth degree.  So today was bake all the cakes day and start Jessica's roses day. I want to be able to literally put the whole cake together in under 2 hours sometime during that week, probably as I'm baking Gene's birthday cake.

That's the long and short of the table full of red cake:  six layers of wedding cake in three sizes: 6", 8", and 10" (the bride is ordering extra sheet cakes for serving, the main cake to be saved for family), then for Respiratory Care Week there are 18 red velvet mini bundts and 30 triple chocolate cupcakes.  Whatever else happens will happen when it happens and it will be a surprise even to me.

Then I also formed the centers for Jessica's red rose topper:

And finished one as a bud to decorate the mini bundt cake I'm taking to her tonight as a sort of cake preview.

I was going to make the all black fondant but I'll have to save that for one day next week. It will easily keep in the fridge for at least a month but all I need is about two weeks.  I made a choice. I could have made the fondant and then collapsed into a quivering mass of jello on the floor or I could have made sweet/sour meatballs for dinner, washed and folded three loads of clothes, and then collapsed into a quivering mass of jello on the floor. I chose the latter. Gene says I chose well.  Smartass bastard.

Okay, this post is unbelievably long for you and depressing for me so I'll stop on this note, go curl up with a rum and coke hot chocolate and see what I can put myself to sleep with in my glass on TV.  Tomorrow I'll post some tips on preparing pans for baking cakes and packaging the layers for the freezer.  And a pic of the mini cake I take to Jessica tonight.

Oh, by the way, I've officially gone to nights at work and I really like it. I work twelve hour shifts instead of eight hour shifts but I already feel like I have a life again.  Overnights hasn't been hard at all like I thought it would be. It feels like late night all the way through until morning and each day I've been surprised to see the sunrise as I walk out into the parking lot. Hard to explain but other night-shifters might know what I'm talking about.  So far I've really enjoyed it. It's busy in a whole different way from days: less people on shift to do all the work but also less visitors to stumble over and less doctors changing orders in the middle of everything.  I think I'm going to really enjoy it. I know for damn sure I'm going to like working two days a week and being able to pick up extra shifts over the winter...when I feel like working.  Ahhh, there are some benefits to shift differential!

Comments

[ally]

Love it! I can not wait to see it all done.
I feel your pain! I also do cakes and it is a lot of work. People do not get that when you price something for them. But I have done cakes that have taking me 6 or more hours. And when you start you do not what to stop.
All the best to you and your hands!

[Laurie]

When the picture popped up, I blurted out, "Sweet Jesus!" LOL Thats a lot of baking. A whole lot. Bless you. I cant wait to see the wedding cake. Now thats MY kind of cake!!

[Katie]

I can't wait to see the finished cake! It should be gorgeous - in a ghoulish way... Is the fondant going to by dark chocolate?

[Chris]

I love big baking days like this! Wow!!! That wedding cake - its going to be fab!

[sher]

OK--where are the cookies and pies?? Couldn't you squeeze in a little time for them??? Jeesh, you are such a slacker!

Not!

[TexanNewYorker]

Glenna, you amaze and astound me. We're all rooting you on!

[Deborah]

You are super woman!! Don't kill yourself! I can't wait to see that wedding cake, though. I got married on November 11th, but now I'm wishing I would have moved it up a couple of weeks to have had a Halloween theme. How fun!

[Ramona]

You were a busy girl. Wow. Everything looks amazing!

[foodierachel]

Wow! I'd hate too see the stack of dirty dishes you created from all that. Good luck with the cake!

[Jenny]

Ack! That was what I was planning on doing today for the two cakes I need to make next weekend!
I'm glad at least one person in the world is thinking ahead, picking up the slack for the rest of us. :-)
Looking forward to seeing the final results.

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

A, excuse me: Super Woman is a fantasy Glenna and is not a realistic goal to have. You so crack me up. Strange thing is: I know you'll not only do it all but you'll do it over the top beautiful with style! Your projects are amazing! And yes the only thing it could have been would be red velvet!

[Deborah Dowd]

Glenna- when it rains it pours! What you describe is a common disease for women, and we definitely need a cure... Hmm..Maybe you'd plan and supply a bakesale to raise money for that!?

[Glenna]

Ally--I know what you mean. Hell, I don't even price them to sell anymore. The one for Jessica, if I actually got paid for my time would be worth hundreds of dollars but instead I'll just make it my wedding present to her.

Laurie--Thank you for that reaction. You made my day in appreciating the amount of work I crammed into that day!

Katie--Dark Chocolate would be lovely but quite frankly I can't afford that so it will be black colored marshmallow fondant instead.

Chris--Thanks!!

Sher--LOL! I know. I'm such a slacker. As usual, no matter what I accomplished it was only half of what was on my list.

Kyleen--You are very kind, chick!

Deborah--I know! I got married on Leap Day but it's only because at the time I didn't think of Halloween!

Ramona--Thanks!

Rachel--You know, it wasn't that bad. Honest. I was surprised. It was a full dishwasher and then a few things by hand and that's it. I had the whole kitchen clean in 15 minutes. I was amazed!

Jenny--You're funny! I only get organized when I get beaten down in desperation.

Tanna--Super Woman hell. I'd settle for just feeling barely competent most days. :-)

Deborah--LOL! A bake sale to combat over achievement. I am so digging that idea!

[Kristina]

I can't wait to see the finished product! If you need any help....as in someone to fetch you the pain meds and vodka while you are making all this stuff you know who to call :)

[DaviMack]

Wow! Just ... wow. I can't imagine the pressure of having a wedding to bake for!

[Cynthia]

And what a beautiful day it is! Complete with sunshine! :D

[kathy]

looking forward to seeing the cake

[Glenna]

David--It's nice to get the baking with over now instead of the pressure edging in on the decorating pressure.

Cynthia--It was!

Kathy--Next week!

[Julie]

Wow, now that's alot of baking and now all nicely packed and in the freezer. Well at least I know if I stop by for coffee there will be a little something sweet waiting for me to go with it, lol.

[Ulla]

Looks amazing!
I love the colder weather, it means more baking!
Thanks for sharing!