I made a wedding cake!

I made a wedding cake for my brother Zachary and his fiancee Hannah who were married on Saturday. Bringing the cake meant showing up in a big way for my youngest brother (we're 12 years apart), who had 50 guests cancel due to coronavirus, including my sister and brother.

Tony took this photo after I'd finished installing the cake on the morning of the wedding - I was completely elated, it looked like a real wedding cake :) My work friend Eleni described the weeks-long process that I documented on Instagram as a "wonderful drama", which just about sums it up.

The cake making started with a couple of test bakes to perfect the sprinkle layer, which I'd offered to include in the cake but had never successfully made. It was also the layer the bride was most excited about, so I really wanted to get it right.

Luckily my friend Danie clued me in on the secret ingredient - American sprinkles which are so much brighter than the ones you can buy here. You can order them from Brisbane, along with clear vanilla extract to make sure the cake stays white rather than yellow. I watched so many YouTube videos at various stages of the wedding cake prep, especially helpful at this point was this video of  Molly Yeh making the sprinkle cake recipe I used and this one of Christina Tosi making her famous sprinkle birthday cake (Alison Roman is in it too!).

The final cake had two tiers, eight layers and four different flavours - sprinkle, lemon, chocolate and coconut rose. It was inspired by a beautiful wedding cake that Molly Yeh made with multiple flavours inside, which I'd had a go at replicating one year for my birthday.

I started baking two weeks out, on weekends and some nights after work. Each layer was frozen, wrapped in multiple layers of clingwrap so they didn't attract any freezer flavour! But before that, they were levelled so they'd sit flat on top of each other. That meant cutting the bit that domed in baking, which was handy for taste-testing as I went along. I drew up a timeline, so I knew what cake I was making each weekend or weeknight, which also helped me feel like I was on track :)

Of all the steps, I took the fewest photos of the icing because it was very new to me and required my full attention. Three out of three friends who'd made wedding cakes recommended making Swiss meringue buttercream instead of regular buttercream. It's made from egg whites, caster sugar and a little butter instead of lots of butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract.

It took me awhile to get the hang of it and I only properly mastered it at 10.30pm the night before the wedding 😂 It can be temperamental (it can curdle or become runny) but when you do it right the texture is silky and it tastes light and marshmallowy. My brother and his fiancee wanted the cake to have a white finish, and Swiss meringue buttercream comes out bright white because it's mainly egg whites and sugar rather than butter. Plus, if you do stuff it up, there are plenty of ways to fix it.

I made all of my buttercream at home in Canberra while listening to a lot of Drake (thanks Derrick!) but didn't even think about practicing icing with it. If I could go back in time, I'd ice a cake with it, just to get a feel for it and build my confidence. And to save me a lot of stress the night before the wedding.

The wedding was in Sydney so I packed everything up and drove it down the afternoon before the big day. The frozen cake layers travelled in a lidded styrofoam box that my veggie store gave me - I'd seen Molly Yeh fly with cake layers like this and it totally worked for a three-hour road trip.

Driving meant I could bring a lot of stuff, including my Kitchen Aid to re-whip the icing and to have on hand in case I needed to make some more. I didn't love the idea of bringing it but am so glad I did, it would've been a very slow process without it. Also in the car, a cake turntable which my friend Angie gave me when I went through a novelty cake phase that included a rubber ducky and bus shelter cake, offset palette knives, and a brand new metal icing scraper.

I put the cakes together at my parent's place because while I'd booked an Airbnb with a full kitchen... I didn't double check the size of the fridge! My accommodation only had a bar fridge, but in the end it turned out for the best. It was so nice to hang out with my parents and brother the night before the wedding and have some company as I got to work. Their place was also much closer to the venue, which made moving the finished cake slightly less stressful.

This cake involved many firsts, including a cake soak! I've never used one before but they're meant to be great for cakes that have been frozen because they add moisture back into the cake. I used a simple syrup that was 50/50 sugar and water and brushed it onto each cake layer before adding icing. I also used dowels, which I'd previously never heard of (apparently if you're a Bake Off fan, this will make immediate sense). They're like extra sturdy straws that you put in the middle of the cake to keep the layers together, there were three in the middle of each cake. They also help strengthen the bottom layer so the top tier doesn't sink into it - aka one of my top wedding cake fears, right up there with dropping the cake. Speaking of...

This happened at around 9.30pm the night before the wedding 😑 It was the lowest point of the whole project, and the first time I wasn't sure I could pull it off. This is how it happened: my parents and brother had left to set up the church hall, which meant my dad wasn't around to hold the fridge door open as I moved the cakes in and out between icing them (I'm all about a good crumb coat). I tried to do it myself, holding the fridge door open with my foot while trying to move the top layer into the fridge. All the juggling meant I lost my grip on the cake and it toppled over - I caught it just in time.

I reckon the dowels were the reason the cake layers didn't go flying, so it could've been worse. Still, I was exhausted by this point and so disappointed. Throughout the whole process, I'd had a lot of support from my friends Le and Angie, so I sent them this photo as a bit of a distress signal. They both replied right away and no one thought it was a big deal. Angie encouraged me to take my time and enjoy the icing bit. So I took a deep breath, put on a podcast (Highly Enthused is back!) and kept going. My energy and spirits returned, and both cakes were finished and in the fridge by 11pm. The final layer of icing wasn't as smooth as I would've liked but I'd decided hours ago that that was fine.

Then came the bit I was most afraid of - driving the finished cakes to the venue and stacking them. I found it hard to sleep the night before and my stomach wouldn't stop flipping. I managed four maybe five hours max. But I found some focus in the morning and pretended I was at work. We got some coffee, picked up some flowers from my friend Angie who'd done a last minute dash at the markets (love her) and were back at my childhood home by 10.30am.

Tony took this pic of my family as the top tier was loaded into its special cake box! Zachary's groomsmen had arrived, my parents were in their wedding clothes and things were feeling festive. Tony ended up carrying both cakes to the car because I was a wreck at this point and the job needed a calm head and hands.

After some debate about who would drive, I put on a playlist and drove carefully to the venue, with the cakes in the boot. The night before (prior to the cake topple), Zachary and I were in the kitchen discussing whether the cakes should be stacked at all. Maybe they could just sit side by side? It seemed a bit risky for a first-timer.

But I'd come this far and with Tony's encouragement (and a second set of hands to spot me/catch cake), I used a palette knife to lift the top cake off one of its bases, slide my hands underneath it and somehow transferred it on top of the larger cake. Not without a bit of a thud, a gasp and some swearing but we were almost there.

I'd brought a small repair kit with extra icing and did some touch ups while Tony prepped the flowers. Angie had given us a crash course in making the food safe - basically we wrapped the stems in clingwrap to make sure no sap got onto the cake. There was no plan for decoration - Tony did a bit and then so did I. It ended up being asymmetrical, which I loved!

Zachary and Hannah had friends and family setting up the church hall with plenty of homemade bunting and fairy lights - the inspiration was Carson and Mrs Hughes wedding in Downton Abbey. The hall looked like something straight out of a movie. As soon as the flowers went on everyone started to get excited about the wedding cake taking shape. After 24 hours of last minute prep, I was totally thrilled with how the cake looked and was ready to focus on the wedding.

We dashed back to the house, ate some lunch, got dressed and headed back to the church, in about 45 minutes flat. I got teary when I saw my brother in his suit jacket and white tie at home. We took some photos together - all of which were blurry because I was so excited.

The ceremony itself was beautiful and I felt honoured to witness it. I thought about all of the firsts I'd seen this little guy - now man - do. From watching him take his first tentative steps down one of the hallways at home, a sibling or parent at each end to catch and encourage him, to his very first movie (Monsters Inc) that was memorable mainly because we made it through the scary bit together (I gave him my phone to play snake when he was sure it was time to go). And now, getting married to Hannah before moving into their first apartment (seeing photos of their place made me teary too!). 

I was so proud to be there for him as he married Hannah, who is clever, kind and extremely thoughtful. She's also excellent at sewing and made her own cheongsam for the Chinese banquet part of the wedding. The ceremony was also the time I thought most about my brother and sister who weren't able to be there.

I checked on the cake a couple of times during the reception just to make sure it was still standing. My uncle Mark pointed out that it had a slight lean, which it totally did from the base cake. Zac and Hannah officially cut it at around 4.30pm and while the original plan was for me to serve it, that job went to Tony and my cousin Max as it was cut while I emceed the speeches and read my brother Derrick's best man speech.

In the end, it was a relief to hand that job to someone else. It probably wasn't the best task to do in heels but also my time with the cake was done. One of my favourite bits was watching Tony and Max silently negotiate the cutting of it while the speeches went on in front of them. I saw them carefully take the top layer off - it wobbled as they put it down and I snuck this photo straight after they did it and congratulated each other.

I tried my best with the exterior of the cake but it's the interior I'm most proud of. It's colourful, fun and different to regular wedding cakes, and was perfect for Zachary and Hannah. The bride and groom chose which flavours would go together, the top layer was coconut rose on the base, sprinkle, lemon and another sprinkle layer. The bottom cake had coconut rose, sprinkle, chocolate and sprinkle. 

I packed up a box of the best looking slices for the honeymoon - one of my happiest memories from my own wedding was eating leftover wedding cake with Tony the day after the wedding. We had cups of tea on our hotel balcony and were still letting it all sink in.

Back at home, we have a lot of egg yolks to get through - leftover from both the buttercream and the sprinkle cake. So we'll be eating carbonara for awhile yet and maybe some chocolate mousse too! Apparently you can buy eggwhites in a carton at the supermarket to avoid a situation like this - but I couldn't do that to my brother. I only bought the best for this cake, investing a lot of money in Lurpak butter.

Throughout the whole process, I imagined plenty of things that could go wrong but not Zac and Hannah cutting into the cake as husband and wife. That bit was totally thrilling. Cake is always great but it's definitely even better when you're baking it for two people you're rooting for, who share it with the people they love most.

It's been a bit a shock coming home from such a happy weekend to bare supermarket shelves and a sense that things are changing quickly. I am on holidays this week and was planning to travel to Melbourne for the food festival and a work mate's exhibition opening and then back to Sydney for a hen's party. All of my plans have been postponed, which I totally understand. Instead, I've been chilling at home and slowly making some preparations for the weeks ahead.

I have a feeling that the satisfaction that came from making the wedding cake and the sheer joy that comes from watching someone you love get married is going to sustain me for awhile yet. 

X

P.S If you're making a wedding cake, I loved Smitten Kitchen's sensible break down of all of the steps, which includes cake maths.

Cosy things for the very end of winter

The end of winter is often the iciest. It's been freezing and grey these last few weeks, so I'm leaning into the cosy. Most of the time that means being easy on myself and making plans to roast a chicken/make brisket ragu/eat more porridge. Here are a few late winter essentials to get us through the next few weeks.

First up, this tiny candle that my friend Irini gave to me. It has a subtle wintry scent of oakmoss, amber and sage that also masks the smell of anything I've burnt in the oven recently :)

On a cold Saturday night, we put on a DVD and heated up some cinnamon scrolls. I found Listen Up Phillip at the library and it reminded me of a few favourite movies from Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig, Wes Anderson and Woody Allen.  I completely missed this when it came out in 2014. The soundtrack is lovely too. 

For when it's way to cold to leave the house to go shopping, I recommend Julia Busuttil's winter tomato sauce. I usually have the ingredients on hand, and while it simmers, Tony's been making spaghetti from scratch (!!!). We often take turns making dinner, and it's been super nice to make it together instead. 

A post shared by Charlotte Ree 🥐 (@charlotteree) on Aug 17, 2018 at 2:05am PDT

Finally, I'd love to try these Nutella thumbprint cookies because turning on the oven heats up our little apartment. Plus, I can 100% vouch for these chai choc chip cookies from Thalia Ho. I tested the recipe for ABC Life and they make the house smell faintly of gingerbread as they baked. And they're really delicious.

An unhurried cake

When we first moved to Canberra, one of the biggest adjustments was time - mainly the sudden lack of it. My daily commute was longer (to be expected when your previous one was a two minute drive!), and I was starting a new job with slightly longer hours.

Having lived in Wagga Wagga for almost five years, I pushed myself to adjust to our new city life and tried to cram everything in. That included making something for the weekly office bake off. I didn't miss a week that first year. I made cherry brownies, snowmen cupcakes, cheese tarts and chocolate chip cookies. It was partly a way to make friends in a newer, bigger office. I also loved to bake, and was excited about having more people to feed.

Three years, and a new job later, things have changed again. I bake maybe once a month, if that, part of a bigger effort to do less. Lately there's less rushing around in my lunch break to tick off extra errands, and fewer expectations of things I'll get done after work. It's really nice.

The latest cake I made was a pink grapefruit cake, made on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Tony was at his studio, so I listened to podcasts and got a start on dinner (this brisket!). I'd been wanting to bake all week but I was glad to have waited, because it was unhurried and extra enjoyable because of it.

Real talk though, bundt cards are hard.

P.S More on dropping the ball :) I'm going to tell you more about my new job soon!

An end of summer pie + a third birthday

Sometime in January, I became obsessed with making a peach pie. I planned to bake one for a weekend away with friends who were visiting from Iceland. I bookmarked this recipe but time got away and I didn't want to rush it.

This Sunday, with summer coming to a close, I made my pie. It's a white peach pie and we ate it a la mode on a 35 degree day. It might become a summer tradition.

I also wanted to say that somewhere along the way, this blog turned three! So much has changed since I started writing it from my dining table in Wagga Wagga.

I now have five nieces and nephews, live in Canberra, and have gone from driving around regional New South Wales for work to flying to different capital cities. I've tried a gazillion different recipes and shared a handful of favourites here, and become even more of a podcast nerd (I listened to this while pie-making).

Thank you for joining me here. I can't wait to share more interviews, musings, podcast recommendations and recipes this year.

X

A desk warming and a cookie lucky dip

Every now and then a silly idea takes hold. Years ago, it was an Easter egg hunt for my apartment block in Sydney. I set my alarm for 5.30am on Easter Sunday, roused Tony, and the two of us quietly hid eggs and put up posters in the common areas.

This week it was a desk warming party, because I've moved from one end of the newsroom to the other and closer to a window :) There was a cookie lucky dip (featuring gingerbread, my favourite choc chip cookies, and double choc macadamia cookies), filter coffee from my new machine - there was even an e-invite.

There hasn't been too much time for baking or silly projects for the last while (unlike 2016 when I made cakes in the shape of rubber ducks, owls and horses!), so this felt extra silly and festive.

If you want to host your own desk party - it's easy! Put up a bunting, brew some coffee, and bake or buy some sweets. Don't forget to invite your buds. To make a cookie lucky dip, wrap different combos of cookies in a layer of baking paper and then pretty wrapping paper, find a vessel to put them in and you're good to go.

Internet friends: Emily Viski on happiness and the best banana cake in the world

This year I've been trying to find ways to live more simply and Emily Viski's Instagram account has been a big source of inspiration. She shows that you can have a lot of joy in your life without spending much, whether she's requesting new books from the library or finding a pretty dress for her daughter at the op-shop.

Emily and I have never met, I stumbled across her colourful account via her sister-in-law Rachel, who I met in Wagga Wagga. But I asked Emily if she wouldn't mind sharing a few thoughts on simple living, her first year as a mum and what makes her happy.

Can you tell me a bit about yourself? Everything I know comes from Instagram! What do you get up to in a typical week?

I live in Melbourne in the south eastern suburbs and I have been here my whole life. But my hubby and I dream of moving somewhere a bit more quiet and rural - I would love to own a little farm somewhere in country Victoria. My family consists of myself and hubby, our little girl Jemima, who we call Jem, and our fur baby Sparky the pugalier. A normal week for me consists of visiting my regular op shops, copious cups of tea and working as a dental nurse two days a week.

I've been really inspired by your approach to simple living. Is that something you're conscious of?

I have always loved the philosophy of slow living and since having Jemima I don't really have much disposable income anymore, so yes I do try and be a bit more savvy these days.



Can you share a few op-shopping tips? You find the best things, whether it's clothing, children's books or kitchenware. I always feel overwhelmed!

Op shopping is something I have always been passionate about. I love old things and I'm a collector, so it sort of goes hand in hand. Last year Rachel and I set a challenge to not buy any new clothing for the entire year so that was a bit of fun and it's amazing how many near new clothes get donated.

My best tips are to be regular - you have to keep going back because they are always getting new donations and the best stuff will always go fast. I have two op shops near my work that I will make sure I pay a visit on the days I'm working. And if you see something good - buy it straight away - don't go away and think about it because guaranteed when you come back, it will no longer be there.

What are you reading at the moment? I'm especially curious about Flow magazine.

Flow is one of my favourite magazines, its pages are so beautiful. It's all about positivity and mindfulness but it's made for paper lovers and creative souls, so it combines all of my favourite things in one.

Do you have a favourite recipe to share? 

I recently borrowed Poh's first cookbook, Poh's Kitchen, at the library and made her 'Best banana cake in the world'. But everyone who knows me will tell you that I cannot follow a recipe so I had to put my own spin on it.

I changed the icing from butter icing with walnuts to cream cheese icing with coconut and I added an extra banana because I had three and I didn't want to waste it. This cake has been a bit of a hit with my family lately.

The best banana cake in the world - with a few changes

125g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly pressed down
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large free range eggs
1 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted
2 1/4 tsp baking powder, sifted
1/2 tsp baking soda, sifted
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup full cream milk
3 overripe bananas, mashed

Cream cheese icing
200g cream cheese
50g butter
2 tsp lemon rind
1 tsp lemon juice
Toasted shredded coconut - as much or as little as you like. Lightly toast in the oven but keep a close eye on it as it burns very quickly!

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius (150C fan-forced). Line a 20cm round cake tin with baking paper or grease and flour your tin.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter, both sugars and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Add one egg at a time, mixing thoroughly each time. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and fold in with a wooden spoon until fully incorporated. Add the milk and banana, and fold in.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin, turn your oven up to 175C and bake on the middle shelf for about 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before running a knife around the tin to release the cake. Cool on a wire rack. If you have used baking paper, the cake will easily fall out.

For the icing - I personally don't really measure when I'm cooking or baking, I usually just go off the taste and feel of things so I've tried to write the measurements to what I think they would be.

Use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese, butter, lemon rind and juice in a bowl. Slowly add the icing sugar and beat until well combined.

Spread the icing over the entire cake and sprinkle with the toasted coconut.

Enjoy!

Your little girl Jemima just turned one, what was your first year of parenthood like?

Crazy ups and downs and like watching a movie on fast forward. Everyone tells you how fast it will go but you will never truly know until you experience it yourself. I fall more in love with my daughter everyday and being a mum is definitely the best and hardest thing I have ever done!

And this is kind of a big one - what makes you happy? I ask because I only get good vibes from your photos on Instagram.

Being happy and positive is a big thing for me because I truly believe this is the meaning of life. If you're not happy then what is the point? But what makes me happy are definitely the simple things in life - good food, family, animals and being outdoors!

Thank you Emily! How cute is this birthday cake, made by one of the women in Emily's mother's group to celebrate all of their children turning one? You can find Emily on Instagram, she has an account for her blog and a personal account too. She blogs at emandthelittlejem.

Photos by Emily Viski.

How to make bread at home

I did the funniest thing this week, I made a video tutorial to show my friend Vanessa how I make sourdough. I won't be sharing it here (I wore my pyjamas the entire time) but it reminded me of all the little things I've learnt since I started baking bread a few years ago. If you're curious about making your own sourdough, here's how I'd recommend getting started:

A very good baking book

After the duck cake there was a cake of a simpler kind, a flourless chocolate fudge cake made for a special morning tea at work. It was baked late on Wednesday night and as I pulled it out of the oven, I knew I'd made something special.

I've had the The Cook and Baker cookbook since late last year, Annabel Crabb raved about it on the podcast she shares with Leigh Sales and off I went to find track it down. The best thing about it? Knowing that the time, effort and ingredients that go into any recipe will definitely pay off. And most of the recipes are straightforward, which is great because most of my baking happens after work.

The chocolate cake was for a special send off at work, for a long-serving and very lovely guy who was a day away from retirement. I'm really enjoying being part of a bigger office, I've gone from having six colleagues to 40 or more. It gives milestones like this one the ceremony they deserve. I also learn so much from the tiniest interactions and it's slowly changing my work for the better.

P.S Thank you for all of your lovely comments about the rubber ducky cake. Here it is in transit to the event, which was packed. People were lining up around the hotel just to get in. My friend Louise was there right at the end and says my cake went for $100. It was also on the news that night! I was thrilled - with the cake and the opportunity to support an excellent local charity.

Desktop: Le Tran, Jujubakes

When Le Tran's daughter Sophia was born, she was determined to make her an amazing cake in time for her first birthday. Four years and another sweet little baby on, Le's cakes are looking pretty spectacular and she now has a growing list of friends and strangers who are keen for a slice.

Baking for Annabel Crabb

My friend Kristy and I are big fans of Annabel Crabb, the political commentator, writer and host of Kitchen Cabinet. A few weeks ago Kristy went along to an event for Annabel's first cookbook in Perth and baked her something that made her Twitter-famous - Helen Garner gingerbread, or Helen Garnerbread.

Salted peanut butter cookies

We picnicked on a Brooklyn rooftop one night during our honeymoon with two friends from Sydney. One of the highlights, aside from the company and watching the sun set over Manhattan, was a salted peanut butter cookie from a nearby bakery. I've since tracked down the exact recipe.

The peanut butter cookie is the caramel coloured dome sitting right by the chocolate chip one. The chocolate one beside it was salted too! The cookies, along with a slice of the famous Brooklyn Blackout cake, all came from the Ovenly bakery in Greenpoint. Our friend Matt played host that afternoon and has a studio at the nearby Pencil Factory. He led the neighbourhood expedition that took us to Ovenly, a very cute wine store and later, a restaurant where Bill Murray's son is the head chef.

The Ovenly story is such a lovely one, the co-owners met at a book club and began hatching plans to start some kind of food business together.

Here is their recipe for peanut butter cookies. It is insanely good and I reckon the secret is the peanut butter to sugar ratio and total lack of flour (!).



I made a batch to send to our friend Garry who joined us on the rooftop that night. He sent us the very best souvenir right before Christmas - a one-off copy of his forthcoming book Eye Occupy that's filled with street photos from his time in New York and Portland. Ours has a special dedication, a photo of Tony and I as newlyweds snapped right after the three of us shared breakfast and art gallery tips at Momofuku's Ma Peche.

It felt like an extra special honeymoon memento and Tony and I began brainstorm our reply. I knew I wanted to replicate the cookies we'd shared and Tony worked on a picture of the four of us from that night. Miraculously, the cookies arrived in tact.

More Ovenly goodness and recipes here. Their cookbook is high on my wish list.