For Tessa’s stained glass wedding cake in Louisville, Kentucky, I had to practice and learn new techniques. These clients were so rock ‘n’ roll that I had to find a way to make The Mischief Maker and these rock star clients jam. Tessa and Jeremy did a spin on what they thought their guests were anticipating from them. The wedding was perfectly edgy and alternative without a skull in sight, a motif they love in daily life and objects. Everything was done rock ’n’ roll, but in an extremely well-done, refreshing, and, dare I say, “classy” way. The wedding cake was placed in The Foundry at Glassworks in Louisville, Kentucky, where the couple held their reception, which I find rather appropriate for a stained glass cake with sugar flowers, don’t you?

So, while the thought of bringing a stained glass cake to life for them sheerly terrified me for over a year, it was “kismet”, and it had to be. Stained glass was just the perfect call for rock ’n’ roll, as it’s elegant, but it also has a very Gothic architectural vibe. The venue being a glass studio/factory made perfect sense, so we had to make it happen. The cake itself was painted with so many colors in almost every brand possible, and the sheer amount of colors and brands used verges on insanity. In order to make multiple and varying custom shades, I had to mix so many colors together on a palette that I lost count. I wanted dark burgundies, but also brighter blues and violets, so I required both ends of the spectrum. Dark and Gothic, and Bright and Sunlight. The cake was topped with graphic sugar poppies and sugar blue blossoms, which evoke the feeling of a painting come to life.

In order to incorporate Tessa and Jeremy’s absolute love for Harry Potter, the cake was a Butterbeer flavored cake. I made the cake flavor previously for the Flying Ford Anglia Cake, but it had upgrades and even more flavor additions this time around. It included at least a handful of vanilla beans, homemade vanilla, cream soda, vanilla Vodka, various dark rums, butterscotch schnapps, molasses, etc. It was crazy, really. It also included a “Butterbeer” of my own interpretation, Swiss Meringue Buttercream, and a homemade salted butterscotch sauce to push it over the edge. Let’s never forget about that precious salt! After all, flavor balance is so key. The bottom tier was done in my signature White Buttermilk cake, and it, too, is not so deceptively simple. The White Buttermilk has equivalent flavor building that takes place, as well, and it is also topped with a Swiss Meringue Buttercream.