I will be eternally grateful for your great gift of taking in to the fullest extent what it is that I
have to offer, living it, and then reflecting it back in terms of the potential experience of others.
You have given words to a process that defies words. And you’re constantly in a position to help
me continue to hone that, deeper and deeper and more and more resonantly, who I am and what I offer,
which is truly invaluable. — Jon Hansen, 
What you’ve sent me is so darn perfect it hurts! It’s a sheer pleasure to work with someone
who writes as beautifully as you do — and in “my” voice. — Ariane Goodwin, Ed.D,
You have a real gift for words. You’re really, really good at it. — Sherry Essig,
Purple wedding cake, or, How I spent my Labor Day weekend
My friends Ana and Craig got married this past Sunday.
They’ve been a couple for about nine or ten years. Way back in the beginning, I promised Ana that when they got married, I’d make her wedding cake.
She has a very good memory.
Therefore, I spent most of Saturday afternoon and all of Sunday morning making this:
(Yes, that’s me peeking out from behind in the mirror!)
The cake was the exact color of her dress. I’d like to say that was as planned – which it was, of course – but it was also wholly serendipitous. I’d never seen the dress; all I had to go on was “purple.” And it was very nearly a LOT MORE purple. That tiny little jar of food coloring, discretely labelled “violet,” would color enough frosting for 100 more cakes that size.
She had about 90 people at the wedding, and the cake wasn’t even half eaten. That’s not because of the taste: it was good. A rich, delicate yellow cake, with raspberry filling in the bottom layer, orange curd filling in the middle layer, and lemon curd filling in the top. Yum. People had seconds.
No, it was the sheer size of the thing. The bottom layer is 12″, the middle is 10″, and the top is 8″. I’d planned a smaller cake, but then I saw the cake topper, and I had to keep it in proportion, after all!
The frosting alone had 2 1/2 pounds of butter in it.
My kitchen looked like a purple butter bomb exploded in it.
It was fun.
Posted: September 8th, 2009 under Glorious Food.
Comments
Comment from
Karen
Time September 8, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Wow Grace! Now that does it- I officially think you are superwoman! Amazing cake. Girl, I’d put the pic up on facebook…Humbled (yet again) to be your friend, Karen
Comment from
Grace
Time September 8, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Karen – Trust me. You didn’t see my kitchen. Superwoman’s kitchen would not have looked like a purple butter bomb exploded. I keep finding little purple dabs … I’ve never known a frosting that migrated like this one!
And thank you. It was a lot of fun!
Comment from
Eileen
Time September 8, 2009 at 7:34 pm
OMG loving this! My mom made me a purple cake for my eighth birthday. Something magical about the color, I think 
Comment from
Grace
Time September 9, 2009 at 8:49 am
Eileen – I agree, there is something about purple, even for people who aren’t big fans of the colour.
You should have seen her purple silk gown – and all the purple decorations!
Comment from Mark Silver
Time September 8, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Grace- not fair posting a photo and description like that while I’m fasting for Ramadan… sigh… I’ll just have to make sure I find some piece of cake somewhere for after sundown tonight…
Look what you did.