Will You Do My Wedding Cake?

I've been asked that question twice already. It scares me to death. The first time I answered yes, to a friend of a co-worker of my husband. Then the co-worker got fired two days later and I never heard from "friend of the co-worker" again. Phew! Cool.


The second time, I told my friend "No."


How can I possibly make a cake for THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY OF YOUR LIFE?!?


The thought gives me hives.


Between driving and work, I am away from home 10 hours a day. By the time I get home, I have to worry about dinner, dishes, making sure the laundry gets done, the kids take their baths, etc. etc.


When I bake a cake for someone, I'm not sure they understand the sacrifice of my time and sleep. I do it for the fun and practice, but it takes a toll. I only have one oven and one fridge. Most cakes you see out & about that are really tall are two or three cakes stacked together per level. For instance, the graduation cake was 3-levels; 12", 8" and a ball pan. The 12" level consisted of two 12" cakes. I own one 12" pan. A 12 inch x 3" cake takes over an hour and ten to an hour and thirty minutes, for the one large cake. I had to do that twice. In the meantime, the middle layer is 8" x 3". I have two 8" x 3" pans, BUT the baking temp and times are different from the 12" pan, so I can't bake them together. Same with the ball pan.



Having one oven limits the amount of cakes I can bake at a time. Having a full-time job limits the amount of time I have in a day to bake. Then, there's the fridge. For the graduation cake, I was throwing away leftovers in order to fit 5 cakes in there.

I wish I had room to bake and freeze cakes for later use. I don't, and the thought of making a cake and having it FAIL or FALL and my not having any back-up cakes freaks me out to no end.

So, until the day comes that I can have a stockpile of cakes, butter cream and fondant at the ready, plus lots and lots and lots of practice...I'm not making that wedding cake.