The Wedding Cake

My son told me that I had to make my own gluten free wedding cake for his wedding in the middle of June, and that there would be one or two others who were also needing to eat gluten free.

Fair enough, I grumbled, thinking that a normal size Christmas cake would do, with royal icing.

But it wouldn't. Kat wants a smooth cake, which means catering fondant icing. Only last Friday did I actually ask her what size cake. 35 cms. That's 14 inches! A quick order placed on Amazon. The tin arrived yesterday.

It's too late to engage anyone local to help me with the icing because they're all booked up in June with, guess what, weddings!

So I've had to take the plunge and buy the icing and marzipan too, in sufficient quantities. By now, this cake has cost me almost £150 after a trip to Sainsbury's to buy the ingredients.

I found a Jamie Oliver recipe for gluten free fruit cake and upscaled the portions. I soaked the dried fruit in the tawny port and dark rum overnight, then embarked on cake preparation first thing this morning.

There were so many ingredients that I had to use three mixing bowls to put it all together. So grateful for Len's help with the mixing and carrying and putting in and out of the oven. It did seem to cook in the recommended two hours helped I suppose by it being quite a shallow cake. The additional rum and tawny port has been administered. More might be required as days go by!

Kat and I are to have an icing session, as she has said she will help with the icing.

Hope it tastes as good as it looks.