It was 31-years ago today (09/24/1994) that Monique and I went down to the chapel and got married! Actually, the ceremony was performed by Albert D’Orlando, minister emeritus at the Unitarian Universalist Church in New Orleans, LA, and held at the then Lakewood Country Club on Gen De Gaulle Drive in Algiers, LA.
It was a Saturday in late September, and the air was crisp, a perfectly beautiful day in 1994, the high temperature was around the mid-seventies with clear skies too. And just like this morning, 31 years ago I was busy putting the final touches on our 3-tier wedding cake. A white cake with a white buttercream icing with Chambord flavored cake and a basketweave piping with green ivy vines and red rose flowers. Just about the same as today, slight differences are that I made a yellow cake, with a yellow buttercream icing, a raspberry filing between the two layers, basketweave icing with the green ivy vines and pink rose petals adorn the outside of the cake layers. No need to make the 3-tier 75-portion cake today, I made just the top layer, a 6″ cake with 2 one and half inch layers.
Here’s a little before and after images, first the cake I made 31-years ago today!
And here is the cake I made this morning, 09/24/2025.
This recipe which follows the same as 31-years ago, with just a few slight variations including halving the recipes for the yellow wedding cake and the raspberry puree recipe. I made a full batch of the neoclassic buttercream icing recipe which was utilized for the raspberry filing and icing the cake as well as piping out the basketweave on the outside. I had to purchase 1 Duncan Hines Buttercream Icing container at Dollar General to finish the green ivy vines and pink roses. All told, this wedding cake requires 4 separate recipes, the cake recipe, the raspberry puree recipe, the icing recipe, and the filing recipe from The Cake Bible cookbook. I’ve had my original copy of this cookbook since the early 1990’s, it was originally published in 1988. If you don’t have the cookbook, you may find some of the recipes on Real Baking with Rose.
I love this cookbook, it is a treasure trove of excellent recipes! I’ve made several others including the Chocolate Oblivion Torte, a flourless cake served with the raspberry puree sauce, the same as the filing I made this morning. The Creme Anglaise recipe is also fantastic.
