My mother agreed to bake the cake and 150 cupcakes for a wedding with 300 guests on the day after our arrival, so when we first got into town she was already stressing. We went out to dinner the night before, and when we came home, one of the layers had disappeared.
This is the culprit:
Nala let herself into the house and dragged a 10 inch layer of cake off of the dining room table and out into the yard. She then continued to destroy any edible evidence there was. But she didn't shut the door behind her, and she left the cake paper in the driveway.
So, morning of the wedding, Mariah had to whip up another batch of batter, bake it, and let it cool before she could ice it. We were running a little behind.
I sat in the car with the largest layer of cake on my lap, air conditioning blasting to keep it from melting.
Then we got lost. We drove around and around, looking for street signs, none of them marked, and I was shivering uncontrollably. It felt like torture. An hour and a half later, we found the wedding location. And it was beautiful.
It took place on this resort property/lychee orchard, and it was a perfect day. It was good we hadn't gotten there on time because they didn't even need the cake in the reception area for another four hours. So we explored.
A few hours and a 100-foot slip and slide, a stroll through the lychee orchard, and an impossible match of horseshoes later, we assembled the layers and decorated the cake. The frosting was warm and oozing out of the piping bag. I helped with quality control: less is more. By that time the boys were drunk and I didn't trust anyone else to carry the cake. So I did it, I carried the cake.
Isn't it beautiful? Inside the layers is homegrown lilikoi butter filling and it is decorated with gardenias from our garden. The bride was happy and everyone oohed and awed and gathered around to take photos. When the happy couple cut the cake they got into a cake fight and almost crashed into the table and sent it flying. But disaster was averted once again.
Good job mom!