Lemon-Blackberry Semi-Naked Drip Wedding Cake in Delmont, PA
I was looking forward to this wedding cake for months. Admittedly, I was selfishly excited to eat the cake scraps on this one–lemon cake is my personal favorite! Paired with blackberry AND lemon buttercream and it is heavenly. Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed when the cakes baked up perfectly flat and I didn’t even need to level them! *womp, womp, womp…*
Bad for me, but awesome for the bride and groom! Allison and Renauldo were getting married at her parent’s home in Delmont, PA and they were an amazing couple to work with. They knew from the start that they wanted a lemon cake, but when we met for our consultation, they told me the story behind it and it all starts with a doughnut. A lemon doughnut with blackberry glaze, to be exact. Allison and Renauldo both tasted this amazing-ness and they ended up fighting over the remaining bites of the doughnut! They have special memories tied to this flavor combination and they wanted to include it in their wedding day and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE that! (Pro tip: Further personalize your day by incorporating favorite flavors into your wedding cake. It is such a missed opportunity for so many couples!)
We opted for lemon cake with alternating layers lemon and blackberry buttercream and a thin layer of lemon buttercream on the outside of the cake, leaving it semi-naked. The two flavors of buttercream provided another aspect of visual interest to the cake by giving it an almost striped look.
To further pay homage to the inspiration doughnut, I made a blackberry reduction that was layered on the very top and in random spots around the cake, allowing some to drip over the edges, further adding to the decadence of the cake. Fresh blackberries and lemon zest completed the look and gave the wedding guests clues to the flavor of cake that they would be having after dinner.
The edible gold leaf was not part of the original design for Allison and Renauldo’s cake. It was a last minute addition on my part when thinking of the cake early on in the week. I wanted to add a little something extra to really set off the cake and I knew that they were incorporating gold into the decor of the wedding. I bought edible gold leaf on a whim on Tuesday night and it arrived to my door on Thursday (thank you Amazon Prime!). I am absolutely in love with how this cake turned out. The entire time that I was setting it up and adding the blackberry reduction and fresh berries, I kept thinking to myself, “Man! I wish I could crash this wedding so that I could have a piece of this cake!”
To top it off, I received the sweetest phone call from Allison and Renauldo the next day, thanking me for the cake and letting me know how much they and their guests absolutely loved it. It honestly made my week to know that I was able to provide a memorable and special aspect to such a great couple’s wedding day and it is one of those messages that I will never delete. Thank you for being so awesome to work with, Allison and Renauldo! You have great taste in cake! 😉
