A Country Wedding

A friend of ours in the ward got married yesterday and chose to have a country/cowgirl wedding for her theme.  It was delightful.  They held the ceremony/reception in there backyard, complete with the pigpen and chicken coop nearby, BBQ refreshments, feed troughs to hold the iced drinks, and a shotgun mounted on the wooden wedding arch above the blissful couple.  It was the most kid friendly wedding reception, I've been to; especially since they had a swing set available to play on in the backyard.  Genius!  They were actually sad when we told them it was time to leave.

  The girls getting a photo with the beautiful bride.

They loved fishing for drinks in the icy waters of the trough.  They had to work up their courage to stick their hands in there though.  

 Soda was the beverage of choice.  We don't let them have it very often, so this was a real treat.

Princess M & Funny Girl with their daddy. 

 Alex got to dance with all of his girls on the dance floor.

 Alex teaching Funny Girl to do the Macarena.

Princess M also learned how to do the Funky Chicken dance.  We had a really great time.

And I got some great cake making tips from the grooms mother who made the wedding cake; which by the way had an AMAZING chocolate layer that was sooo moist.  Turns out there was no special recipe for the cake, just a regular box chocolate cake from the store.  But she shared her secret with me and I'm going to pass it on to whoever might care.  Everyone overcooks their cakes, and then they dry them out further on the counter waiting from them to cool.  

First tip:  She says a cake is "done" when it pulls away from the side of the pan.  If you wait until a toothpick comes out perfectly clean, it's way overdone.  Just like a good chewy chocolate chip cookie, you need to remove the cake before it is completely cooked.  Don't worry it will continue to cook after it comes out of the oven, so just take it out when the sides pull away.  

Second tip: Don't cool the cake in the pan or on a cooling rack openly on the counter, where it will only dry out.  She says from the time her cakes come out of the oven, it's not thirty seconds before she has leveled the cake at pan level (she always puts enough cake in to rise above the pan), turned the cake out on a large piece of heavy plastic wrap, wrapped it up in the plastic wrap, and placed it in the freezer.  This way you preserve all the moisture in the cake.  And then once it's frozen, it's so much easier to frost and decorate as well.  

I tell you what, it was fantastically moist!  I ate 2 pieces myself and then stole some of Alex's as well.  She gave me a few other tips as well, but they would probably only interest those who were really into cake decorating, so I won't bore you with them here.  But give it a try; you'll be so glad you did.  I know I'll never make another cake again using toothpicks and cooling racks.