My cousin, who's like a brother to me is getting married on Oct 7. It's my dream to to make a wedding cake for family. It's his dream that I make his cake. Thing is I live in another country, 4 hours flight and one stop over away. I still want to make his cake. It will be 12", 9", 6", fondnat covered with a black gumpaste loop bow topper, small white fondant on the base of each tier and small black flower accents.

My family has found me a equipment to use back home and will purchase the non-edibles like dowels, cake boards, etc. I can bring my stuff. I will make the gumpaste bow ahead of time. All other components except frosting can be made ahead of time and brought ready to use. It's baking the cake layers that I'm worried about. What if I have issues with the oven there and my layers don't bake well?

Anyone ever done this before? Bake in someone else's kitchen? Any tips? I will definitely be bringing an oven thermometer.

And can I just confide that I'm also doing 80 bride & groom heart cookies as wedding favors 2 dozen white cupcakes as wedding favors. Cookies I will bring fully decorated.

I know it's doable but I'm just stressing out. On top of it all I'm the matron of honour and my little boy is ring bearer. How am I ever gonna do this? Needing words of encouragement right now.

Anyone?

Boy o' boy, you have your work cut out for you! BUT I am sure that you can do it with really good organization and timing. I bake in other people's kitchens quite often and I would suggest you bring your own pans, bring BAKING STRIPS (they are the one thing I stand by in even baking)...oh and bring flower nails or heating cores for TRULY even baking. Even if the oven is "off" by a bit these 2 things are like a security blanket. Good luck and don't forget to enjoy the wedding!-Meg

You can do it! I did. We were living in England and BIL was getting married back home in Oregon. A cousin was supposed to make the cake but she was pregnant and put on bed rest. Less than a week before the wedding and with none of my stuff with me, I was volunteered to make the cake. Luckily it was a small outdoor wedding and the cake they wanted was bordered with fresh berries. We had to go out and buy the separator plates, bags, tips, all of it. It turned out a lot better than I thought it would, but never again. It was also a small outdoor potluck reception and I was already bringing a huge lasagna. So there I was having to make a lasagna and a cake in my MIL's kitchen while she was also trying to make her dish for the reception.

If they have it all set up for you in another location that's even better. Just make sure you bring the tools you can't live without!

Get an oven thermometer and use it at home now so you know what temps you're usually baking at.

Then bring it with you to the other kitchen (and use it there, of course).

I second the thermometer. Is there a mixer available, and does it work? Also when you get there, check with a pan of water to see if the oven is level. If not, you may need to rotate your pans part-way through.

In any case, it will be a labor of love from you for your cousin. Keep that in mind, and you'll do fine. The goal is not a flawless cake that looks as though it were made by a machine.

go for it! good luck i am sure you will ace it! have fun

i think it comes down to knowing which kitchen you're going to be working in, and knowing the personality of the owner of that kitchen. is this person cutting edge with technology and stuff, or are they somewhat stuck in the past?

a little story to demonstrate my point:

every year we go to south georgia at new years to celebrate christmas with my in laws. my mil and fil are notoriously tight with their money when it comes to updating things in their house...ya know, the whole "if it ain't broken" way of thinking. my daughters birthday is christmas eve, so my inlaws always want to throw her a party while we're there. i insist on making the cakes. year before last, the first time we did this, my mil tells me to tell her what supplies i need and she'll have them ready to go. when we get there, i see a countertop full of knock off store brands, lite sour cream and cream cheese, off brand butter, a brand of cake mix i've never even heard of, and spices that are so old, you can barely read the label. i started going through her spice cabinet, and she had some in there that HAD AN EXPIRATION DATE IN THE 1970'S AND 80'S!!!!!

it gets better...when i ask where the mixer is, she pulls out a hand mixer that is discolored apricot green and harvest gold, from the 70's, AND SHE CAN ONLY FIND ONE BEATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was laughing my heiny off the entire time i'm mixing ingredients, cause it was like some kind of candid camera episode...i'm standing there mixing the batter with a mixer that has hardly no power, only has one lonely little beater, using ingredients that are obviously questionable, and then putting the cake into a wall oven that has been in the house since it was built in the 60's. it took forever to bake, and it certainly didn't turn out to be the best tasting cake, but we still had fun. i don't have the guts to post that picture on my photo albums!!

last christmas (the second year doing this) i learned!! i baked and did all the major decorating of the "blues clues" cake at our house, with my professional kitchen aid and high quality ingredients, and then finished once we got down there. i made arrangements to use my sil's kitchen to finish the details, and everything went great. voila!!! a cake i'm proud to have featured in my photo album!!

i stil have to snicker occasionally about that first year though!!

starla

Have you thought about baking the layers at home and bringing them frozen, wrapped really well, in your carry on? Than you just have to worry about making the icing and decorating once you get there.

Yes I have....I did a wedding cake for our granddaughter who lived in the state of Washington, we lived in California.....Not quite the distance but none the less....I brought all my stuff....mixer..cake makings, icing stuff, etc....we traveled by car though......

I used her oven, she lived in a tiny apartment at the time, and had to put the cakes to cool on top of her cupboards...(no other space).... my pans ...just watched them closely and all was fine. It was quite an experience but I wouldn't have missed it for the world....

You can do it.....it will go fine....and everyone will talk about it for a long time after....Just take a deep breath and go for it.....

Let us know how it all went and post pics......

Before you decide on baking the layers and bringing them in your carry-on, contact the airline and see if this is even possible. The way they are all cracking down on baggage lately they may not allow it. It's not just the checked bags they are limiting, they are getting strict on carry-ons as well now too.

I have done this and will never do it again. Mainly because I was stressed out and not able to enjoy my family. That's the whole point of a wedding. Why not just give him some money as a wedding gift to help him pay for someone else to do the cake?

Oh yeah, you already said you were stressing out and that your child is involved in the wedding. (So were mine...three flower girls).

Your dream of making a cake at a family wedding probably isn't as important as your child's need for having a calm and settled mommy to guide him through his role in the wedding.

Just my two cents.

I've done this. Living near Dallas and drove to my sister's house (south of Houston). My sister and I used her kitchen for two days making a wedding and groom's cake for my son's wedding (and then delivered them to the wedding site in Galveston, Texas). It's definitely do-able.

Thanks for the supportive comments, everyone. I really needed that pep talk. We will arrive 5 days before the wedding which leaves enough time to bake the layers & assemble. It's a simple cake (fingers crossed, it stays simple and doesn't come up with drama). The way our schedule looks, we'll finish the cake on the eve of the wedding, deliver to the venue early the day of and then have plenty of time for pampering, preening and celebrating.

Will let you know how it turns out.

Thanks for the supportive comments, everyone. I really needed that pep talk. We will arrive 5 days before the wedding which leaves enough time to bake the layers & assemble. It's a simple cake (fingers crossed, it stays simple and doesn't come up with drama). The way our schedule looks, we'll finish the cake on the eve of the wedding, deliver to the venue early the day of and then have plenty of time for pampering, preening and celebrating.

Will let you know how it turns out.