What It Takes To Make A Wedding Cake

[Music] in culinary school they did a section of pastry and it was the first time where like the butter and the sugar it just felt like home where is everything else I was doing in school it was like not as natural or easy so in the end I guess it found me I didn't really have a choice you [Music] my name is chef Madison Lee and I am a chef and cake artist owner of Madison these cakes my dad owns a bakery and then my mom was always baking in the house I just I grew up with it piping bag in hand was always completely natural what I do here is so different from like what my dad does it's probably more with my mom always dreamed of doing I don't think anyone really knows how much work it actually is to get the kicks out on time and really make them the process starts anywhere from a year to six months in advance the couple's taste it builds in styrofoam so that they can physically see it I've learned their whole story how they met how they got engaged I get on my iPad and I start sketching sometimes it's easy where they're looking for something that matches the florals and things like that and then there are other times where they really don't know that I have to dig deeper and figure out like what their aesthetic is it's not just even about them we're just about me it's actually about us together and creating something that represents them so I would tell them to like leave their Pinterest things at home and just enjoy it I got enough stress with planning a wedding like the cake B cake cake is meant to put a smile on your face and enjoy I wanted to learn when people who I admired one thing I really learned in culinary school it's really not about the school it's really about the person that mentors you and gives you their love for whatever the treat is so I went to Hyde Park this woman Betty Van Nostrand she like started sugar flowers and things like that here in the United States she taught Sylvia Weinstock she taught Ron ben-israel and as I was coming up those were my huge idols and I thought okay I don't want to learn from them I went on who-who talked that like that seemed like the better way to go the more research I did about cakes and things I learned that it really wasn't something from here it's actually from the UK there was nothing like that here that I could find so I went to the bank I emptied my bank account I packed it back back I went to JFK I bought a ticket to London no phone no computer no nothing and I was there for four months I learned from as many people as I could people I loved quite so admired I learned a history and like a respect for it we're here it was like oh that's on TV it doesn't matter there it was like an honor to be making cakes it was something of like real value [Music] so when I came back not only had my whole view of like cakes and what they represented and how it it was a tradition and I was like filling everything really changed and clicked I think that's where Madison Lee's cakes really came from that whole experience of almost breaking away but bringing all these different things kind of back what the cake didn't taste as moist and as fresh as possible I think the taste is the most important part of the cake I mix the batter by hand I think it makes it different and say I feel like my heart goes into the design and then it's like my soul that goes into the batter it's it's a part of me just as much as it's a part of them you get to the wedding and you're overwhelmed how beautiful the tables are and the centerpieces and the ambience and the lighting and you're totally blown away and then all the way in the corner of the room you're looking at what's not you're not looking at a wedding cake anymore you're looking at a piece of art that fits the room and when you walk next to it it smells sweet and delicious so your eyes fix on it you smell it so now all of a sudden it starts like oh my gosh I get to eat it and you get to look at it for almost the whole night at least four hours the wedding cake is also the last thing you typically eat it's your last memory of the whole experience you've had right from when you've got that first invitation to even go to this wedding and if you take a bite of that cave and it's not the best piece of cake you've ever eaten you don't remember anything else besides that it wasn't a good piece of cake it tastes on the inside is it's critical it's critical to the whole thing the inside is the most important it has to taste good it has to so the week of the wedding and Wednesday we start we start baking so I can't I can't really start that much in advance because you'll have old stale cake we bake we cut fill on Wednesday every single bride couple whomever is always disappointed in something I've never heard of anybody having like a completely perfect picture wedding of everything they wanted something always goes wrong my biggest fear is they're gonna turn around and say like I lose the cake that was wrong you think God in ten years and nobody's ever said that but you never know I'm learning to be confident with it that I should be more forthcoming that I'm 31 and that I've had the company for so long and that that I've done so much I mean I'm I want to keep evolving and growing so to be the best is to almost be stagnant Friday is the toughest day Friday we cover dowel stack I was gonna coverings the harness it's freezing in here the cakes are big and I'm only 5 feet and even though my clogs add an extra 2 inches which like really does help I have to be smarter about it like standing on the buckets or like I lean on the table more it's hot they're big and they're really big and I love that they're big I think it's great and we try to finish the cake on Friday try I say try because each one's different so like you don't really know you always want the cake to sleep overnight that's like ideal but sometimes overnight never like ends suppose it just like keeps going if it means that I'm here or like my whole team is here around the clock we're here you really you can't mess up there is no there is no second chance you have to work smarter not harder honestly if you can cut it in my kitchen per year mm-hmm you can cut it you'll be fine I'm super meticulous a fact how I was brought up in such tough strict kitchens that's how I'm that's that's what I'm gonna know here like you're a product of how you I grew up really it's not going anywhere yeah I can't make that go away there could be more there's you could always be better you could always be pushing some New York City he stops and wells come in they're coming for you you have to show up and it has to be perfect and easily here at least 16 18 hours a day easily if not more I love it so where else would I be at home watching TV for what we should feel more you should feel it you should put your heart into it because you're creating something for someone's wedding day it's a day that they'll never forget and it's an honor to be a part of the celebration that's probably the biggest virtue I would say [Music] as you're in it you don't realize that each step is like one step closer to this thing that comes together like so fast it comes together just as fast as like they cut it you eat it it's done when I say it's done I don't care what was on the schedule don't care what was talked about in an email or on a phone call it's done when I think it looks like a completed work then it's a piece of art after that day like I know the insides great but it has to look appropriate right and that's my art [Music] yeah everything on my kick you can eat everything's 100% edible everything's made by hand one pedal at a time painted individually but feel so fast that I drew it on a piece of paper and then like it's literally right there in front of me that is it's surreal it's a part of me just as much as it's a part of them I think what separates me from everybody is that I really do I do all of it I'm great seeing you at your consultation and designing and understanding aesthetics and everything like that and then as a chef I'm also the last hand on every single cake that goes out the door I have no problem in any medium of art but for a wedding cake it's always a celebrate legs always happy you can make a satin painting I feel like can't really make a sad wedding cake we wouldn't be getting married I love cake right you take every day every day [Music] so it's really it's really me [Music]

Channel: Tasty

Views: 6,252,851

Rating: 4.9259396 out of 5

Keywords: BuzzFeed, BuzzFeed Tasty, K_fe, Tasty, amazing cakes, baking, buttercream, cake, cake art, cake decorating, cake decorating ideas, cake making, cake style, cakes, decorating, floral, fondant, frosting, gum paste, icing, straciatella, sugar flowers, sugar paste, tie the knot, wedding, wedding cake, wedding cake art, wedding season, weddings

Id: 6af8Sqzn5YM

Length: 11min 7sec (667 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 20 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/stuffucanmake]

This is some real skill!!

[u/TheLadyEve]

I love how she uses a level. I need to start doing that.