Monday, December 29, 2008

I Love My Christmas Present

While I did plan on taking this week off, I quickly changed my mind after I got my Christmas present this year from my dad, and went ahead and snuck in a last minute cake. (Sorry to everyone who I turned down!)
My least favorite part of the cake making process, after cleaning of course, is leveling cakes. I hate it. I hate hate hate it. It's very difficult to level a cake perfectly, to make the top flat and beautiful. Messing with serrated knives, accidentally cutting things unevenly-yuck! And, there are crumbs everywhere.  All over me, and the counter, and the floor.  Gah!  
Early in 08, I heard some people talking about a contraption that happened to be an automatic cake leveler, and that if their kitchen was ever on fire, that this was the one piece of equipment that they would save. Many loved it even over their Kitchen Aid Mixers! When I discovered what it was, and that it would basically make my life easier since I wouldn't have to level cakes, I wanted one terribly.
Anyways, I am horribly difficult to buy a present for, no one ever knows what to get me, because I always say "I don't know" or "nothing" when I am asked. When my husband discovered that I wanted one of these things, he covertly sent my parents an email telling them what I wanted.
Well, what I got was better than the one I had heard about before! Turns out that my dad figured out what parts I would need, and he and my grandfather spent hours making one for me! My granddad is an excellent craftsman, but needed help with making something like this, so he employed the help of a friend who happens to be a machinist. Apparently, the three of them took a couple of Saturdays out at the machinist's workshop to get this to work to perfection, and it means so much more than the store bought one would have. I basically couldn't wait to use it.
What happened when I used it was that something that normally takes me about an hour to do took me less than 2 minutes!  That was for 9 layers of cake for my 3-tiered cake.  It was awesome!  The tops of the cakes just slid off, and there were hardly any crumbs on the floor.  It was effortless, and the tops of my cakes were about as perfect as I could ever imagine getting them.  I am so excited!
Thank you to my dad for coming up with such a great idea, and to my granddad and his friend for all their hard work.
Turns out that me taking this order was a bit serendipitous for the customer as well.  I met the little boy's (Levi) mother early this week when she dropped of her deposit, and she told me that planning his birthday had been pushed aside because he had had extensive cranial surgery in the fall.  So, by the time she helped him heal, and then being overwhelmed with Christmas in addition, there was so much on her plate that she had simply forgotten about the birthday cake!  Well, I am thrilled to have been able to make them this cake, and I hope that they loved it.  The cake was designed around an adorable invitation that Levi's dad designed himself-very cool.
Happy 1st Birthday to Levi!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been wanting one of those levelers, too. Lucky you! :) Great job incorporating the invite into the cake!

Lisa said...

That is so sweet that they actually MADE a leveler for you. Awesome.

And cute cake. I'm sure you needed some time off but if you had to do a cake, that sounds like the one to have done. :-) I'm sure the birthday boy loved it.

Heather said...

First of all, darling cake. second of all, how cool your dad and granddad made you a cake leveler! That's amazing!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for my cake! Over a year later and I still get teary thinking about how beautiful it was!!!! Our little boy is very healthy now and you blessed us more than you will ever know!


Raelyn

Summer Rippe said...

That is incredibly sweet. I'm glad I was able to make his birthday so special!

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