She set the timer and got to work. She made the cakes and put them in the oven. That left twenty-seven minutes to get them cooled, frosted, and decorated before time was up.

She dropped the cakes in the deep freeze and got to work on the fillings.

Working as fast as she could, she made a batch of raspberry filling and another of chocolate. Then she swirled interlocking hearts on wax paper out of the white chocolate she’d colored with edible silver to use as cake toppers.

While the cake toppers hardened, Kelly took the cakes out and alternated sweet centers between the layers as she stacked them. Fondant was pretty, but in a hurry it could end up looking bad. A good thing to practice. Besides, she knew she could crumb coat and frost like a champ in a hurry with no problem.

She rolled out the fondant, then draped it over the tiered cakes. It laid smooth and perfect. She piped tiny thin vines of green ivy around the cake, then dunked the small green peas in shimmery edible silver glaze. She crossed her fingers and popped one into her mouth. “So good!”

Tickled with how they looked and tasted, she placed them around the bottom edge of each tiny cake to create an edible pearl-like ridge. Time was running out on the clock. She raced to the freezer and grabbed the cake toppers, popping them one by one on top.

The timer sounded, and she stopped and stepped back from the counter.

When all was said and done, she’d turned out four beautiful mini wedding cakes. Given a few more minutes, she’d have done a design on the plates to give it more of a finished look, but these were beautiful.

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

The next morning, right after church, Kelly went straight to the bakery and took the baking sheet with the mini wedding cakes, and a pile of leftover edible decorations, aka silver chocolate peas, out to the bakery case.

“Good morning,” Mom called out as she came through the rarely used door between the two businesses.

Kelly stopped mid-stride, feeling as caught as the day Mom had found her feeding cooked carrots to the dog under the table.

“Those are lovely,” Mom remarked. “Bridal shower?”

Oh, how she’d love to lie and say yes. But only four? That would never fly. “No, ma’am. Just some samples for a client coming in tomorrow.”

“I love the border around the bottom. So unique.” Then her face brightened. “How’d you make them so perfectly round?” She pointed a manicured nail toward the pile of large silvered dots.

“Actually, I stole those out of your freezer last night on a whim. They’re peas dipped in dairy-free dark chocolate and airbrushed with a silver glaze.”

“Peas?” Mom looked at her like she’d lost her ever-loving mind.