A Cake Tasting We Go

Yesterday, I took the afternoon off and welcomed B to Birmingham with a big barbecue lunch, then off we headed to meet our would-be cake vendor at a local catering joint. I've known Al for a couple years and, when he sent me pictures of his cakes, I knew he had to do our wedding. Plus, I love knowing the people we're working with at the wedding. If you're going to pay someone to do something, wouldn't you rather pay someone you know? Maybe it's just me.
So B and I packed up and headed over for an afternoon sugar rush. We actually tried not to eat too much lunch so that we'd be able to eat the samples. Little did we know!
B and I arrived to find a sleek black table topped with plates, forks, water, iced tea, two plain cakes, three frostings, one filling, and one complete wedding cake, albeit miniature size, that was frosted, filled, and delicious.
One thing I love about Al is that he wanted to get to know us a little better, see who we were. He asked B if he was conservative, and we settled on traditional. Things like that.
Then, oh then, we got to the tasting. For me, it was heaven. I could actually eat uniced, bare and beautiful pieces of cake! I behaved myself, though, and tried all three icings, two kinds of buttercream and one super-rich chocolate ganache. And don't even get me started on the filling.
We settled on my cake, then started talking about B's. I'd told Al that we had a special request. B has a special cake, known to those in the loop as "birthday cake," that his dear grandma used to make for him every year on his birthday. I picked up the tradition a few years ago and we've been making the famous and much-loved pistachio cake with bittersweet chocolate icing ever since.
I'd warned Al that we were hoping to find a baker that could make the birthday cake en masse for the wedding and he asked me to bring him the recipe. I one-upped him and brought a sample cake to try, possibly making me the first bride ever to bring cake to a cake tasting. Long story short, Al loved it! He even took a few slices for the cafe lady to taste because he thought it would sell. Long story short, I think we have a fabulous shot at having a delicious "birthday cake" wedding cake.
It was a sweet sweet day, made sweeter that Al sent allllll the leftovers home with us. We dropped off a bunch at friends' houses, but then we came home and ate ourselves silly on cake until about 10pm. Then I think we both passed out from sugar coma. What a day.
Today it's raining and we're suppose to do engagement photos at 4pm. Pray for clear skies this afternoon!