Anniversary Cake

A few years ago, my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. That's a pretty big deal to me. Obviously, I'm thrilled about my parents making it to 40 years. They still like each other. Of course, they love one another, but they actually still like each other. After spending 40 years with someone day in and day out, grudges can be held, feelings can get seriously hurt, and the little things that used to be adorable can drive a person up the blooming wall. Am I right?

So, to celebrate their love and commitment (and restraint from strangling each other 😁😁😁😁😁) over the years, I decided to throw them an anniversary party. Not just a party, a surprise party. I discussed it with my husband because as their only child, I would be responsible for the whole thing. He thought it would be a great way to honor my parents. We didn't fully explain it to my children until just before the party so they wouldn't ruin the surprise. My parents had a very small wedding, so I felt that my folks, mostly Mom because that's not something Dad would think about, deserved a big party.

My best friend's mom graciously offered her house for the celebration. A former student of mine had just gotten into catering and was a fabulous cook. She knew my youngest and about his allergies. She was able to tweak all the recipes so he wouldn't have any problems. My mom is pretty environmentally conscious and as such, I knew paper plates wouldn't be the way to go. I invited all of our immediate and extended family plus friends of my parents. We started planning a year in advance, so we had plenty of time to look for plates, glasses, punch cups, etc. We spent that year perusing second hand stores and buying what we needed. We chose white plates and plain clear wine glasses. Fast forward a year and I looked like I was opening a catering business.

As time passed and we got closer to the party, my dad had not been feeling well; we were awaiting test results, and I was a little worried, to tell the truth. I really was more determined than ever to throw the party because we weren't sure what we would learn from the tests, and you never know what tomorrow holds. My friend's parents had invited my parents over to play cards. At the last minute, my dad tried to back out because he honestly wasn't feeling well. My best friend's dad called me at work in a panic. Finally, I called my dad and said, "You have to go." He asked a lot of questions, and I finally said, "If you can, please do it for mom."

At that point, he had some idea, I think, that we were doing something for their anniversary, but he didn't realize just how grand a party we had planned. Later he told me he thought it would be my friend's parents and my family. Their smiling faces made all the agonizing over decisions and hard work beyond worth it. We had about 50 people there. The house isn't very big, so we had to have tables and seating outside as well. We all had a blast. My mom didn't stop smiling all night. 

I've been baking since I was a child. I'm kind of picky when it comes to baked goods. I don't really like store bought cookies, cakes, pies, or treats. I prefer the taste of something homemade. The year before the party, I really spent more time baking cakes. I decided to make their anniversary cake because when I called bakers, I nearly choked at the prices. Don't get me wrong. The bakers and cake decorators of the world who do a good job deserve to receive compensation for their time and talents. I was a little limited on the budget after the spread I had planned with the caterer. Now, I've not had training in decorating, but I decided to go with a simple design.

I spent time researching cakes and considering my mom's favorite flavors. My dad doesn't eat sweets that much, so I didn't really think he would care about the cake. I wanted it to resemble or have the feel of a wedding cake. I decided to go with a lemon cake and a raspberry filling. It was so delicious. Lemon and raspberry pair well. The cake recipe is here. For the filling, I used raspberry jam. I boiled it to thicken it. I also put a ring of buttercream around each layer to hold in the jam. The recipe for the lemon buttercream frosting can be found at this site. I used a 12 inch round pan and an 8 inch round pan for the layers. You have to look up the size of your pan to determine how much cake batter you need. The cake recipe yields about 7 cups. 

And, last but not least, here is the cake before we placed it on the cake table. Mom loved it too.

Lemon Cake with Raspberry Filling

And, we received good news. Dad had a few things they wanted to monitor, but he is okay. Now, I have to work on the celebration for their 50th anniversary. I still have a little time.