Lordy, Lordy, TT's Forty!!!!

My friend Theresa turned 40 last week, and she totally embraced it.  In fact, she and her husband Bill threw a HUGE luau ... in February.   She asked me to make a tropical cake with a fun flavor.  She gave me full creative license to do whatever I wanted ... as long as it was made out of fondant ... and had a stocked Tiki Bar ... and it was fun ... and it was a show stopper ... and it walked & talked on it's own.  OK ... so I'm exaggerating, but I put a lot of pressure on myself because I know that T knows quality.  I mean, she did work in the hospitality industry for a long time.  I DID NOT want to let her down. 

I spent most of Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday on this cake.  Wednesday, I tried out the margarita cake recipe.  IT WAS YUMMY!!!  So, I decided to do half Lime Margarita and half Strawberry Margarita Cake with a Lime Margarita Buttercream.  Thursday night, I worked into the wee hours of the morning making sugar flowers (they were SUPPOSED to be hibiscus flowers, but they just looked like generic flowers at the end) to put along the base on sides of the cake.  Friday, I spent a couple hours just making the palm trees and all the little fondant details.  That night, I baked the cakes and made the Tiki Hut.

I went to bed with a knot in my stomach ... I was SO scared that something would go wrong.  Saturday was my D-Day.  I had to finish this cake by 5:00.

Beth texted me at noon, and asked to see a picture of the cake.  This is what I sent her:

I.AM.POSITIVE she wanted to flip out seeing what I had finished ... with only 5 hours to go.  I felt the same way!!!  I WAS SCEERED (as my kids would say).

Then something amazing happened.  Thanks to all my advanced preparation, everything just came together.  I am SO proud of this cake.  It was stunning, and full of details just for T!

I think the best part was the tribute to T & her mom on the back of the Tiki Hut.  Theresa had sent me a picture of her 5th birthday.  In the picture, her sisters were standing around her and her mom was placing a cake in front of her.  She said the photo was precious to her.  SSSSOOOOOOO, I made a "missing child poster" out of it.  It said Have You Seen This Child? on the top, and then Age Today - 40 on the bottom.  I then put yellow flowers around it to recognize her mother. 

I'm SO SAD that I wasn't able to be at the party because I heard Theresa LOVED it.  I know she loved it because she's told me about a hundred time (and I've loved hearing it EVERY TIME!). 

Here's a picture of Theresa & Bill with the cake:

Thanks to Michelle Kane for the photo!

Just look at those smiles!  That makes all the hours and stress totally worth it!  Happy Birthday Theresa!