The Surprise

This wknd the BF and I had an appointment with the patissier to discuss the wedding cake.

We had already met with him sometime last month, to see if he could make at least part of the cake gluten free, due to my gluten intolerance. He confirmed that it was possible, and told us to come back when it was closer to the wedding to reserve the cake.

Now, I should point out that the patissier is a source of pride from the BF's parents. As they never tire of telling me every weekend, he is the "third best baker in all of France". (Quick explanation: in this country, every year there is a competition which unites all of the bakers and/or chefs, and every year there are several picked for the "Meilleur Ouvrier" title. "Ouvrier" means "worker" although for some reason, I keep thinking along the lines of "proletariat" and I always laugh to myself when the in-laws tell me how this patissier they picked out is the 3rd best proletariat worker in all the country).

Anyway, so we showed up on Saturday at 11 a.m. and informed the people working there that we had an appointment with the Man himself (He has his own bakery/pastry shop and a salon de thé).

Mr. Cassel (the Man himself) greeted us in a corner of his bakery and we started explaining to him what we wanted. I had brought along a copy of Martha Stewart Weddings (special color theme edition!) which has beautiful photos of cakes and decorations, to give him an idea of what the cake should look like. As I showed Mr. Cassel the photos, I said the cake should be white, with some decorations like so, and Mr. Cassel looked at the photos and shook his head. "Nope. Not possible." "What do you mean, it's not possible?" I demanded, trying not to sound like a Bridezilla. "Well, these are 'American Wedding Cakes'," he explained. "I don't have the same ingredients, so the decorations and icing will not look at all like in these photos." I felt like saying, "Dude, you're a baker and you don't have marzipan? You don't have icing tools?????" but I refrained myself. "Well, I get the idea of what you want though, but just so you know, it won't look exactly like in the pictures." "Oh," I said, mollified. "It doesn't have to be exactly the same. But similar. You know," I said. The BF interrupted: "We'd like the cake for 30 guests, so everyone can have extras, and we'd like to use some of your crystallized lavender grains or violet petals as decorations as well, since the color theme is white, with a few highlights of lavender." "Yes, okay," said Mr. Cassel, nodding enthusiastically. The BF and I exchanged a glance, since we were both starting to get worried - we had been giving Mr. Cassel a rundown of all the details for the cake, yet he was not writing one thing down. "I got it," said Mr. Cassel. "Is that all?" "Ummm...yes...." said the BF and I nervously.

Mr. Cassel then took us over to the cash register where people pay for their baguettes, and opened a large ledger. He took down our names, then noted "framboisier" (raspberry cake), then he wrote down that the top tier would be gluten free and "sauf framboises" (I detest raspberries, and had asked for something without raspberries). He also noted "American wedding cake" and "lavender/violet". We then paid Mr. Cassel for part of the cake, and confirmed the delivery time.

As we left, I said to the BF, "okay, I'm confused. So, what exactly is he going to do? He kind of noted the ideas, but didn't specify anything. What is the gluten free part going to consist of??" The BF shrugged. "All I know is that the regular part of the cake will be in raspberry. And he understood that the colors will be white and lavender." "So....we don't even get to taste any samples?" I asked. "I think he's going to sort of make it up as he makes the cake," explained the BF. "You see, he's an artist. So you're not supposed to question him. Let the artist create." "Um, okay, but what is the cake going to look like?" I asked. "I don't know. I guess it will be a surprise," shrugged the BF. "Great," I muttered. "We just ordered, like, a 200 euro cake and we don't even know what it is going to look like, and we don't even know what it's going to taste like." "I told you," the BF said, "he's an artist. You're not supposed to question an artist. "

Hmmmph. Well, I'm pretty sure the cake will be a good surprise, considering, as the in-laws pointed out yet again when we got back to their house, Mr. Cassel was voted the 3rd best proletariat worker in all of France, so surely the cake will be a good one.

I just happen to think it is hilarious that we are paying 200 euros for a surprise wedding cake.