InsaneJournal

Who: Audrey and Nina
When: Mid May
Where: Bakery
What: Cake tasting
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Completed g-doc



It seemed ridiculous to Nina that she was getting married in just a few short months but she knew August 19th would soon roll around. When Audrey had agreed to do her cake Nina had been very grateful, she hated the idea of making her friend work but knew she didn’t want anybody else to make her cake. Thankfully Audrey had, of course, agreed and even arranged a time for Nina to come and do some taste testing. Something Nina was never going to turn down.

Audrey had a bunch of samples laid out on a tray for the pair of them to try. Sure, they could have invited Gabe and Merlin, but the guys didn’t seem to mind letting Nina and Audrey take care of these decisions. Besides, with Audrey and Baxter Bakery at the wheel, it was going to be an amazing cake.

She sat in a booth opposite her best friend with the tray between them. They each had some water, too, to wash cake down between samples. She motioned to the first one. “Spice cake with vanilla, buttercream frosting.”

Gabe seemed to trust that Nina would choose well and Merlin got to eat far too much cake at home as it was, he didn’t mind missing this one. Nina however was looking forward to this part. She loved food. Especially when it was Audrey’s.

“Ooo” Nina said as she tried it, “I love the frosting but the cake might be too spiced for a whole slice” It was lovely but maybe a little too much for those more sensitive to it.

Audrey nodded. There was a lot of spice in it. And she didn’t really want to tone it down. It was good for smaller things, maybe not for wedding cake. She took a bite herself and grinned softly. It was super yummy. “Maybe the wrong time of year, too. It’s more of a fall flavor, I think.”

She turned the tray so they could try the next bite. “Here’s the lemon, with lemon curd.”

Nina wouldn’t want Audrey to tone it down either, it was super tasty but she was trying to think of a flavour which would appeal to everybody. After all she wanted people to recall her wedding and smile at every part of it.

As she tried the next one her nose wrinkled a little, “You’re the only one who's lemon cake I’ve ever been able to eat but it’s still not a flavour I’d pick” which was a shame as Audrey did make the best lemon cake.

“Then we move on!” Audrey grinned. “These two were my least likely picks. I’ve got Angel Food cake to go, and a vanilla, a fresh strawberry, and chocolate.” There were a half dozen more samples on the tray for them to try. “What do you think?” She lifted the water glass for a sip.

“You know I devour your angel cake whenever I come over and you have it around” Nina grinned, “Though Gabe may prefer fresh strawberry or chocolate but this is why we’re trying them all right?” She’d text Gabe in a bit once they’d narrowed it all down a bit, she didn’t want to make all the decisions herself especially since he’d be eating it too.

Audrey nodded, turning the tray again so they could more easily reach the different kinds of cake. She lifted her own fork. “We could definitely do more than one layer. And have each of the layers be in a different flavor?”

“Oh that’s a good idea” Nina nodded, “And maybe cupcakes in the same flavours as well, I think they always look cute” she grinned before humming her appreciation of the chocolate cake, it was by far her favourite.

“I can make some mini ones. All sorts of different flavors.” Audrey knew that on a woman’s wedding day she probably didn’t want experimental flavors. Audrey had tried and true recipes that would be positively smashing on the big day. Double chocolate, french vanilla, red velvet, key lime cheesecake filling… all sorts of amazing things. She wasn’t about to throw pistachio in the mix or anything. She took a bite of the angel food cake and sighed. It was absolutely amazing.

“I love you, you’re wonderful” Nina told her around a mouthful of cake, taking a sip of water before sampling the angel cake too, “I’m going to have to choose a roomy wedding dress so I can eat lots of cake” she grinned.

Audrey laughed when her friend spoke through a mouthful. She lifted a hand to cover her own full mouth, so she wouldn’t spray cake across the table. She shook her head a little. “You’re going to be the most beautiful bride ever! But we can definitely make sure that your dress leaves lots of room for yummy food.”

“Thank you” Nina said, “I won’t be able to top you I’m sure, you and Merlin were both practically glowing and of course your theme was epic” she smiled brightly, she had fond memories of Audrey’s wedding and had been honored to be part of it.

Audrey was honored that Nina was there with her when she got married, and she was excited to be there for her best friend when she got married, too. “Aww, you’re very sweet. But really, you’re going to be just as glowing when you and Gabe walk down the aisle.” It would be hard to top a Halloween wedding, wouldn’t it?

“Thanks Aud, maybe it’s just because I was never really the kid who dreamed of her wedding you know? I never had the image in my head of getting married before, I was never against it it just wasn’t something I thought about” Nina admitted, she’d always just dreamed of being in the healthcare profession.

“You and me both.” Maybe that’s why Audrey had a Halloween themed wedding. She’d never really wanted to be a blushing bride in white. She’d gone about things in a sort of non-traditional way, and that seemed to work perfectly for Merlin and for her. “But you’re absolutely suited to this kind of thing. That’s what’s wonderful about a wedding. You can do whatever you want. The hard thing is trying to figure out what you want.”

“Yeah, I mean I’m letting Gabe lead on most of it since he’s the one who’s imagined this” Nina said, she didn’t mind that at all since it was all coming together lovely. “I am sure it’ll all be perfect, and at the end of it we’ll be married which is the part I’m most looking forward to”

“It’s good to keep our partners in our considerations during these things. You know?” Audrey gave Nina a bright smile. She knew Nina and Gabe were absolutely perfect for each other, and that all the details would fall into place. “That’s the most important part. Loving your husband at the end of the day.” She grinned. “Okay, which cake did you like best?”

“All of them?” Nina said at first with a cheeky grin, before looking at them, “I think it’s too close between the chocolate and the angel. Oh and personally I’ve found a new favourite in the lime frosting because that was amazing” she added, “I’ll have to get Gabe involved for the final decision”

Audrey chuckled softly. “Well, thank you.” She said, then turned her eyes to the mostly empty plates again. “...well, we can do the different layers in different flavors, if you like. Or we can have a small cake, two tiers--so you have a top tier to save in your freezer--and then cupcakes in different flavors for everyone else?” Audrey nodded. “You have plenty of options. I’m sure we’ll come up with something perfect.”

“Oh yeah, I am positive we’ll come up with the perfect solution. I do love the cupcake idea though, that is almost definitely going to happen so having the different layers match the flavours sounds like a good plan. But I’ll double check with Gabe” she said, before stealing the last bit of cake with lime frosting, “I bet this would go well on the chocolate” she said with a grin.

Audrey nodded. Once Nina finished, she started to stack the plates and forks, to clean up after their tasting. All the ideas were swirling around in her head as she thought about the different flavors of cake and frosting, the different ways they could connect them. And cupcakes were so much fun. “I’m going to make you a chocolate cake with lime frosting for your bachelorette party.” She said, grinning.

“You are the best friend a girl could ever ask for” Nina told her with a smile and a hug, and she had to admit today had been super fun. She definitely liked this aspect of wedding planning.