Vintage wedding cake topper and my new pan

Yesterday, Easter Sunday,

 the Duke of Earl and I marked 46 years since we entered into that theme park of marital bliss. 

What a roller coaster ride marriage is!

To celebrate, I baked a cake.

I wanted to use our wedding cake topper to put a little anniversary spin on  Easter egg hunt day.

Back in the 1960's weddings were not as individualized as they are nowadays.  Everything was pretty traditional, including the cake toppers.

Our's was a common place bride and groom under a love nest of millinery Lily of the Valley flowers and a white glittered bell.

Although quite ordinary, our cake topper has become unique in that it has been the crowning glory on 7 wedding cakes to date.

When a couple uses it, their name and wedding date is added to the bottom.

It has been used in 1968, 1973, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1999, and 2006.

Baking layer cakes has never been my forte.  They taste good, but rarely hit my expectation.  The first cake I ever baked was a setback for me for years of future cake baking.
  
I was fresh into my teens and I wanted to bake a surprise birthday cake for my mother.
My dad was taking her out to dinner and I conspired with him that I would bake the cake, while they were out to eat.
I was in a BIG rush to get the beautiful surprise I had visualized ready for mom's return.

Unfortunately,
I had no idea of how to grease a pan. I did not know the importance of letting the layers set for 10 minutes before removing them from the pans.  I did not know the cake would break apart, when I tried to frost it while it was still hot.

As you can imagine, the cake was a pile of pieces with frosting stuck here and there.  Mom walked in to me in tears.  My birthday surprise was ruined.  The surprise was nothing like I had conjured it up to be.  Nothing like adding a little drama to mom's birthday!  Oh, the scene was heart breaking.

As my layer cakes have never measured up, height-wise, I compensate by making three layers instead of 2.  My three layers equal the stature of most people's 2 layers.
I also found a good recipe that uses egg whites, stiffly beaten, that help hold the cake up for the final elevation. 

I have 2 layer cake pans that I bought for my hope chest before we got married.  It was a long engagement.  I filled my closet with items for my future life, buying something new every pay day.

Now here's the interesting thing.
These cake pans purchased in 1967, or so, are marked on the bottoms:

       EKCO   Baker's
      USA  Secret
    8"  M95


In the past I have baked 2 layers and then put in the third layer in the oven when I had an empty pan.  I have asked neighbors if they have an 8" cake pan I could borrow, but they have only had 9" cake pans.
For this baking session, I decided to buy a third 8" pan.

Now we know that portion sizes keep getting larger.  And the only round layer cake pan size available was a 9".  I kept looking at those 9" pans in the store thinking they looked to be the correct size. 
I purchased a 9" pan thinking I could return it, if necessary.

I measured the new 9" pan against the old 8" pans.  They are exactly the same size!  EXACTLY.  Nine inch is the new 8"?  Using a ruler there is no part of the new 9" pan that measures 9".  I don't get it.

I'm happy to say that this 46th Anniversary cake did meet my intention.
8" pans or 9", the cake looks like the one I wanted to bake for my mom's birthday so many years ago...minus the cake topper, of course.

t.t.f.n. ~ Carol