Aha! Gretchen Rossi Just Resolved a Mystery About Her Lavish Baby Shower

So that explains it! Gretchen Rossi just clarified our question about her baby shower with a bit of insider intel. (Take this down for your own future milestone occasions.)

The Real Housewives of Orange County alum and mama-to-be celebrated her baby on the way at a lavish event that included a dessert spread that looked almost like fine art, and a show-stopping seven-tier cake created by the Southern California-based baker Maison de la Fork.

But when she took to her Instagram Stories more than a week later, we couldn't help but notice what appeared to be that same cake sitting atop her coffee table! So what gives?

Well, Gretchen personally set us straight. She told The Feast via text message, "I didn’t know this either 'til that day, but most bakers can’t build seven tiers of a cake without it collapsing on top of each other, especially when a venue is outside like ours — and in the hot sun) that makes for a very ugly melting cake. So most bakers make only a couple of the middle tiers edible! That way you get the look of a fabulous cake but it doesn’t collapse and or melt."

She continued, "They make the middle to upper part of the cake edible so we can cut the cake, and then the staff takes the cake back to the kitchen, pulls out those edible layers and cuts them up." Afterward, she continued, "most bakers also bring what is called 'sheet cake' that is already cut and ready to go for all the guests, which we had for all of our party goers."

And the best part? (Sorry, but you knew we had to do it.) This approach allows the celebrant to have their cake and eat it too. 

"The best part is that most love the look of the cake so much that they want to bring it home for a decorative piece and still enjoy it for a week or two after the event, which is exactly what I did," Gretchen told The Feast. "Her [baker Paris Rezaie] work and craftsmanship is incredible and beautiful so I brought home the non edible parts of the cake, with a few layers in between missing) so I could enjoy it a little bit longer."

Bonus: "It also makes your home smell amazing and like cake because it is all fondant," Gretchen told us.

And that's why it popped up on her Instagram lo these days later. Mystery solved!

Check out more of the most gorgeous — and over-the-top — Real Housewives cakes of all time: