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A delightful and delicious cake caps off a wonderful wedding and offers yet antoher
way to show your personal style. There are as many cake designs as there are wedding
gowns, and it pays to do your research before making a choice.
Variety is the spice of life and there are certainly a wide
variety of flavors available in the wedding cake market. Gone are
the days of the cake that is white inside and out. Contemporary
cakes come in flavors ranging from carrot and lemon sponge to
chocolate mousse with mocha filling, and ice cream cakes, fruit
basket cakes . . .the choices are limitless. If you have a favorite
cake, chances are, those flavors can be integrated into your wedding
celebration.
As for design, your imagination certainly seems to be the
limit for how your wedding cake will look. Some of the most
popular choices are white chocolate, cream cheese and traditional
butter cream frosting—either white or colored. Rolled
fondant is a popular choice because of its elegant, smooth porcelain-
like look and the ease with which confectioners can sculpt
it. Sugar paste flowers and other decorations make the modern
wedding cake a true expression of who the two of you are. Bakers
today have become true artists when it comes to decorating
your wedding cake.
While the round tiered cake is still the most popular, many
couples are opting for more creative interpretations of the wedding
cake. Square or hexagonal cakes make a stunning impression,
as do those with overall patterns. Bands of color, ribbon
and even gemstones are making a big splash in the wedding cake
market.
If theme is an important aspect of your wedding, ask your
baker to incorporate some of those design elements into your
cake as well. Asian themes, bright colors, filigree designs, even
custom “artwork” on a wedding cake are all possibilities.
On the other hand, many couples are mixing things up and
offering other desserts in addition to their wedding cake. Others
are opting for a dessert bar stocked with family favorites,
impressive towers of cupcakes, cookies, chocolate fountains,
even s’mores.
When selecting a bakery, find one that specializes in wedding
cakes. Ask for references from friends, hotels, reception sites,
bridal consultants and other wedding professionals. If your
favorite bakery is in another town, ask about shipping. Many
couture bakeries are now offering delivery of wedding cakes
within a specified distance.
Most bakeries will offer you a book of photographs showing
some of their previous designs, and will let you sample some
of the most popular flavors. Bringing photographs or color
swatches of elements you’d like to incorporate into your design
will help. If you don’t see what you have in mind, discuss your
ideas with your baker. Likewise, if you would like to incorporate
a cake topper into the design, share this information with your
baker from the beginning.
Aside from design and flavor, the baker will need to know
how many guests will be served. Be sure to ask about cake sizes,
delivery charges, payment schedules and deposits during your
meeting. You might also discuss ways to economize, such as
false layers, ordering a smaller decorative cake and serving some
of your guests from a separate sheet cake. As the cakes are often
cut for serving away from the guests, most will not know which
pieces came from the tiered cake and which came from a sameflavor
sheet cake.
The flowers may bring the romance to your event, your gown
may make you feel like queen for the day, but the wedding dessert
can certainly bring the wow factor to your reception.
Some of our favorite cakes this year include those in nontraditional colors, such as stunning orange and pink confections.
How about the garden of delights that results when
a creative baker adorns a cake with realistic looking sugar
paste flowers? We’ve drawn inspiration here from some
magnificent creations in Sedona, San Francisco, and right
here in Tucson.
Replicating a pattern from the bride’s wedding dress
or the table décor brings the event theme to the forefront.
Monograms and cake jewels also take a cake from plain to
spectacular. We have seen wedding cakes adorned with
flowers, sea shells, peacock feathers, favorite candies, even
cookies fashioned to resemble tiny Venetian mardi gras
masks. Dream a little dream and, together with the right
baker, you’ll have a wonderful creation to cap off your
wedding reception.
It is a long-held tradition to save the top tier of the wedding
cake for the couple to enjoy on their first anniversary.
Many couples arrange for the wait staff at the reception
site to remove this tier before they begin serving the
guests. Often a friend or relative will take the cake to the
couple’s home and place it in the freezer. Other couples
like the sentiment of this tradition but would rather have
a fresh cake. Those couples usually ask the baker to make a
new small cake for their first-anniversary celebration.
Photography:
ZWeddingz by Philip Ramackers & Co.
Patrick Grimes Photography
Ted Hewitt Photography
Cake:
Ambrosia of Tucson
Busy B’s Bakery
Set Design:
Creative Events
Flowers:
Craft Elegance |
