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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.
As for icing on the cake,
your imagination seems
to be the limit.
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 same-flavor
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.
(top) Photography courtesy of:
Ted Hewitt Photography
(middle) Photography courtesy of:
Patrick Grimes Photography
(last) Photography courtesy of:
ZWeddingz by Philip Ramackers & Co.
Cakes Courtesy of:
Busy B’s Bakery |
