Bridal Sweet
Ivette Manners
Your wedding cake is the perfect ending to a grand celebration as you and your husband start out your new lives together. It’s more than just a great dessert, it’s part of your wedding theme and décor, and also says a lot about you and your fiancé. Choosing your cake can be one of the tastiest decisions you’ll make while planning your wedding. Listed below are some of the latest trends in design and flavors to help you narrow down your search.
Once you’ve chosen your dress and your wedding theme, you can then have the pleasure of selecting your cake. “Your wedding cake should compliment the general mood of your wedding,” says celebrity cake designer Gail Watson of Gail Watson Custom Cakes. “It doesn’t have to be too match-y, but you’ll need a sense of cohesiveness, so that it’ll look like it belongs. Like matching it with your wedding colors, for example.”
Taste Matters
What makes or breaks your wedding cake is the taste. You’ll want a cake that’s as delicious as it is beautiful. So, start off with choosing your flavors. “The cake’s recipe can reflect your culture, traditions, personalities, and even childhood memories,” says Watson. For example, yellow cake with dulce de leche filling is very popular with Latina brides because dule de leche is one of their traditional desserts. Cakes decorated with marzipan “fruits” is big with Eastern Europeans who grew up on marzipan candies. Feel free to choose your favorite flavors, or even flavors that remind you of desserts your mother or grandmother made. Your guests will appreciate you serving a cake that has meaning and connection to your family and background.
With the many flavors to choose from, your final pick may not be as easy as you may think. Some of the more popular and trendier filling flavors are cinnamon-cappuccino cream, dark chocolate ganache, passion fruit cream, and cannoli. Royal icing has been favored for years, but white or dark chocolate fondant is now just
as popular.
“Remember that your cake’s flavors should also compliment the reception dinner and any other desserts you will be serving,” says Watson. “For example, if you are serving berries for dessert, don’t put berries in or on your cake – it’ll be just too much.”
Pick the flavors you really like – don’t choose your cake to please everyone else. Most brides and grooms tend to not have the chance to eat at their wedding because they’re so busy spending time with their guests, taking pictures, and dancing. By the time you’ll find a moment to sit down and eat, it’ll be time for the cake and you’ll be really hungry for it.
All the Frills
Nowadays, the popular style of choice is three or four round tiers stacked right on top of each other with a simple topper like a small cluster of flowers or nothing at all. Today’s brides are very savvy and sophisticated, and their style is reflected in their wedding cakes. “Wedding cake designs are getting very romantic,” says Watson. “They used to be either very plain or overdone.” Cake décor now consists of more than just roses – texture, lots of ntricate details, and patterns like harlequin diamonds are fashionable
Although still stylish, wedding cakes decorated with fresh flowers like tulips, gardenias, and daisies have given way to cakes adorned with realistic-looking, hand-rolled sugar flowers. Cakes are also being decorated with cascading bows, ribbons, and bejeweled brooches made out of sugar, as well as edible gold embellishments. A true princess for the day will want to top her wedding cake with a crown. Ask your baker or caterer to create a tiara out of sugar for a royal affect. Or add a layer of playful cookies to your cake if you’re having a more casual affair.
“This year, you’ll be seeing more than just pink and white cakes,” says Watson. “Brides and grooms are choosing ashy blues, oranges, burgundy, and greens to decorate their cakes.” White-on-white cakes featuring scrolled monograms and designs are also very popular and very classy. But, who says your wedding cake has to be all white? Many brides are now serving chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling and glaze.
Other decorating ideas include personalizing your cake with a line from a poem or with the words “Just Married” in fancy script; and incorporating the lace design of your dress on the icing.
Bake me a Cake
Unless required, you don’t have to feel obligated to have your catering hall make your wedding cake. You should feel free to scout out a pasty chef or cake designer. However, don’t underestimate the talent of your caterer or banquet hall. Whether you’re using your own baker or the one supplied by your catering hall, you should take photos and ideas of what you want and request to see and sample their work.
Take the time to communicate what you want and need. Your baker should work with the ambiance of your wedding and the style of your dress. Is it casual or elegant? If you are having a very simple wedding you should not have a frilly cake. Ask questions such as when and how your cake will be delivered, and what types of icing options you have for an outdoor summer wedding (to avoid your cake melting halfway into the reception). Before you sign a contract, go over all the details.
With all the hard work and thought put into your wedding cake, it should be displayed at the reception, preferably at the entrance to give the guests a chance to enjoy it – with their eyes – before the cake cutting.
Consider serving a groom’s cake along with your wedding cake. Your guests will love having more than one cake to eat or choose from. Traditionally, the groom’s cake, usually chocolate, is all about the man. It echoes his likes and background. You can also serve it at your rehearsal dinner or the post wedding brunch. How about serving petite desserts, such as mini sugar cookies, cup cakes, and petit fours, with your wedding cake? Guests, who would usually pass on a big piece of cake, won’t say no to these adorable, tiny treats.