Take the Cake to the Next Level
Vanilla and chocolate now compete with banana, peanut butter and fruit-filled cakes for the couples first slice
By Nola Sarkisian-Miller
CTW Features
Couples are opting for exotic flavors, shapes and designs to not only woo guests, but to make the first slice a picture to remember
With hexagonal shapes, fuchsia colors and gooey flavors like peanut butter, wedding cakes today are anything but plain vanilla. Once a plebian white confection, the edible tradition is no longer an easy afterthought of choosing between strawberry or raspberry fillings.
“Customers are thinking out of the box these days,” said Margaret Lastick, creative director and owner of Le Royale Icing bakery in Oak Park, Ill. “They want their cakes highly customized.”
The makeover is long overdue considering the cake’s important role in the classic photo op of the bride and groom slicing a piece together, symbolizing their first act as a married couple.
“Everybody wants a photo of that cake so brides are putting more thought and planning into its selection,” said wedding planner Alyson Fox, co-owner of Levine Fox Events, Los Angeles, who worked on Britney Spears’ wedding to Kevin Federline in 2004.
The circular dessert is now getting geometric as requests pour in for more squares, ovals and hexagons, with cake designers mixing up the shapes and even stacking them askew. They can even alternate the depths of the layers for a creation with a Salvador Dali effect. Changing the form also opens up the possibilities for themed cakes, reflecting castles, books and underwater motifs.
Like the bridal gown, white is still an ever-popular choice for a cake color, but some couples are getting more adventurous with bolder shades for piping accents or statement-making exteriors. The look is achieved through tinting the fondant (a sugar dough that’s molded over the cake for decoration purposes) or utilizing pure butter cream icing, such as dark chocolate.
“You’re seeing a lot more colors from the wedding coming into play,” said Audra Shore, owner of Café Unforgettable Cakes, Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Wedding bakeries are also churning out an avalanche of nontraditional flavors and fillings, indulging the sweet tooth of their customers who are choosing different selections for each cake tier. At Cake Designs by Caryn Nash, options range from banana and applesauce to red velvet and peanut butter with chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups.
“I offer anything when it’s realistic, focusing on really yummy flavors – not things like green tea,” Nash said.
Brides can further personalize their cake with scrollwork mimicking the script on their invitations or beading on their gown. They can also use “cake jewelry” embellishments such as a Swarovski crystal hair pin or grandma’s broach, a popular approach at the Cake Studio, Orange County, Calif. Owner Linda Goldsheft said that “every piece that goes in is counted and so is every piece that goes out” to avoid any hazards.
More options abound for sugar overload. Some couples are preceding the cake with dessert bars – laden with brownies, cookies and éclairs. Meanwhile, men are resurrecting the tradition of a groom’s cake, paying homage to their favorite pursuits or junk food, such as a baseball hat or a cake assembled with tiered donuts.
“Grooms cakes are going nuts,” Nash said. “I recently did an alligator head and a deer head.”
