Not Your Grandmother’s Wedding Cake

Filed under Cakes, Expert Advice, Receptions, Wedding Ideas

New tastes, shapes and colors make the typical white wedding cake a thing of the past.

Good Enough to Eat

Back in the olden days, wedding cakes were meant to be seen but not necessarily eaten—guests would take a bite or two of the dry slice with the sickeningly sweet frosting to be polite, then hastily set it aside. Of course, post-millennial partygoers have much higher expectations… and the experts consistently surpass them.

For the top dessert maestros, baking from scratch is a way of life, and “Everything fresh, nothing frozen,” is their mantra. They also insist on the finest ingredients. For example, La Starr & Company uses only rich, european-style butter; Regal Bakery searches out the most distinctive vanilla; and The Bread Basket is known for their farm-fresh fruit. Superior ingredients cost more, but it pays dividends in the finished product. Assures Vicki Hulbert of Bridal Sweets, “The bride and groom can take pride in knowing they’re serving the best.”
When choosing flavors, there are really several decisions to be made. The cake itself, the filling, and the icing. The combinations can get pretty wild, especially when “one flavor fits all” no longer applies.

What if you like vanilla toffee crunch and he insists on carrot cake? No problem—select a different flavor for each layer. Another cake taboo that’s been shattered is the ban on chocolate. Flour Power says one of their most popular requests is for rich chocolate cake with chocolate mousse and fudge filling. Some chocoholics simply swoon over gianduja, an Italian hazelnut buttercream popular at Bridal Sweets. Chocolate isn’t just hiding on the inside, but also makes a bold showing in the frosting. “A dark chocolate cake looks so glamorous accented with red-hot flowers,” says Cake Studio’s Linda Goldsheft. The Bread Basket likes the drama of chocolate ganache icing dripping over a pale cake, and Rhubarb Bakery is famous for their gorgeous Chocolate Mosaic Wedding Cake, which was recently showcased on the pages of In Style Magazine.

To go along with the fashion of dressing cakes with tropical flora and fauna, cakes these days are bursting with a Lifesaver-like array of fruity flavors. Flour Power swears by their Mango Mousse filling with fresh kiwi, and their Pia Colada Cake simply begs for the “Pia Colada Song” to be played as it’s served! Liqueurs such as Bailey’s Irish Creme, Grand Marnier, and Kahlua give cakes a sophisticated flourish, and Rosa Leung says her clients are positively bubbly about her pink champagne cake. One of The Bread Basket’s richest confections is called Gateau, a wicked combo of regular cake and cheesecake filled with berries.

Wait, There’s More

There’s nothing like presenting your guests with their very own miniature wedding cake. As the finale to a Romanian gypsy wedding, Bee’s Knees served individual cakes that looked like tiny designer gift boxes trimmed in edible gold. La Starr & Company offers diminutive berry-filled charlottes, or chocolate-wrapped squares personalized with the bridal couple’s initials.

How about a special sweet for your sweetie? Groom’s cakes are making a major comeback, especially when they’re uniquely his—a wife-to-be gave her Navy Seal a groom cake topped with a frogman. Another had a cake sculpted into his two favorite books. Trend-setting brides have begun to serve the groom’s cake at the rehearsal dinner. “The wedding is the bride’s day,” remarks Gilbert Delagnes, co-owner of The Bread Basket, “and it’s a considerate gesture to make the evening before a tribute to the groom.”

Wedding orders at The Bread Basket also include a “First Anniversary Cake,” baked fresh a year later for that landmark celebration. Whether you’re indulging in The Bread Basket’s delicious gift or serving up your original cake’s top layer from the freezer, we have a suggestion: snuggle up with your sweetie on the sofa, and watch your wedding video while sharing the delectable dessert. As you pass your partner a yummy forkful, let the taste remind you of your wedding day’s romance, as well as the brightness of your future together.

Mmmmm…how sweet it is!