|
Wedding cakes, as we know them, have gone through quite an
evolution. From stacked buns placed in front of the bridal couple in
medieval times to bride's pie filled with mincemeat in the late eighteenth
century, to the wedding cake's arrival at the turn of the twentieth
century–one truth remains: cakes are still symbols for celebration.
Today the choice in cakes are boundless, from delicate flower-strewn
rounds to bold multicolored squares. Whether your tastes are trendy or
traditional, there's a cake that's right for you. Couples who want to make
a lasting impression have created a demand for wedding cakes in every
color, shape and size. Multitiered, multitextured wedding cakes in an
array of flavors can be traditional works of art in muted colors or
outrageous attractions in chartreuse or periwinkle blue.
"The idea of white cake and white icing is kind of passé," says Susan
Morgan of Elegant Cheese Cakes in Half Moon Bay, Calif. "Your guests are
going to a really fabulous party and they're going to expect a really
fabulous dessert."
|
Find your Baker |
|
| • |
"Word of
mouth is the best way to find a baker," says Susan Morgan of Elegant
Cheese Cakes in Half Moon Bay, Calif. Ask friends or staff at
reception venues for referrals. |
| • |
Ask bakers
if they have a Web site or a package they can send to give you
background information about their company, their work and their
prices. |
| • |
How much
lead time is needed? Some need two months or as much as six
months. |
| • |
Ask how
many events the baker caters to in a weekend, and if his cakes are
fresh, or if they are baked ahead of time, then frozen. |
| • |
Do they
require a deposit or charge for delivery or
consultation? |
| • |
Taste the
cake before you commit to having it prepared. It should taste as
good as it looks. |
WILL THAT BE CHOCOLATE
OR MOCHA?
With the seemingly endless possibilities, how does
a bride choose? Study your wedding plans: Is it a formal or casual affair?
Is it big or small? Is there a theme or color scheme? What about the
flowers and the design of the wedding dress? These details may influence
you to choose a cake that reflects the rest of your day. There are no
rules for choosing a flavor either. Lemon, mocha, vanilla, carrot and
coconut are all popular. Colette Peters of Colette's Cakes in New York
suggests picking a different flavor for each tier to give guests a choice.
But for a surefire winner, Peters suggests everyone's favorite–chocolate.
"It's definitely our most popular flavor, with white or colored
icing."
What you spend on your wedding cake depends on two things: how many
people you'll be serving and how important the cake is to you. Decide
first if you want a truly memorable cake, fabulous wine or a great band,
Morgan suggests. Once you prioritize your budget, start shopping. A simple
cake from a local baker may start at two dollars per slice, depending on
your area, while a specialty baker may charge eight dollars per slice–and
up to $20 per slice for a really elaborate cake. If you want a
one-of-a-kind creation with a lot of intricate detail, expect to pay for
it.
The Take on the
Groom's Cake |
|
The
tradition–primarily a Southern one–of having a cake especially for
him is thought to have originated because the wedding cake was once
called the bride's cake. "In the Southern states, a groom's cake is
very, very important," says Janice Ollenburger of Frosted Art in
Dallas." We hardly ever sell a bride's cake without
one." |
| • |
Single
female guests used to tuck a piece of the groom's cake under their
pillows at night to dream of their future husbands. |
| • |
Groom's
cakes are often dark (chocolate or fruit) and more unusual than the
wedding cake because they represent some aspect of the groom's
personality, such as his passion for golf (marzipan golf clubs on a
fairway cake) or affinity for his alma mater (a university jersey
cake). |
| • |
Set on a
separate table, with no official cutting, the pieces are served
along with the wedding cake. |
| • |
Prices are
generally set per cake, not per
slice. | Count on one slice per guest,
unless you serve a groom's cake or have a dessert table with other
offerings, which reduces the amount of wedding cake required. To help keep
costs down or to reduce the time spent cutting a large cake for more than
100 guests, your baker may be willing to decorate a slightly smaller cake
for display, and bake a sheet cake that would be kept in the back and cut
for serving. If your guest list dictates a small cake, but you dream of a
multitiered creation, ask your baker about adding a fake bottom tier to
create an illusion of grandeur.
THE HOMEMADE TOUCH
Count yourself lucky if
you have a talented baker in the family or in your circle of friends.
"Supposedly, it is bad luck for a bride to make her own cake, but I don't
think that I've ever met someone who wanted to make her own, usually it's
a family friend," says Peters, who has written four cookbooks on cakes,
including Colette's Wedding Cakes. Before undertaking this
important task, read up on decorating and get all the necessary tools,
such as dowels to support the cake. "A lot of people don't know about that
and think that you just stack these layers up and they magically stay
together," says Peters. If the thought of a homemade tiered cake makes you
nervous, what about cupcakes decorated with edible flowers or the couple's
initials for a more casual affair?
Cake toppers can really finish the look of a beautiful cake and, unlike
the plastic bride and groom of old, today's toppers can be as original as
the cake itself–think hand-sculpted flowers, fruits, ribbons or jewels all
made of colorful rolled fondant. Some bakers will even work with the
couple to create an original topper in chocolate or clay designed to look
like them. Fresh flowers reflective of the bride's bouquet are also
popular, and if you're lucky enough to have a vintage topper from your
parents' wedding cake, why not adapt that heirloom into your
celebration?
How you display the cake is almost as important as the cake itself.
"Make sure the tablecloth is ironed and ask the florist to arrange some
flowers as a border for the table," says Peters. "My favorite trick for
making the cake look even more important is to raise it slightly and place
flowers under the base, rather than in front of the bottom tier, which can
block the cake, making it appear smaller."
The ceremonial cutting of the cake is always a fantastic photo
opportunity. An attractive knife, perhaps tied with a ribbon, is the
perfect tool for the tradition. With overlapping hands and huge smiles,
the happy couple completes the first task of their married life by making
the cut.
|
