It's Not Just A Piece of Cake

By Joy Michiel

A wedding cake is a showpiece — a symbol. With that in mind there is enormous pressure on the couple to have the perfect cake. No one will remember anything about the food served at the reception after five years, but chances are if the cake was not picture perfect, or it did not taste fantastic, it will still be talked about at your 25th wedding celebration. The wedding cake is the centerpiece of your dining event. Whether you choose to feature it at the reception, or another post-wedding party, it’s the ultimate finishing touch for your special day.

The traditional wedding cake is a three-tiered vanilla confection with white icing, a miniature bride and bridegroom on top and lots of butter cream roses. But, cakes today are much more creative and a personal expression of style and come in a variety of shapes, flavors and decorations.

Picking the perfect wedding cake is a matter of preference. Do you like the elegance of a round, stacked cake or the stylish sophistication of different shapes? Using different shapes and different heights of layers, sometimes mixing and matching in one cake are becoming more popular. Common are cakes with different flavored layers and, in some cases instead of one main wedding cake, some brides are having an individual cake placed at each place setting. Cakes can be arranged in many different styles. They can be stacked, pillared, staggered, with fountains or on beautiful cake stands.

Taste

The taste of your wedding cake is to a certain extent a matter of personal choice, however other practicalities must enter the equation. Weather and time is an important factor. How long before the wedding will the cake be completed is something that definitely needs to be taken into consideration. A fruit-topped cake runs the risk of some of the fruit getting soft and mushy, depending on the weather and the humidity. Humidity also affects the choice of icing, glaze or frosting. Whipped cream does not hold up well in hot weather and it goes rancid quickly. The more typical American wedding cake will use a type of butter cream. Fortunately as prevailing weather conditions are different, there are many types of butter cream icing. If you are planning to marry in the height of summer, using a butter cream icing that is predominantly made of butter is not a good choice, as it melts when it is warm. However if you have your heart set on butter cream icing then you might want to consider an Italian butter cream, sometimes referred to as meringue butter cream, as it is more stable in hot conditions. This example of a type of butter cream is softer and lighter than the regular butter cream and is used in Europe for genoise sponges.

Design

Choosing a wedding cake should be fun; it is a perfect opportunity to make a statement, it is your party and you can have what you want. However there are once again practical constraints. In Europe a layer of the wedding cake is traditionally held back for the christening. If you like this idea then you have to choose at least one layer of your cake to be a fruitcake, as it preserves well, drenched in brandy.

Theme

If you have a theme, talk to a baker. There are many props that can change the basic design of a cake. Use your imagination. Flavorings can add color as well as flavor. Surprisingly, avocado icing or filling is a wonderful delicate color. A well-designed cake will enhance your theme and bring the whole concept of the design together as the celebration culminates with the cake.

Don’t Be Boring

The typical American sponge is not your only option. Before making a final choice, think out of the box, if only to dream. Consider building cupcakes into a pyramid, or the traditional French wedding cake, the croquembouche, an iconic creation of choux pastry bound by caramelized spun sugar and violets. Make the cake work for you. If you have a lot of children coming to the wedding it may be worth having two cakes as adult and children’s tastes are markedly different. The traditional Italian wedding cake celebrates all tastes, as it is layers of biscuits or cookies interwoven together.

Freezing Your Wedding Cake

If you need to freeze a wedding cake it is an excellent idea to have a dummy layer made before hand. it should be decorated exactly as your wedding cake will be. If it freezes successfully then you have no problems, but if it does not, then you can make design adjustments. It is not necessary to freeze more than one layer, because what happens to one layer will happen to the rest.

Don’t forget to enjoy every aspect of your cake, starting with the initial tastings. Savor the joy of texture, taste, color and imagination that you can use to create the culmination of your perfect day.