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Cutting the Cake Great cakes satisfy more than a sweet tooth – they're eye candy, too  Design by Joyce Scardina Becker, Events of Distinction; Photo: Wendy Maclaurin Richardson The relationship with your baker is as vital as the connection to your dressmaker when it comes to your wedding. In both instances, all eyes should be on you and the vision you helped create. And to make the wedding cake stand out, it’s important to delve into the mind behind the batter to see what their hands and your imagination can conjure up. To do this, couples should review a portfolio of the baker’s cakes to help decide whether their expectations can be met. “A lot of that can be done online. Once you see a cake designer you like, make an appointment to meet and taste their cake (made from scratch),” says Elisa Strauss, author of “The Confetti Cakes Cookbook” (Little, Brown and Co., 2007) and owner of Confetti Cakes, New York. “Wedding cakes are pure architecture, just because someone is a great baker doesn’t mean they can make a cake stand up straight.” Discuss pricing, deposits and due dates, as well as flavors and filling choices for the cake before placing an order. Also make sure guests are not allergic to any nuts and fruits that will be in the cake. Cakes that are gluten-free and those for lactose intolerant guests are available via flourless and torte alternatives. You can even go figure-friendly with a rice cake with mandarin orange buttercream frosting. By the time the venue, approximate guest list, colors and florist are arranged, you should be ready to contact a baker and arm him or her with as much of the wedding information as possible. Bring in fabric swatches or samples of the lace used in the gown to convey the colors and patterns that you may want replicated on your cake, says Strauss. The cake is a part of the décor, so it has to pop on the table. To make the interior stand out as much as the exterior, couples are choosing flavors like banana, red velvet and coconut. The cost of your cake will be determined by size, type of frosting and decoration. For example, freehand decoration, an edible image and a generic-themed cake all are priced differently. “Some couples include sayings or symbols that mean something to them as far as the decoration,” she says. “Cakes today are mostly traditional with a twist – different shapes, round, square and hexagonal, on different tiers, with pastel backgrounds and sugar flowers.” With the details worked out, a bride and groom just need to wait for their big day and the arrival of their unique cake. Strauss says bakers often deliver the masterpiece without any interaction with the bride or groom. That means the baker will need not just the date and location to make the drop, but the name and number of the catering manager and/or wedding planner to coordinate a time for the cake to be brought in. Either person should have a handle on which table the cake will sit and that the setup is properly executed. Sweet Escape Cake may be the mainstay when it comes to wedding dessert, but it’s not the only thing. Couples have the option of choosing any unique food item for their guests. “Desserts can consist of anything,” says Joy Wallace of Limelight Catering, Chicago. “It’s nice if the bride and groom have different nationalities, so they can add pastries from their country and represent both ethnicities.” Here’s a taste of something different: Heard of the cupcake tree? Now there’s the mini fruit parfait tree, stacked on cake stands in the shape of a wedding cake. Smaller wedding? Have a chef make bananas foster in front of guests. Chocolate-covered exotic fruit, such as starfruit and mango, with fresh whipped cream. Pies, like lemon meringue, and crepes with fruit sauces. Childhood favorites like s’mores stations and ice cream treats like Good Humor eclair bars and Creamsicles. Sweets tables: A buffet of iced cookies, brownies, slivers of cheesecake in triangular boxes and chocolates (mints or covered berries). |
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