Tips On Working With Your Reception Cake Baker
The wedding cake is the grand finale of the reception. Learning all of the baking terms and sorting through the options can get a bit confusing for the average bride and groom. This is a look at all of the choices you will get to make when you pick your wedding cake.
You will start by picking your favorite type of cake. Everyone loves picking out their wedding cake! The trip to the bakery is one wedding planning activity that gets a lot of interest from the grooms. The baker will have several samples ready that you can taste and choose from. The most traditional is a classic white wedding cake. Grooms in particular tend to like chocolate wedding cake. You could also opt for a seasonal flavor, like lemon sponge cake for summer or a rich spice cake for fall. More unique flavors like cannoli or bananas Foster are in style these days.
Your baker will usually ask you to select a filling flavor as well. Buttercream filling is rich and decadent. You can choose from many yummy flavors, such as Irish creme, strawberry, or coffee. Fresh fruit preserves are another delicious type of filler to use between layers. Imagine how incredible a raspberry preserve would be sandwiched between dark chocolate cake. Typically people go with tangy citrus flavors like key lime in the summer, and heavier flavors such as Irish creme for the winter.
The next decision to make will be about your favorite frosting flavor. Buttercream frosting is very traditional for wedding cakes, and it also tastes wonderful. It can be applied to the cake with a fairly smooth style, although it is often a bit more textural. If you like the smooth as glass finish, choose a fondant cake. The fondant is actually applied to the cake in one continuous piece. People love the smooth finish of fondant, but not so much the taste, you usually need to have an underlayer of a second icing. Fresh whipped cream is tasty, particularly with strawberries. Do be careful to keep it away from direct sunlight or a warm space when you display it. There are many other frosting choices, of course. Some additional options include caramel glaze or even a marshmallow cream frosting. Your baker can advise you on what type of frosting will work best with your cake flavor, the season, and the style of cake you like.
Then you can work on the design of the outside of your confection. Most wedding cakes have at least three tiers, although you can certainly customize the number based on your particular needs or wants. There are nearly endless possibilities for the decorations on the cake. If you are wearing crystal bridal jewelry, you might want to have a crystal monogram cake topper on a sleek fondant cake. Or perhaps you love the look of handmade sugar flowers cascading down the side of the tiers. You could choose a very traditional cake style, such as sugar pearls creating a Swiss dot pattern to match your pearl bridal jewelry, or something very offbeat like tilted tiers in vibrant colors. Fresh flowers are always lovely on a cake, and are usually pretty affordable. Everyone will love tasting your carefully planned wedding cake.
