Wedding Cakes - Make Your Wedding Cake Special

The wedding cake can be the centerpiece at your wedding reception and here are some tips that can help make your wedding cake special.

The first thing you should check is the vendor policies of your wedding venue. In many big cities, some venues will only let you use bakers from their list of vendors that they recommend. If you use a vendor that isn't on their list, you may be charged an expensive cake-cutting fee of $1-$2 per serving. Also, some wedding sites will not accept a wedding cake from a baker that isn't licensed. That means you may not be able to use a wedding cake that one of your friends or relatives made.

Discuss Your Wedding Cake Options With Your Baker

Hopefully, you select a baker that is experienced at making and delivering wedding cakes. Make sure that you ask you baker questions that include your budget and  their timeline for making your wedding cake. Find out the difference in price for real versus decorative edible flowers. In some cases it is cheaper to buy the real flowers than to make them by hand. Additional questions you should ask include do they make their buttercream with shortening or real butter? Do they use premade frosting or cake mix? Does the price they quote include delivery and setting up the wedding cake?

Wedding Cake Terminology

When you are talking to your baker about your wedding cake, it helps to know some of the wedding cake terms. This will help you understand what the baker is talking about and help you with making good decisions.

Wedding Cakes

There are basically three types of cakes:

1. Butter Cake - Similar to a pound cake but lighter. This cake is richer and denser than a genoise or sponge cake.

2. Genoise Cake - A cake made with eggs and butter, lightly textured and rich.

3. Sponge Cake - This is a very light cake that doesn't contain any butter and is leavened by beaten egg whites.

Wedding Cake Frostings

1. French Buttercream - This is a light, rich frosting that is made by beating boiling sugar syrup with egg yolks, then whipping in the butter.

2. Italian Buttercream - This is a very light and fluffy frosting that is made by whipping butter into an italian meringue (egg whites whipped with hot sugar syrup).

3. Marzipan - A paste that is made of sugar and almonds. This frosting has a strong flavor, can be rolled thin, colored, and used to cover the cake. It can also be molded into different shapes.

4. Rolled Fondant - This is the frosting that is one most wedding cakes you see on display or in magazines. The frosting is a thick and pliable sugar paste that gives a wedding cake that smooth matte finish. It can be beautifully colored, and makes beautiful decorations. Fondant does well in hot outdoor settings, but it is not really taste that good.

Wedding Cake Decorations

1. Basket Weave - This is a piping techinque that looks like a woven basket.

2. Gumpaste and Pastillage - These are sugar pastes that dry very hard and are used to make flowers and other edible decorations.

3. Pulled Sugar - This is a great way to make decorations that look like glass. The technique is often used to make ribbons on wedding cakes. The decorations are made by melting sugar and pulling and folding it before it cools.

4. Swiss Dots - These are decorative dots of icing that are piped on a cake.

Wedding Cake Fillings

1. Bavarian - This filling consists of a custard base, ususally flavored with fruit, folded into whipped cream. This filling is not as fluffy as a mousse.

2. Ganache - This is a soft filling made from a mix of cream and chocolate, like in a truffle. This can also be drizzled over a wedding cake while still warm to make a glaze.

3. Mousse - This filling is very light and airy, made with whipped cream and folded into chocolate or other flavorings.

4. Pastry Cream - This is a filling that is a custard thickened with flour. It is the same type of filling in cream puffs, and is usually flavored with chocolate, vanilla, or coffee.

Wedding Cake Shapes

The most traditional wedding cakes are round, square, or rectangular. A way to make these traditional shapes special is to have them arranged in a different pattern or make a square cake that looks like a gift with each layer wrapped to look like a present.

Cakes with a different number of sides like octagonal or hexagonal shaped cakes make for a different look.  You can then have these cakes stacked on top of each other slightly off center to give a unique look.

A popular French designed cake is a multi-tiered cake with a cream filling that is piled high to look like a tower. These French wedding cakes are popular in Europe by not used much in the United States.

Wedding cakes that have become more popular in recent years are the freeform cakes that look like cities, buildings, fruit, animals, or a landscape.

When you select the shape of the wedding cake, be sure that it fits into the theme and style of your wedding. There are many other considerations that will help make your wedding cake special.

Wedding Cake Tip #1: If you are having a large wedding (more than 175 people), you can save money by ordering a smaller beautifully decorated wedding cake along with several plain sheet cakes that are just like the tiered wedding cake. The sheet cakes have the same flavors as the main wedding cake, but you will greatly reduce the price per slice.

Wedding Cake Flavors

There are literally hundreds of wedding cake flavors, you just need to decide what flavor you like the best. If you can't decide, you can select one or more flavors for each tier of your wedding cake.

With just one flavor of wedding cake, you don't need to order more servings than the number of guests you are expecting. If you are plannnig on more than one flavor of wedding cake, you will need to order more cake because people like to sample one of each.

Wedding Cake Tip #2: If you want to have fancier flavors such as white chocolate, Chambord cream, or fresh fruit, most cake designers will add an additional 25 cents to $1.00 per serving.

Wedding Cake Decorations

You can make your wedding cake special by selecting a different shape, flavors, and decorations. Selecting you wedding cake decorations is more than just deciding what to put on the top of the cake. You can have the wedding cake decorated with real or edible flowers. The cake can be a sculpture or decorated as an object that is important to you as a couple.

When designing your special wedding cake, use your imagination and ideas that are unique and special to you as a couple.

Wedding Cake Tip #3: Are you or any of your friends or relatives artisitic? If so, ask your baker the difference between a decorated and undecorated cake. If there is a big price difference, you might be able to save quite a bit of money.

Additional Wedding Cake Tips

Look at lots of wedding cake photos on the Internet and in magazines to see what shapes and decorations you like.

To save money consider using buttercream instead of rolled fondant. Buttercream usually tastes better and is much less expensive. There are limtations, fondant doesn't refrigerate well, while buttercream melts when the temperature gets hot.

Use local bakeries as compared to custom wedding cake designers. You will definitely see a differnce in price, but don't expect to get a designer quality cake by paying a lower price to a local baker.

Consider using nicely decorated cupcakes as an alternative to a traditional wedding cake.