Cake Decoration

TIERS OF JOY

The wedding cake is an intrinsic part of any wedding but these days is as individual as the bride herself. The traditional square, three-tiered wedding cake is said to reflect the shape of the church and steeple, but, perhaps reflecting the decline in the number of church weddings, is not often seen. Cakes may still be multi-tiered but in a multitude of guises! The benefit of a multi-tiered cake if made in long-lasting fruitcake is that, while one tier can be enjoyed by guests at the reception, another can be cut up and sent to absent friends, and one tier can be saved for the firstborn child’s christening. Much as the older generation guests at a wedding may still expect a traditional fruit wedding cake, many couples, and their friends, don’t actually like fruitcake and thankfully there is now a much wider choice and brides need not have a fruitcake at all. A workable compromise is to have a multi-tiered cake with each tier different, perhaps, one fruit, one plain sponge and one chocolate sponge. It is also quite acceptable, and potentially a way to make the budget go further, to make the wedding cake double up as the dessert for the wedding meal. In this instance the whole cake would be in sponge, and chocolate would be particularly popular, but it could even be made of ice cream! Another popular alternative at the moment is either cup-cakes or actual individual mini-cakes which can be made and decorated in a huge variety of ways. These mini-cakes can be stacked in tiers to have the height of a multi-tiered cake even if it is a smaller wedding with fewer guests.

As soon as you move away from the classic marzipan and royal icing, in terms of the design of your cake, the world is your oyster! The advent of fondant icing has revolutionised wedding cakes, allowing much softer and more fluid decoration. It can be moulded into practically any shape, and the design and colours can match the overall theme of the wedding.

Within Grampian there are a number of cake specialists who can create innovative and inspirational wedding cakes and who will be happy to work with you to create something unique. If you haven’t any set ideas, a good starting point is to look at photographs of the baker’s previous creations. You will also need to taste samples of his/her work. Especially if the cake is also the dessert, it is really important that it tastes as good as it looks. The baker will also advise what size of cake will be required. Whatever cake you choose, cutting the cake with your new husband will be a memorable, and much photographed, moment!