6 Ideas for One Sweet Cake
Picking the perfect cake is a matter of style, flavor.
[image:Selecting your wedding cake is the sweetest decision you'll ever make. It's also one of the most daunting.
“Two years ago, everybody wanted an unusual cake,” says Elisa Strauss, owner of Confetti Cakes, New York City. “People this season have been coming to me wanting traditional white cakes.” Strauss sees simple elegance usurping lopsided, twisting, fondant covered marvels as couples trend toward white frosting, round cakes and no toppers. “A lot of future mother-in-laws are in for that [cake toppers], and I have to break it to them that we don’t do that here.”
A newer trend is the hexagonal cake, which Strauss sees as a nod to Asian influences. “It doesn’t have to be Asian-inspired in theme, but that look is crisp,” she says.
Also on the forefront is the expanded use of grooms’ cakes: a Southern tradition Strauss sees as a fun way to engage the groom’s interests, not to mention the attendees’ taste buds. “It adds another, richer flavor of chocolate and praline, or peanut butter, since the wedding cake is usually vanilla or lemon,” she says. Generally the cake is a surprise for the groom, and can be served at the reception, but is a good sweet for the rehearsal dinner.
“It’s a unique way to add a personal touch to the day,” Strauss says. She offers these five ideas to make your cake a one-of-a-kind treat.
1. Monogram: initials are an elegant favorite, but a piped border with a saying that’s special to the couple is an exceptional alternative.
2. Story time: bring romantic stories or stories of your engagement to a pastry chef to create a symbolic sweet.
3. Flower power: incorporate blooms – fake or real – that your fiancée gave to you during your romance.
4. Pet fever: create a groom’s cake in the likeness of your favorite pet.
5. Save the date: pipe the date of your wedding on the back of the base.
Ethnic fare: Strauss had a couple wed in India and hold a reception in New York, so they gave their cake an Indian flair to merge the two events.
Matthew M. F. Miller, author of “Maybe Baby: An Infertile Love Story” (HCI, 2008), is a syndicated fatherhood blogger
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