Wedding Cakes
Choosing the perfect cake for your wedding can be an overwhelming task. Most brides will not know how big a cake they will need to feed all their guests, which flavors they want and how they want it iced.
Your wedding cake, depending on its size, will form a sizeable part of your wedding budget. When you consider that many cakes can cost upwards of $500 you can see why getting it perfectly right can be such a headache. When it comes to pricing a wedding cake, most bakers and cake designers work on a $ per slice basis, which can be anything from $5 upwards for a simple cake.
Things start to get more expensive when you request complicated flavors, exotic fillings and an abundance of sugar craft in the finished design. Even asking for a shape other than round can add a premium to the price! In short the more you ask for the more expensive it will be.
If your budget is tight then you can save money in a few ways:
• Choose a simple sponge with a plain filling, covered in the cheapest icing or frosting. Decorate it with fresh flowers, which your florist may give you for free if you order the rest of your flowers from them.
• Order a cake smaller than your guest numbers. Not everyone will want it, so have it cut up and offered around your guests, any left can be placed on the table for guests to help themselves.
• Order a single tier cake decorated to your requirements. Then have some plain cutting cakes in the kitchen out of view. After the cutting ceremony the waiting staff can then serve the cutting cakes to your guests.
• Opt to have your wedding cake as dessert and save money on your catering bill instead.
Traditional wedding cakes would have been fruit based and iced with heavy regal or royal icing. The design of which, was said to mimic the bride’s dress. It was also traditional to keep the top tier of the cake for the christening of the first born child or for the first anniversary, a tradition which is probably not followed so much today!
Modern wedding cakes are true works of art. Cake decorating and sugar craft requires experience, skill and a great deal of patience! Some of the most intricate wedding cakes can take days to put together, but only a few hours to demolish! Modern cakes tend to be flavored sponges, cheesecakes and carrot cakes but the traditional fruit cake is often included in the smallest tier to please older guests. Fillings range from fruit fondants, cream fillings and flavored buttercreams, all of which can be made in rather indulgent flavors.
To finish the cake it can be covered in a range of icings or frostings including buttercream, fondant, regal icing and marzipan. These then provide a base onto which additional decorations made from sugar paste and fondant can be applied.
When choosing your wedding cake it is important to have some taste tests! A part many of you won’t object to, but you do need to have some idea of how it will taste. Some couples will choose the same flavor throughout the whole cake whilst others like to alternate flavors between tiers. You may also want to consider the tastes of your guests (if known) and include a flavor for everyone. As mentioned earlier, including a fruit tier will please your older guests, whilst a flavored sponge is usually enjoyed by everyone.
Wedding Cake
