Works of Art

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The first dance has been danced. The dinner has been enjoyed. The champagne glasses have been raised. But as the wedding reception draws to its end, there’s one final display that has all guests on the edge of their seats, interest piqued and forks raised: the cutting of the wedding cake.

“Just like flowers are the centerpiece of a table, the wedding cake is the centerpiece of a wedding,” says cake specialist Cheli Madrid of St. Tropez Bakery & Bistro.

Deciding upon what makes a perfect cake for each couple is a combined effort between the bride and groom and the cake designer. Often, elements unique to the couple play an influential role in design, particularly in the elaborate cakes designed by San Diego cake stylist Beryl Ann Byrd of Just Fabulous Pastries.

“It’s important to really take into consideration the couple’s personalities and interests and find out about how adventurous they want to be with their cake,” says Byrd, who recently participated in the Food Network’s Challenge: Wedding Cake Surprise. Byrd’s original cake creations have included a stack of vintage luggage, rock ’n’ roll-themed his-and-her guitars and a designer handbag.

According to For the Love of Cake designer Laurie O’Brien, the cake is often what unites all the other elements of a couple’s reception.

“Usually, the color used in the cake ties into the colors of the flowers and the bridesmaid dresses. Sometimes the bride will want her dress and the cake to look similar in pattern, either with a lace pattern, bows or color, and other times I will get a request to incorporate something very specific to the bride and groom,” says O’Brien, who once used maps and the flags of Poland and the United States to represent a multinational wedding. “The cake is the focal point of the reception and should encompass the personalities of the couple.”

“Fall brings the changing of the leaves, and color trends tend to lean toward browns, sage, crimson and rust, while the crisp air of winter and the promise of a new beginning bring nostalgic feelings of blues, silvers, evergreens and champagne with a punch of ruby,” says San Diego cake designer Amy Edwards.

O’Brien says she has seen “a switch in wedding cakes from traditional white or off-white to incorporating much more vivid, bright colors for icing and decorations. For design, I love contrast in shapes and colors—it’s fun to mix it up a bit and get away from the classic round white cake.”

Karen Krasne of Extraordinary Desserts adds that cakes with dark chocolate exteriors are popular late-year options, as well as those with gold and silver adornments that lend themselves to holiday time. In San Diego’s temperate climate, a colorful variety of flowers can be used year-round.

“We see ornate embroidery, ribbon and heavier detail,” adds Krasne, whose design creativity inspired the use of black licorice to meet a bride’s request for a black-and-white cake. “We see a lot of red and burgundy roses, but since we always have beautiful weather, even in October, we can also still use darker tulips and dahlias, orchids and brown cymbidiums.”

Just as you can’t judge a book by its cover, a wedding cake should not be valued by the beauty of its exterior alone.

“A high-end cake should not only look fabulous but should taste fabulous, too,” Edwards says. “The freshest ingredients, the purest extracts and the finest chocolates will create edible works of art.”

Kimberly Gafter and her partners Jennifer Duncan and Christina Strickland at specialty bakery Cake use only homemade butter cream and avoid using fondant in order to produce cakes of the freshest, highest quality.

“We make all of our flowers edible and all of our leaves, bows and ribbons are out of white chocolate,” Gafter says. “For fall, we often trim the cakes in gold for a more elaborate design. Also, a popular trend right now is to have three tiers of different shapes: round, petal and square.”

With an almost endless assortment of delectable cake flavors to choose from, leaving the decision up to your palate is often a difficult task. Luckily, cake designers are able to offer some sweet suggestions for crowd-pleasing confections.

“Lately, my favorite flavor combination has been a lemon sponge cake with zesty lemon curd, paired with either raspberry preserves or fresh raspberries. I love the contrast of the tanginess of the lemon and the sweetness of the raspberry,” says O’Brien.

Byrd adds that autumn flavors tend to lean toward comfort-food tastes and heavier frostings.

“Flavor-wise, for fall and winter, we do an apple streusel spice that’s really popular because people think of it as a warming flavor,” she says. “Of course, chocolates and heavier flavors are more popular in winter, as opposed to summer when people often think of citrus.”

Gafter adds that Cake spices up individual flavors in order to create original tastes, such as apple or pear-spiced carrot cake, and enhances chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries, hazelnut or orange zest. The bakery’s most popular flavor is a banana cake with chocolate truffle and chocolate mousse.

In the end, however, the final decision must come from the bride and groom, for whom the cake serves as an exquisite exclamation point on their special day.

“The cake is an essential piece of the wedding and looks best when it blends into the overall theme,” Edwards says. “Whether the wedding is located on a beach or in the groves of a vineyard, tying in the colors, elements, flowers or even patterns of the bride’s gown gives the cake an ultimate touch of beauty.”

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