Tips on Picking The Perfect Wedding Cake
Fantasizing about the perfect cake for your upcoming nuptials? We've
got you covered! We asked 20-year cake-designing veteran Joanne Bruno,
of Palermo's Bakery in New Jersey, to share her best tips for choosing
the wedding cake of your dreams.
Choose a reputable bakery
"Brides-to-be should absolutely begin their research online. Visit general wedding sites to obtain real customer feedback from other couples. Then visit the bakery's website to view images of their work. If the photos aren't up-to-date, their work isn't either. You want to work with a bakery with positive feedback from married couples and a wide range of cake offerings."
"Next, you should visit the bakery in person and meet with the staff. It's important to walk out of the bakery with an image of the cake — either drawn or rendered via computer — so that there aren't any surprises. If you don't feel comfortable with the bakery staff, you won't be happy with your cake. Most cake specialists have a dedicated staffer and a separate area in which to sit down and review wedding cake design. If the sales associate rushes you or fails to answer basic questions, you should consider going somewhere else."
Give yourself adequate time to pick a wedding cake
"Three to six months is enough time to plan the cake. Once a bride
knows her color scheme and the wedding venue, it's good to get the cake
designed and ordered before she enters the 'crunch period,' which is
usually the last two months."
Make sure you love how the cake tastes
"I can't stress this enough: Arrange for a cake tasting before the
cake is ordered. If the cake has multiple flavors, taste all of them.
Basic flavors like chocolate, strawberry and vanilla will vary depending
on how the cake is made, its formulation, its frosting and more. Don't
assume — taste!""Also, with regard to taste, avoid the exotic. A good bakery can make vanilla taste amazing. Exotic flavors sometimes alienate guests who don't recognize the flavor."
Get creative with the design
"The age of the cookie-cutter tiered white wedding cake with a plastic figurine at the top is long gone and, personally, I'm happy to see it go. Many brides bring their color scheme (wedding gown, bridesmaid dresses) into the shop for color coordination. Others are coordinating the jewels they wear on their special day with cake adornments — pearls, diamonds and rubies, for example. If a bride is wearing them, we can replicate the look on a cake."
"Also, themed weddings need a themed cake. From outdoor spring weddings to religious ceremonies, any type of wedding can be accommodated with a custom cake."
Need inspiration? Try a cake trend
"Matching the bride's dress to the cake is a big trend this season.
We've matched the ruffle on a bride's dress to the cake. We've also
matched specific pieces of heirloom jewelry on the bride to the wedding
cake.""We're also seeing a return to classic buttercream frosting — the original style of frosting that looks more realistic and has a richer flavor than modern frostings. As for shapes, ovals are really this season's hottest shift. Round is traditional, square can be a lot of fun, but an oval-shaped cake draws a lot of attention and allows us more room upon which to create."
Don't make these cake mistakes
"There are two cardinal sins of planning a custom wedding cake: The
first is waiting until the last minute to design and order a cake. Most
bakeries have their custom cakes calendared out weeks in advance.
Special ingredients and decorations sometimes need to be ordered and, in
some cases, created from scratch, which takes considerable
experimentation.""The second mistake is to have too many people providing input. I've seen many brides driven crazy because they involved both sets of parents, friends, cousins, the entire bridesmaid party, etc. When you come to the bakery, keep your entourage down to one or two people at the most. Choosing a cake is about what feels good to you as the bride."
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Extraordinary Layer Cakes
A luscious and lovely cake layered with delectable flavors and textures celebrates all of the good things in life. We are thrilled at Extraordinary Desserts that we are not alone in this belief. For 2012, people can’t stop talking about layer cakes!
Ivoire Royal – an elegant layer cake for special occasions. (photo: Ray Kachatorian)
As a pastry chef, I make sure to keep on top of trends, but I am also passionate about staying true to my craft and have never deviated from making the decadent cakes and pastries that my customers have come to expect from us.
Through my years of making desserts and being a restaurateur, I’ve had to learn how to make scones, muffins, big cookies and other pastries that are popular trends and in demand by customers. However, these types of desserts are not common in France so I was never formally taught how to make them during my training. Instead, I’ve applied my pastry and culinary cooking principles and gotten creative with my staff to develop recipes that take an Extraordinary approach to some these more mainstream trends. Take for example our cherry chocolate chip cookie, which adds tart cherries or the white chocolate granola cookie, which adds white chocolate and granola into the mix of an oatmeal cookie.
Few brides want to have a wedding day without a layer cake as a center piece and big, bold, delicious layer cakes make the most decadent birthday cakes.
Fabulous layer cakes have traditionally been made with rich butter cream and delicious mousse, however I’m excited to now be able to create gluten free and vegan alternatives for desserts since these have become dietary trends in demand.
Dame Chocolat – gluten free layer cake. (Photo: Dhanraj Emanuel)
To create the collection recipes, we selected from customer as well as my personal favorites to offer a variety of flavor profiles and seasonal cakes for every occasion.
Blood Orange Ricotta Cake – layers of cake & blood orange mousse (Photo: Ray Kachatorian)
Lemon Praline – a cake version of a lemon lover’s candy bar (Photo: Ray Kachatorian)
Layer cakes don’t always have to be large centerpieces just for weddings and birthdays. They can also be made as individual cakes or rectangular to create a unique presentation like the Lemon Praline above.
Strawberry Shortcake – individual cakes are great for parties and tray passing. (Photo: Ray Kachatorian)
In honor of Valentine’s Day, we recently created two new layer cakes that are quickly becoming popular: Lover Girl and Lucky Love.
Lucky Love – the newest Extraordinary cake with layers of milk, dark chocolate, and match tea mousses. (Photo: Amy Fellows)
While layer cakes are being touted as the hot new trend for 2012, at Extraordinary Desserts we know that this is by no means a fleeting fad. For over 23 years, we are honored that our fans have been in the know and ahead of their time with their passion for layer cakes. However, we are excited that the layer upon layer of goodness offered by this granddaddy of all cakes is getting recognized across the country by those “in the know” this year.
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