Wedding Cake Glossary of Terms

If you will be getting married, you may want to be familiar with wedding cake terms before you visit the baker or confectioner who is making your cake. Here are some of the more common wedding cake terms and their meanings:

Wedding Cake Parts and Shapes:

Tier: This is one level of the cake-(i.e. a 3 tier cake.)

Layer: A horizontal piece of the cake. Often the wedding cake layers are baked in separate pans and then one or more are combined to make a tier.

Round: A cylinder shaped cake. This is the most traditional shape for a wedding cake.

Square: A more modern shape for a cake-very geometrical-tiers can be placed at odd angles for an even more modern touch.

Hexagon: A six-sided wedding cake can be very trendy and fashionable.

Scalloped: The edges of the tiers are shaped much like flower petals for a very casual look.

Molded: The cake is shaped like a football or some other object-this is often used for the groom’s cake.

Frosting and Filling Terms:

Fondant: A sheet like sugar “dough” that hardens over time and is good for an outdoor wedding cake because it will not melt. It is very smooth in texture and can be made in one of three forms: rolled into sheets, poured over the top, or sculpted into shapes.

Buttercream: The traditional wedding cake favorite made of butter, cream, and eggs. It is very soft and easy to flavor with chocolate, fruit or liquor, but should only be used at indoor events.

Ganache: A chocolate, butter and cream sauce or filling that will melt in the heat.

Chocopan: This is basically a chocolate version of fondant-but better tasting.

Marzipan: This almond based substance can be used as a filling or to make colored shapes to put on the cake.

Royal Icing: A very hard icing that is used for decorations that need to be solid-such as lace.

Decorations:

Basket weave: This looks like a wicker basket.

Swiss dotted: Random dots are placed all over the cake.

Piping: Lines are made on the cake with a pastry bag and tip.

Pulled or Spun Sugar: Sugar is cooked until it is liquid and then shaped into bows, ribbons or thin strands. This must be done on site because it will not transport.

How to Decorate a Wedding Cake

Learning how to decorate a wedding cake is not difficult, but it is a bit complicated, with a lot of techniques and tools that you’ll need to know how to use. The best way to learn how to decorate a wedding cake is to take an online cake decorating course, which you can do entirely on your computer, on your own schedule and from your own kitchen. With some instruction on the recipes, tools, and techniques you’ll need, anyone can learn how to decorate a wedding cake.

Steps To A Beautiful Cake For A Wedding

Most wedding cakes are elaborate creations with several tiers and layers and extensive decorations. Regardless of the style and complexity, even these spectacular creations come down to a few basic steps and components.

• Planning
• Preparing Ingredients
• Assembling, Decorating, & Transporting
• Serving

Planning How To Decorate A Wedding Cake

In the planning stage, you’ll want to decide your icing and filling flavors. You’ll need to make at least general decisions about how it will be decorated, including whether you will build it in tiers. Your online cake decorating course will have all the information you’ll need for building tiers, but the process will be fairly complicated, so it’s something to consider carefully.

This is also a good time to consider not only the design of the cake decorations but also the materials and ingredients the design will require. Will you use buttercream icing or rolled fondant? Handmade gum paste flowers, icing flowers, real flowers, or no flowers at all? If you’re not sure, review these sections in your online cake decorating course to see which techniques will work best for your design and skills.

Preparing The Cake & Icing Ingredients

Your online cake decorating course will include lots of recipes for cake, icing, and fillings, and even more recipes can be found in books and on other websites. If possible, test the recipes for your top choices to be sure you get good results and find flavors you like.

Well before the wedding date, review the guidelines for preparing ahead and storing cake, icing, and decorations, and make a schedule. The cake can be made ahead and frozen if you have the freezer space. Gum paste flowers will last for weeks. Knowing these things early in your planning will help you make the best use of your time and save stress as the wedding day approaches.

Assembling, Decorating, & Transporting

You may think that assembling, decorating, and transporting are three very separate steps, but the order you’ll do these things depends on the type of design and where it will need to be transported. With a tiered cake, you may want to assemble it after you transport it to the reception site, which will mean you’ll also need to be prepared to add a few finishing touches to the decorating at that time too.

Serving A Wedding Cake

Depending on the services provided at the reception, you may not need to worry about serving. If you will be responsible for the serving, make sure you’re aware of portion sizes and how to slice large, complicated cakes by reviewing these topics in your online cake decorating course.

Learn How To Decorate A Wedding Cake

Learning how to decorate a wedding cake will likely require much more detail than you can get from reading this article. Taking an online cake decorating course will fill in those details and many more, so you’ll know exactly how to decorate a wedding cake or any other type of baked dessert. When you decorate your own desserts, you’ll get the design you want while saving money, enjoying a hobby, and impressing your friends and family.

Tips to Organize Your Perfect Wedding

Planning a wedding is for some women, their biggest dream come true, while for others it is their worst nightmare. To ensure that your wedding goes off smoothly and without a hitch requires a lot of planning, list-making and negotiating.

To plan and organize the perfect wedding can sometimes take as much as twelve months. The sooner in advance you begin to plan your wedding, the more the chance is that you will get the type of venue, catering, photography and dress that you are looking for.

Wedding Planning Checklist — Six to Twelve Months Prior

The first thing to decide on is the date and time of the wedding. Once you have agreed upon this you will know what type of deadline you are working towards. If you can afford to, try to hire a wedding planner as they are the most equipped people to plan a wedding and know all of the tricks of the trade.

You also need to decide on what your budget is which will help you to determine what type of wedding you will have and how large your guest list will be. Wedding venues book out far in advance so the sooner you can decide on a location the better.

You will also need to start thinking about which photographer, videographer, florists and caterers you would prefer and book them. Finally, you need to start organizing the bridesmaid’s dresses, groom’s tuxedo and most importantly, the bridal dress.

Wedding Planning Checklist — Five Months Prior

By this time you should have decided on a guest list and start getting the final numbers so that you can give the caterer and organizers of the wedding venue an exact idea of how many people to expect. This is also the time when you need to make final bookings for your photographer, videographer, florist and caterer.

You should also have an idea of what type of wedding cake you want. If you are going on a honeymoon, this is the ideal time to start getting that sorted out and organising any travel documents that you might need. You should also find out what documents are needed for your marriage licence. Finally, start picking out wedding rings and having fittings done to make sure that the ring fits you properly.

Wedding Planning Checklist — Two Months Prior

Now is the time to start sending out your wedding invitations, consulting a lawyer who can help you to draw up a marriage contract and book your beauty and salon treatments such as manicures, facials and massages. Make all of your finalized confirmations for your cake, catering, florist etc. Start making plans for your rehearsal dinner and organize a bridesmaid’s get-together.

Wedding Planning Checklist — One Month Prior

Finalize your marriage license and transportation arrangements and make final appointments with the photographer, videographer and caterer to communicate exactly what your needs and expectations are. Have a fitting with your wedding dress and make sure that the bridesmaids have also had fittings. You can begin to plan the seating arrangements for the reception and make a final list of any specific songs that you would like to be played.

Wedding Planning Checklist — One to Two Weeks Prior

In this period you need to give your caterer the exact amount of people attending the wedding. You can also make final arrangements for the seating plan. Spoil yourself by having all of the necessary hair and salon treatments. Pack everything that you will need for your honeymoon and make sure that your travel documents are in order. Make final dress fittings for the bride, groom and any other attendants.

Wedding Planning Checklist — One Day Prior

By now most of the hard work should be done, leaving you with only a few minor touch-ups to attend to. This is the time when you will have your rehearsal dinner, get any manicure touch-ups that you might need and have a make-up trial run.

Wedding Planning Checklist — D-Day

Finally, the day has arrived. You will need to get your hair styled and make-up put on. Lastly, remember to eat a good, healthy meal a few hours beforehand, and most importantly try to enjoy the day and relax as much as possible.

Cupcake Wedding Cakes

You have chosen one of the most fashionable types of wedding cake. Cupcake Wedding Cakes have become increasingly popular over the last year.

Now why is this? Well the answer is simple, individual tiers of cupcakes make the most beautiful and fun wedding cake statement. Brides, grooms and guests love them for so many reasons…

Retro – These little cakes have become popular with a generation of people who can remember them from their childhood. Just like those memories of our favourite sweets, which bring back calls of “Oh, I remember those.”

Cute – These adorable little cakes are just so cute when decorated and boy do you have a choice of decorations. These cakes can be topped with butter cream whirls, fresh strawberries, cute daisies or colourful sprinkles to name just a few options.

Colours – Because the choice of topping or decoration is so vast, it is easy to coordinate these little cakes into your colour scheme. You could opt for the beautiful pastel range, plain and elegant white or a more vivid colour palette such as hot reds or chocolate browns. Whatever your colour theme there is bound to be a cupcake topping to complement.

Flavour – Due to the unique nature of having individual wedding cakes it enables you to have a cake of many flavours. There is no rulebook out there on cupcake wedding cakes. You might decide to have all the same flavour of cakes, you might opt for two flavours or you might be unable to decide and have a cake of many flavours, the choice is yours. Some of the sponge flavours available for wedding cupcakes are: carrot, lemon, banana, vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon and many more.

Versatility – Because of their individual nature these cakes are very easy to transport, display and serve. They also enable guests to choose a cake flavour if yours is made up of different flavours.

Size – Cupcakes mainly come in two sizes: small which is a traditional cupcake size and large which is more of a muffin size. Couples choose to either have all the same size or both!

Cost – Choosing to have a cupcake wedding cake is an inexpensive wedding cake option, so if budget is an issue these cakes will offer you a perfect budget solution.

The only other decision you have to make is how to display your beautiful little cupcakes. The most popular way to display cupcake for a wedding is on a tiered cake stand this is often referred to as a cake tree. It enables you to create the image of a tiered wedding cake and displays these cakes off to their full beauty.

If you would like to have a traditional photograph of the bride and groom cutting the cake, have a small cake sitting on the top of the tier for this purpose.

Looking For The Perfect Wedding Cake

There isn’t a wedding album out there that doesn’t feature the bride and groom cutting into their wedding cake. In fact, the entire wedding stops so that all the guests can watch the time honored tradition of cake cutting. If it is enough to stop guests from dancing and talking, then it should be treated with some lavish decorations.

Before the cake cutting begins, the wedding cake is usually displayed, on a table of its own, for all the guests to oh and ah over. Let your guests oh and ah not only over the frosted, fruit filled layer cake, but the way the table is decorated as well.

Wedding cakes are not all tall tiered masterpieces anymore. You can have your wedding cake made in any shape and any size. You can even have cupcakes. With this in mind, if you have a small box cake, you want to choose a table accordingly. If your cake is smaller in size, don’t set it on a table that will overwhelm it, you want to highlight the confection.

Talk with the baker before hand, to see how elaborate the finished product will be. If your cake is designed with swirls and pearls, keep your decorations simple. A decorative table skirt may be enough to draw peoples’ eyes to table. If you have a simple cake, you can talk with your florist and they can decorate the cake with fresh flowers, even edible flowers. Scatter some flower petals around the base of the cake, or have smaller desserts like petit fours or pastries on either side.

Where will be the best place to position a cake so that it gets this much deserved attention? Near the bride and groom’s table, of course! Have the table set slightly off to the side so guests never have to take their eyes of you or your cake!

Unique Wedding Cake Toppers For A Unique Wedding Cake

While many couples today will choose a traditional wedding, often following in the footsteps of their parents and grandparents, a growing number of couples are electing to depart from tradition and frequently adopting less formal and more “fun” weddings.

Whichever route you choose however one thing that you are sure to want is at least something in your wedding that sets it apart and that will make it truly memorable for your guests. In many cases you’ll find that this is not an easy thing to accomplish in terms of the civil or religious ceremony itself, but your wedding reception and, in particular your wedding cake, will provide the perfect vehicle.

Many couples are already moving away from the traditional white wedding cake and opting for cakes of various flavors, colors and shapes although, in most cases, cakes continue to be tiered to provide the height that is really essential if the cake is to command the centre of attention as far as the reception decorations are concerned. But why have just one cake?

How about individual miniature cakes which will not only impress your guests in terms of the imagination and work that went into making them, but will also make them feel that extra bit special at the thought that you had a cake specially made for them. This option has the added virtue of allowing you to offer a range of different flavors if you wish to provide for the variety of tastes amongst your guests and miniature cakes can still be arranged on stands into a tier to emulate the classical tiered wedding cake.

If you’re feeling really bold, how about dispensing with cake altogether. We’re all familiar with the elaborate displays that we see in the stores, especially around the holidays, with towers of chocolate chips cookies or gingerbread men and, while gingerbread men might not be quite appropriate, with a little imagination it’s not too hard to think of a variety of sweet treats that would make a stunning display at your wedding.

And why stop there? Once you’ve created your spire of eye catching desserts why not mix in other sweets or even fruit and provide your guests with a variety of dipping bowls alongside the display so that they can coat their chosen sweet of piece of fruit in bitter dark, smooth milk or even white chocolate for that perfect after dinner treat.

These ideas in themselves can provide you with a memorable and quite unique “wedding cake” but, for that final touch how about a unique wedding cake topper?

Toppers come in all shapes and sized these days and are not only designed to crown your cake but also to give you the opportunity to make a very personal statement and to provide a talking point for your guests. There is a huge range of wedding cake toppers available today in just about every price range, from mass produced plastic toppers to exquisite and unique wedding cake toppers that can be hand crafted from a range of materials including crystal and semi-precious stones. What better way can there be to express your love for each other and to display that love to your assembled guests than by symbolizing that love in a unique wedding cake topper.

The Secrets to Wedding Cake Recipes You Can Make

Every girl dreams of her big day. From the dress to the ceremony to the reception… every bride wants the wedding day to be extra special.

I was recently helping out in a beginner’s cake decorating class. Two of the students are young ladies, one recently married and one engaged. While they are practicing how to pipe the frosting, I heard them talking about how easy it is to decorate a cake. They were enjoying their evening together, joking back and forth. The bride-to-be jokingly finally remarked that the whole “wedding cake bought at a bakery” thing was a big scam. This was easy!

Well, it’s certainly not a scam. Bakeries can and do produce some beautiful cakes. BUT if you’re willing to learn a bit about baking and have the desire to make your own cake, it is certainly something you should consider. It is a great way to personalize your wedding day and it should prove to be a great way to stretch your wedding budget.

There are many alternatives available when it comes to making your own wedding cake. One of the more popular Wedding Cake Trends is to serve wedding cupcakes. You can easily make your own cupcakes and freeze them as you go. And talk about easy to transport! A number of cupcakes placed on an attractive cake plate can even double as your centerpiece!

If you’re looking for a more traditional cake, making a layer cake is not beyond the grasp of a home baker. In fact, it is something you should really consider. If you look at some of the cakes you can order, you will find that many just involve a great wedding cake recipe and attractive icing methods. Finding a great recipe is fun and easy. And learning to ice a cake is not nearly as tough as you would think. It just requires the right tools and a proper technique – both of which you can easily learn.

Tips on Decorating Your Own Wedding Cake

Cakes can be very expensive, particularly if you pay somebody to make it for you. If you want to save some money, then one option is to make the cake yourself. Decorating your own wedding cake will save you quite a lot of money and also allow you to be much more creative. You can try pretty much whatever you want on your own cake, whereas it might be very difficult to explain to someone you don’t know exactly what needs to be done. Wedding cake decorating is considered as a very difficult and specialist job which few people should attempt, however most people are more than capable of decorating their own wedding cake.

Don’t get Carried Away!

You shouldn’t try to attempt too much otherwise you might end up becoming unstuck. Think about what you are capable doing and stick with that. If you’re not sure whether you could do everything then get a professional in to help you. The look of your wedding cake will not make it taste more sweet or different in anyway, it just changes the appearance. You could have a fairly simple cake, simple things are often very elegant.

Most people would be better off by buying a cake from their local cake shop and then doing the cake decorating by yourself. This means you don’t have to worry about making a nice round cake, you just have to decorate it however you like. If you baked and decorated your cake you could end up with a strange shaped cake! You will find many different types of frosting are available these make it much easier for you to decorate cakes and make them elegant while using cheap items.

You can even get replicas of your engagement rings for decoration.

When you are deciding how to decorate your cake it is important to have all of the necessary tools for the job. You need piping bags in different sizes, angled spatulas, and turn tables. You must also make sure you have enough time available to decorate your cake. It’s no good setting aside ten minutes to decorate your wedding cake, this is nowhere near long enough. Wedding cake design can be very time consuming.

It’s essential that you have enough time in order to do your cake decoration otherwise you could end up rushing the job and ending up with something that looks like it’s been run over! You don’t want to be stressed when decorating your cake, you want to have fun and let the creativity flow naturally! If possible it’s a good idea to have a trial decorating practice so that you know exactly what you are supposed to be doing, you don’t want to waste expensive cakes for the actual day!

Tips on Ordering Wedding Cakes

The wedding cake is one of the most important parts of the reception. It will occupy a place of prominence, and you want your cake to be fabulous. These are some tips on how to work with a baker and order a fantastic cake for your wedding.

The typical time frame for ordering a wedding cake is three to six months before the wedding. If you are considering hiring a celebrity baker in a big city, plan on extending that lead time to a year or more. To book the baker, you will be required to give them a deposit ranging from 25% to 50% of the total estimated price of the cake. Of course, first you have to figure out which baker to use and what type you would like to have!

The best possible way to find a baker is through references. If you know any newlyweds, ask them who they used, and if they were pleased. You can also seek references from the other wedding vendors that you have already chosen. Venues that do not have an in-house baker will be happy to give you a referral, as will your florist, your bridal shop, and even the photographer. These people will know who is considered to be the best in the area, as well as who may have left a bride feeling disappointed.

Once you have narrowed it down to a few bakers, it is time to take a look at their portfolio of work, either online or in their shop. This will give you a good idea if their talents match up well with your vision of the perfect cake. For example, if you want a stacked rectangular fondant cake with a modern edge to it, you would probably be wise to eliminate the baker who specializes in traditional buttercream cakes with pillars.

At this point, you will be ready to meet with one or two bakers to discuss style, price, flavors, and of course, whether they are available on your wedding date. The price of your wedding cake will be based on the flavor, how elaborate it is, and how many people it needs to serve. The cost of a cake is presented as a price per person, often ranging from around $3 per person and up (sometimes way up!). A good way to lower your cake cost is to have a smaller decorative cake to display at the reception, and a sheet cake in the same flavor that can be sliced up in the kitchen and brought out on plates.

As for the design itself, there are many great places from which you can take your inspiration. Some brides like to replicate the cake that their mother or grandmother had for their wedding. Others may love the look of a cake bedecked with fresh or sugar flowers. You can also have a cake created based on one of your hobbies or shared passions.

One of the most popular ideas in wedding cake design is to have a cake made based on your wedding gown or bridal jewelry. The idea is to pull a favorite detail from the bridal gown or the wedding jewelry and replicate on the cake. For instance, if your gown is accented by a beautiful lace, your baker could reproduce the pattern in frosting on the cake. Brides who are wearing crystal bridal jewelry often like to bring that same sparkle to the cake in the form of a crystal monogram cake topper.

After you have nailed down the taste, design, and price of your wedding cake, all that is left is to wait for its unveiling on the big day. A great looking cake will be a wonderful focal point at your reception. And don’t forget about the old custom of saving the top tier of your wedding cake for your first anniversary.

Find Customized Wedding Cake Toppers!

Adding a wedding topper to your cake is like putting on a diamond necklace or a jewel encrusted tiara on your head. It is the last detail that makes all the difference. Placing a custom made wedding cake topper on your cake will make it personal and individual.

To order a custom wedding cake topper you need to know what it is that you want. You may have an idea in mind already and can search that way, or Google custom wedding cake toppers and see what ideas pop up. If you are having a themed wedding, western, or tropical, have a topper made that will reflect that feeling. Perhaps you are having a truly unique wedding in a castle on Halloween weekend, you can your groom can be made to look like a little witch and wizard, or a wedding close to Thanksgiving could have a topper of a small man and woman dressed as pilgrims. Little versions of you and your spouse can be made wearing western wear or grass skirts. The figures may not look exactly like you, but will be similar enough that your guests will know they were made just for your wedding. It may be that there is a certain artist who you would like to feature on your cake. Your topper doesn’t have to be of a bride and groom at all.

Order them early, custom doesn’t always guarantee perfect, especially if you are ordering over the Internet and will not see the topper until it is done. Wherever or from whomever you purchase this custom cake topper, find out about return policies or if satisfaction is guaranteed. They could be clay, ceramic, pottery, wood, or etched crystal toppers. They can be people, your initials, a symbol, or crest to represent you and your groom. Whatever they are, they are customized to fill your needs.