Your cake design should be collaborated between you and the person you’ve assigned to make your cake. You will need to consider the setting, the flavors you like, the meal you’re serving, and the cost. Typically, cakes are priced by the slice.
Your cake should look as if it belongs in its environment, but it’s not just an artistic choice. Your wedding cake will likely sit on display for hours before it is actually served, and buttercream frosting, whipped, mousse, and custard are too delicate to withstand heat for any length of time, so you wouldn’t want them featured in an outdoor wedding in the summer.
Cake Construction
Layer cakes are structures involving tiers. The tiers are separated by pillars or flowers. Stacked tiers appear to sit on top of one another. The latter are kept from falling into each other by using either separating plates or dowel rods and cake plates. Ask yourself what kind of shape you’re going for. Alternating shapes of the different tiers can also give a cake a modern edge.
Flavors and Fillings
This is your cake so you should choose the flavors and fillings that you love and want. However, if your taste runs on the exotic side it would be thoughtful to alternate between tiers of some crowd favorites. You will also need to consider the menu you are serving your guests before deciding on your cake. Ask yourself what type of cake you will want to finish the meal off with.
Icing
You can’t choose icing by taste alone. Icing can be unstable and delicate so climate may trump taste. Here’s what you need to know about icing options:
Marzipan: Made of hardened almond paste and sugar, this is traditionally used to make realistic edible cake toppings, from flowers to bride and groom figurines. It can also be rolled and used as icing.
Royal icing: Egg whites and confectioners’ sugar whisked together into a sugary paste that hardens as it sets, royal icing is mainly used as a sculptural element. It’s crunchy and sugary and likely to appear in decorative touches like polka dots, small flowers, or piping.
Buttercream: This concoction is a blend of butter, cream, sugar, and vanilla, chocolate, or other flavoring. The simplest and the best it can be spread smoothly or in peaks and valleys for a more vintage charming look. But a buttercream cake can’t stand for too long before the icing starts to run off into a puddle.
Fondant: This very smooth icing gives a clean finish. It’s well suited to cakes with a tailored look. It’s very sweet, and most people don’t consider it as tasty as buttercream, but it holds up much better at an outdoor wedding or anywhere warm.
