Tasty, On-Trend Wedding Cake Ideas

A recent trend in the US that works for rustic weddings and is creating it's own tradition is skipping the frosting all together. Naked cakes are the new biggest trend in wedding cake design. This is when the edges of the cake are exposed, and the entire wedding cake is basically naked (without frosting or fondant).

Wedding Cake Folklore

Let's step back in time to find the origins of wedding cake traditions.

In ancient Rome, marriages were sealed when the groom smashed a barleycake over the bride's head. The groom would break the scone-like cake over the bride's head believing that this act ensured a life of good fortune and fertility. Instead of receiving plated slices, guests scrambled for crumbs, hoping to taste prosperity for themselves.

When Emperor Claudius invaded Britain in 43 AD, his battalions brought the tradition with him. This was combined with a pagan ritual that expressed fertility via grain seeds and bread with guests (gently?) tossing bread at the bride to improve the likelihood of healthy offspring.

In medieval England, sweet baked goods like buns, biscuits and scones, were piled high and presented to newlyweds. English folklore held that if the couple could kiss over the buns without tipping the mound, they would enjoy a lifetime of happiness.

Obviously times changed, and in the 16th century, a bride’s pie was served. Different from the modern sweet wedding cake, bride pie is savory with a pastry crust and filled an assortment of sweet meats, dried fruit and pine kernels. 

Back to how a cake or pie was made: using the highest quality ingredients available was meant to ensure a long and happy life together so a beautiful and tasty wedding cake was an investment in your future.

The cutting of the cake represents the first activity done as a couple (although historically the bride did this act alone to symbolize the loss of her virginity). The second act of the traditional cake cutting ceremony is when the bride and groom feed each other a small bite of cake. This symbolizes a commitment to provide for one another and a show of love and affection.

Cake toppers were first introduced in the 20th century. The story goes that it was first used when the daughter of a baker was getting married. She asked her dad to create a symbol of her love that everyone could see. Adding a cake topper became popular in America in the 1950s and is a longstanding trend offering infinite ways to personalize your cake. 

Wedding Cake FlAvors

Vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream is a classic for a reason and we think it will always rule as the most popular wedding cake flavor. As a richer alternative to vanilla, chocolate cake also reigns supreme at weddings. The indulgent dessert is often complemented with buttercream, caramel, or raspberry. Variations of chocolate cake, including white choc, dark chocolate, and German chocolate, also share the spotlight.

Most bakers offer gluten-free cake options and a surprising number can create a vegan cake if requested. All these suggested flavors work great with any dietary restrictions and are guaranteed crowd pleasers. 

Do you want to round out your celebration with a boozy cake - ask you baker to add rum flavoring for a Caribbean twist or accent the main flavors with amaretto or bourbon. There are lots of options for a rich cake flavor that do or do not use liquor - flavoring options can often give a stronger taste and only the appearance of a spirits so an alcohol flavored cake is often actually alcohol free.. 

For a more unusual flavor, go with citrus like lime and kumquat, or flowers like rose or elderflower. Chai spices are another great option and espresso is increasingly popular. We love espresso with walnut! We're increasingly seeing fruit decoration and vegetables incorporated into cakes too. Adding beetroot to chocolate cake creates a moist masterpiece and a classic carrot and raison cake is always a crowd pleaser. 

Try coconut and guava or vanilla cream with mango for delicious, fresh flavors and incorporate fruit colors into your décor. Alternatively berries add zing to a cake and we love adding blueberries into the cake rather than using them just as part of the decoration. In fact a marble cake that blends two flavors with different colored batter always attracts wows from the crowd!

Not sure which flavor to choose? Pick multiple. You can go with different flavor tiers or we've even seen half tiers where a baker placed different flavors alongside each other to make a whole. The other option for lots of flavors is cupcakes which can be arranged on a tiered cake stand with one giant cupcake for you to slice. 

Wedding Cake Shapes

As you'd expect, these have evolved over time so, going back to the bride pie, let's look at the history of wedding cake form and shape.

"A ring was traditionally placed in the pie, and the lady who found it would be the next to marry. ... In the seventeenth century bride pie developed into bride cake, the predecessor of the modern wedding cake. Fruited cakes, as symbols of fertility and prosperity, gradually became the centerpieces for weddings. A much less costly bride cake took the simpler form of two large rounds of shortcrust pastry sandwiched together with currants and sprinkled with sugar on the top."

 -- from Carol Wilson, Gastronomica

Maybe surprisingly, we see wedding pies making a comeback with a selection of individual or sliced pies often provided as dessert or late night snack. but nowadays a round cake with two or three tiers is standard wedding fare. 

Square, petal and hexagonal cakes make an appearance now and then. We also see sculpted wedding cakes which create a huge wow-factor.  A newer look is a staircase tier which, rather than centering tiers, aligns them to one side. This can be simple and dramatic or allow more space for décor. 

                            Whatever cake style and flavor you choose, we're sure you'll enjoy every bite!