If you’re looking for a cutting-edge cake, ultra-outré design
or—if cake isn’t your thing—a delicious dessert alternative,
we have a few ideas that are certain to get your cake into the
wedding hall of fame.
FLAVOR FAVES
“It’s all about pairing florals with fruit when it comes
to trendy flavors,” says Jillian Hopke, owner of
Jillycakes in Orlando.
Ever since Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, now the Duke
and Duchess of Sussex, featured an elderflower and lemon
cake at their nuptials last year, fruits and florals for fillings and
cake flavors have been all the rage. Hopke says lavender, rose
and jasmine are other popular floral flavors, either infused
into the cake or added as essences to frosting.
IT’S WHAT’S OUTSIDE THAT COUNTS
Of course it’s going to taste good—it’s cake! But visually
stunning is the name of the game, especially in the age
of Insta. Hopke says watercolors, drip-icing, metallics
and pearlizing is ultra-popular these days.
“Pearlizing cakes with an airbrush is a way to get a metallic
sheen without going straight for glitter,” she says. Not that
there’s anything wrong with that.
Hopke also gets a lot of requests for either over-the-top
themed cakes, like the cake she designed for a couple whose
favorite film was Disney’s “UP,” or adding elements of pop
culture to more traditionally styled tiered cakes. “It’s not
abnormal for me to design a cake decorated with both sugarpaste
roses and a Star Wars X-Wing ship.”
CRAZY CONSTRUCTION
The days of off-kilter, Mad Hatter-style cakes are over,
and many couples are returning to the center-stacked,
traditional look and going trendy with their decorations
and flavors instead.
Another trend in cake construction: deconstruction. “Many
couples are choosing to have multiple, different-sized cakes
on separate pedestals,” says Hopke. This is another trend
made popular by the newest Royals, whose sweet featured
multiple unstacked cakes instead of a Tower of London.
CAKE-AVERSE? NO PROB.
It’s nothing new to not serve cake at your wedding. The
trend has been around since earlier this decade, and even
celebs have jumped on the bandwagon.
In her 2014 wedding to William Tell, The Hills’ Lauren
Conrad had a small, two-tier cake for themselves to cut, and
then served the rest of their guests apple pie (because William
Tell, get it?). Costco is known for their delicious and budgetfriendly
sheet cakes, but in February, they made headlines
when they unveiled a $439 wedding “cake” made from 24
pounds of artisan cheese wheels, including Red Leicester,
Danish Blue, Drunken Goat, Tuscan sheep cheese and White
Angelique triple-crème brie. The cheese serves up to 150
people.
Other options: Donut “walls,” cake pops, French cream
puffs stacked into a traditional croquembouche, and the
ever-elegant macaron. A recent Wedding Bells feature in
Watermark showcased Tampa couple Nicholas Relyea and
Harry Myers, who instead of a cake, opted for a seven-tier
champagne fountain!
ABOVE:
POP
CULTURE
CAKE
Jillycakes combined
the couple’s love
of Beauty and the
Beast and Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles
to make this animated
masterpiece.
PHOTO COURTESY
JILLYCAKES
ABOVE:
CAKE ON
THE GO
A traditional and notso
traditional cake can
easily be paired up
to create an amazing
design that will have
your guests talking.
PHOTO COURTESY
JILLYCAKES
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