Articles of Local Interest

For obvious reasons, cake shopping is one of the more pleasant parts of planning a wedding, but—pardon the pun—it’s no cakewalk if you don’t have a basic understanding of the terms on the menus. Here, we provide an overview of cake basics along with some recommended questions to ask cake decorators before you commit. Equipped with a fundamental understanding of cake lingo, you can more easily narrow down your choices from the exhaustive menus and experience a more productive tasting. Remember: don’t go for tastings on an empty stomach, but do go with your fiancé and one other person—not four or eight other people—whose opinion you trust!

ON THE OUTSIDE…

Fondant
Also known as sugarpaste, fondant is made of sugar, water, and cream of tartar, which are cooked and then cooled into a pliable material. The cake designer might prepare the fondant from scratch or buy it ready-made as rolled fondant. Fondant has a reputation for tasting a bit bland, but many brides choose it because it looks so flawless when draped and smoothed over an iced or glazed cake. Food flavoring can be used by the cake designer to improve the fondant’s taste appeal, but nothing can be done about the gummy texture of the stuff. Some types of fondant can be refrigerated for up to three months, but most cannot be refrigerated at all without becoming much more gummy. Fondant is also difficult to cut and typically costs more than traditional buttercream frosting. Its primary appeal is not its taste but its silky appearance.

Buttercream
The ever-popular buttercream, at its most basic, is a beaten mixture of butter and icing sugar. Some bakers also add egg yolks and milk or light cream, but if the cake will be outside or without refrigeration for any length of time, the designer will forgo such spoilables. Buttercream is a light, creamy icing that is easy to flavor and color and that can be used as a filling, as well. If you like the flawless look of fondant but just aren’t willing to sacrifice the good taste of buttercream, never fear: a good cake designer can make a buttercream cake look nearly as smooth as one draped in fondant. Make sure any cake designer who tries to sell you on his or her ability to manage this feat can actually back it up with photographs and/or samples in the shop.

Royal Icing
Royal icing is a mixture of egg whites and icing sugar that is spread over cakes first covered in marzipan or fondant. When royal icing dries, it is quite hard and crumbly, so it is used more often to create durable decorations and ornamental writing and less often as a complete-cake covering.

Marzipan
Marzipan is a smooth material similar to fondant but less pliable and sweeter. It is made from almond paste (or ground almonds), icing sugar, and egg whites. Marzipan can be colored with food dye and molded like clay to form all manner of decorations, such as realistic-looking fruit, flowers, or ribbons and bows. Marzipan can also be rolled thin and used to cover cakes, after which it would then be covered with either royal icing or sugarpaste. Most often, however, it is used for decorations rather than as icing.

Ganache
Chocolate lovers, here’s your poison. Ganache is a rich icing made from chocolate and cream. The mixture is heated, cooled until it’s lukewarm, and then poured over a cake. Simple as that.

A Note about Fresh Flowers
Fresh flowers are sometimes less costly than those molded from marzipan or gum paste. If you choose to have your cake embellished with real flowers, work with a professional florist or cake designer in choosing the blooms, because some varieties of flowers are toxic. Your florist will need information about your cake’s measurements and design in order to scale the arrangements. Be sure that the florist and cake designer coordinate their arrival times so that they can work together to create the best possible presentation.

ON THE INSIDE…

Fruit Cake
Fruit cakes were once a wedding staple, popular mostly because they “keep” for a long time and because they are quite dense and sturdy, making them ideal for tiered creations, which are mounted on dowels and pillars. The fruit part of fruit cakes is typically dried fruit or citrus zest. But let’s face facts: these cakes now have a bad reputation as the Christmas gift nobody wants to receive, and they are hardly ever served at weddings anymore. (When’s the last time you bit into a slice of wedding cake and got a mouthful of dried apricots?)

Madeira Cake
Something like a simple pound cake, the Madeira cake is a yellow cake that is quite dense. More traditional bakers sprinkle the cake with candied lemon peel as it’s baking or with Madeira liquor as it’s cooling.

Sponge Cake
Not all sponge cakes are created equal, but most can be described as very light and airy. The batter for your basic sponge cake is quite simple: flour, eggs, sugar, and sometimes butter. Your average sponge cake does not store particularly well. If you choose a sponge cake, be sure to find out from your cake designer how long it will keep.

Butter Cake
For most the part, butter cake is the standard American cake that is found under most frostings on most cakes at most celebrations. It has a firm, moist texture that makes it dense and ideal for tiered designs. It is often compared with pound cake but has a leavening agent that makes it a little lighter and airier. Butter cake can be flavored in a variety of ways. Some types of specialty butter cake include Red Velvet and German chocolate cake.

Tres Leches Cake
Tres leches (three milks) cake is especially moist and light. Made with milk, half-and-half, and cream, tres leches cakes are uncommon for weddings, a rarity attributable to the fact that the only place in San Antonio that makes these cakes for weddings is Bulverde Bakery.

Other Cakes
From carrot cake to coconut cake to cheesecake, you will find all sorts of specialty items on your hunt for the perfect dessert. If you have a certain type of cake in mind that you don’t see on a cake decorator’s list of offerings, find out if the decorator would be willing and able to accommodate a special order for you.

A Note about “Dummy” Tiers…
A tier is a completely iced and filled entity that can be stacked or stand alone (while layers are what make up a single tier). A “dummy” tier is a tier of non-edible material, such as Styrofoam, that has been iced and decorated. If you like a particular cake design but think it would result in too much cake for the number of guests at your wedding, a dummy tier is a great and extremely economical way to have your cake and eat it, too!

IN BETWEEN…

When it comes to fillings, almost anything goes. From fruit preserves to peanut butter to mousses flavored with liqueur or nuts, you will encounter a slew of offerings for between-the-layers oomph. Let your cake designer be your guide, as he or she should know which fillings go best with which cakes and icings, but don’t make any commitments without your own taste buds’ approval. If you have a good idea for a filling but don’t see the item on the list of offerings, run it by the cake decorator and see whether he or she can accommodate you.

GROOM’S CAKES…

Tradition in ancient Rome held that the wedding cake was to be crumbled over the bride’s head so that the gods would bless her with abundance. Called “crowning the bride,” this tradition eventually spread to other parts of the world, lasted for hundreds of years, and then fizzled out, replaced by the tradition of throwing confetti, dried flowers, or rice onto the wedding couple. Groom’s cakes evolved from this tradition—one cake to crumble, and one cake to eat. They are not a must, but they can help a couple to please more taste buds among their wedding guests. Groom’s cakes are typically smaller than the centerpiece wedding cakes and are oftentimes more whimsical in design. One couple featured in San Antonio Weddings last year served a groom’s cake designed to look like a computer screen. Another couple flouted tradition altogether, opting for a pyramid of sinfully sticky doughnuts topped with a Marge and Homer Simpson “cake topper.”

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CAKE DESIGNER…

1. How will the cake be transported the cake to the reception? Will it be refrigerated en route?
2. Who does the cutting?
3. What equipment do you provide (e.g., cake stand, serving ware, fountains, plateaus, toppers, etc.)? Which of these items must be returned and do you require deposits on any of them?
4. If I want to have fresh flowers on my cake, will you work with the florist of my choice? What information do you need from/about my florist?
5. If my reception will be outdoors, what are some of the things I need to consider in choosing a cake?
6. How long can I expect this cake to keep in the refrigerator? In the freezer?
7. I don’t want to top the cake with a traditional plastic cake-topper. What other options can you suggest/provide?
8. If my guest list is small but I want a multi-tiered cake, will you ice and decorate a “dummy” tier and at what cost?
9. What deposits do you require and when? When is full payment due? (Most decorators require full payment prior to the wedding.)
10. What happens if my cake is damaged during transport?

Grateful acknowledgement to Michelle Brittain of Seventh Heaven Cakes in San Antonio for consulting on this article.