Deliciously Plain or Suspiciously Fancy?

How to Have Your Cake

By Elizabeth Austin

What makes a great wedding cake? How does a bride get one? And how much decoration is... too much? We asked. The bakers answered.

There is one intensely personal question every bride must decide for herself: Should her wedding cake be a decoration, or a dessert?
Some purists believe there's only one proper answer. "It's not your wedding ottoman, it's your wedding cake," says Julius Walls Jr., CEO of Greyston Bakery in Yonkers, N.Y. On the other hand, a bride whose entire family is adhering to the Atkins diet might well ask for a multi-tiered confection of artfully frosted Styrofoam, putting the money saved toward bacon-wrapped beef filets.

Whatever your preference, it's important to make sure you and your bakery are on the same wavelength. Otherwise, you could end up with a very expensive disappointment on the cake table at your reception. To avoid wishing you could shove that first ceremonial slice straight down your baker's throat, here are some tips to help you choose the wedding cake maker who's right for you.

Tastes Great, Less Thrilling

If you believe a wedding cake's taste should be clearly distinct from that of, say, hardened toothpaste, you're not alone, says Margaret Lastick of Royale Icing in Oak Park, Ill., who has made cakes for Oprah Winfrey, Elton John, and years' worth of persnickety brides. "The quality of cakes has risen dramatically," Lastick says. "I used to be the only person who made cakes from recognizable ingredients. Just in the last five years, I have some competition."

The sagging economy has fed the trend toward good-tasting wedding cakes, Lastick believes. Instead of offering wedding guests a dazzling array of (costly) desserts on a sweets table, many couples now rely on cake alone to provide a festive and delicious end to the wedding banquet.

It can be difficult for a bride with a sensitive palate to make sure her baker understands the taste difference between true buttercream and frosting made from Crisco (a favorite of some pragmatic bakers because it doesn't melt as quickly as butter.) If the baker doesn't specify 'buttercream,' I'd start asking questions," Lastick says. "Buttercream is buttercream," Walls concurs. "There is no substitute."

Similarly, Walls recommends that chocoholic brides ask some very specific questions before ordering a chocolate cake or frosting. "We use real chocolate," he stresses "which tastes far better than 'chocolate flavoring.' "

Some bakers, Walls included, recommend that foodie brides avoid fondant-covered cakes. Fondant is a thick icing made primarily from sugar that is usually cooked, kneaded into a thick hunk, and then rolled out like Play-Doh into soft, matte sheets that can be draped over a cake to create an elegant, alabaster effect. While Greyston Bakery's website warns: "We do not recommend frostings such as rolled fondant, that appear elegant but taste artificial and overly sweet," Lastick begs to differ. She makes her own fondant from scratch, and insists its taste is a revelation to consumers who have tasted only the commercially produced varieties.

Food purist brides can also insist on edible decorations, such as highly realistic roses pulled into shape from hot sugar or sculpted from gum paste -- powdered sugar mixed into a gummy edible base. (Flavoring agents, such as rosewater, can be used to make the sugary taste less cloying.) However, Walls believes that the tastiest cake decorations are those made strictly from buttercream.

You can scrimp on cost without sacrificing quality by combining a ceremonial decorated cake with sheet cakes, Lastick says. A wedding cake from Lastick's bakery costs $4 to $15 a slice, while a sheet cake made from the same ingredients costs $3 a slice. Thrifty brides can make that dramatic first cut into a small fancy cake, then bring out plates of equally tasty but far less expensive slices. Just make sure the kitchen staff doesn't cut the cake hours before serving, turning those carefully planned layers of cake, mousse and fruit into stale cubes of sweetened cardboard.

If a bride is serious about her cake's flavor, she should look for clues that her baker is equally serious, Walls says. "When we meet with a bride, we call it a tasting," he says. "Others meet with a bride and review the decorations, but we're emphasizing the taste of the cake."

Once you've selected your baker, Lastick recommends doing spot-checks to make sure the quality is consistent. Those mouthwatering test slices will do you no good if the master baker who created them strays to a rival shop before your wedding day. "You generally order a wedding cake four to six months in advance," Lastick points out. "So buy your birthday cakes there."

It's the Icing, Not the Slicing

Don't be ashamed if, after some soul-searching, you decide that you're more concerned about the cake's appearance than its taste. While cake is a traditional part of the wedding festivities, some brides and grooms just don't like it. "Maybe she's a fanatic about baked Alaska" Lastick comments.
Whatever your motives, if you're fanatic about the way your cake looks, you'll need to find a baker who is equally obsessive. That search begins with the shop window, says Colette Peters, owner of Colette's Cakes in New York City. "If you go to a place and they show you a portfolio of all these fabulous cakes but the cakes in the window are hideous, that's a good tip-off," Peters says. "I know of people who use pictures of my cakes in their portfolios."

Peters, whose stunningly elaborate designs are featured in her book, Colette's Wedding Cakes, (Little, Brown and Co., 1997), says it can be dangerous to choose a difficult wedding cake design from a photograph. "They'll say, 'Oh, yeah, we can do it,' and then when you get the cake it looks nothing like what you wanted."

For starters, Peters warns against bakers who claim they can mimic a fondant-covered cake with their astonishingly smooth buttercream frosting. "Don't use them -- it's going to look like buttercream," she says. Similarly, don't believe a baker who says she can make buttercream roses look just like the gum paste blossoms in your picture. "You can get a nice look, but it won't be the same," Peters says. "You can't get the detail with buttercream." (Brides who love the silky taste of buttercream may have to bite the fondant bullet if they're planning outdoor receptions. "If it's hot, it's going to melt," Peters says flatly.)

If you're worried about your baker's ability to translate a cake photograph into elegant, snowy reality, ask to sneak a peek at another bride's cake. Better yet, Lastick says, ask the baker to make a small mock-up of your own cake, complete with a sampling of all the decorations.
Don't rely on mere words to convey the colors you want on your cake. If you want the sugar flowers to match your bridesmaids' dresses, bring in a fabric swatch -- and ask to see a frosting sample well before your wedding. "People will say they want the flowers to be lilac-colored," Lastick says, "but what's lilac to that person's eyes could be purple to me."

"Give them as much specific stuff as you can," Peters agrees. "Don't just say lace, give them a lace pattern, and ask them to do a little tiny sample. That's not asking too much."

Most good-hearted bakers will do whatever they can to fulfill a bride's wishes, but it's a big mistake to ask someone to attempt a completely new design or technique for your cake. For example, while "Mad Hatter" cakes with brightly colored, lopsided layers are popular in magazine pages and high-end bakeries, Lastick warns that they're probably too tricky for novices.

The End

The ultimate cake, of course, is one that makes your guests gasp twice -- once when they see it wheeled in, and again when they take that first bite. Ultimately, Walls says, "We believe people should eat their cake." The true test of his bakery's cakes, Walls says, comes after it's cut and set on plates. "People start to dance and mingle and ignore it, assuming it's bad cake." But once a few brave souls try that first bite, brides report, "They start to call each other back to the table."