Fruitcake, Framboise-flavoured cake, Genoise, chocolate mousse cakes…the list of wedding cake is endless. It can therefore be quite tough for the couple to decide which cake they want to settle for. In fact, since Prince William was unable to make his mind up, he ended up requesting two cakes for his own wedding. But then again, not all of us belong to the British Monarchy with millions to spend on our special day.
Therefore, since most of us will only have one wedding cake, it’s quite important invest the proper time and effort in selecting the perfect masterpiece. After all, your wedding cake isn’t just any other cake: it’s the one edible objet that will most certainly set off the whole mood and theme of the reception. Besides, selecting a wedding cake is so much more than going to cake tastings. There are quite a lot of important decisions to be made, from the number of tiers to the cake stand, toppers, table, setting and decorations among others. However, all these decisions will ultimately rest on the type of wedding cake that you’re going to go for.
Thankfully, the market is oozing with a wide variety of wedding cakes for you to choose from, the most popular type being the British fruitcake. Present in just about any English wedding, the wedding fruitcake has a rich, thick batter with delicious pieces of dried or fresh fruit that invade the palate with every bite. This wedding cake very often features a thick white royal icing but modern couples often go for red and white, pink, yellow, brown or even white and black icing.
Since the fruitcake is on the heavier side, more and more couples are embracing lighter and more delicate, albeit, complex flavours. Light Genoise is quite a common choice these days and such cakes are usually separated into various tiers with each tier bearing a different flavour. This way, the couple can, for instance, select chocolate for the first tier, vanilla for the second, peach mousse for the third and so forth. The traditional Royal Icing is also gradually being replaced by fondant or ganache frosting. However, Royal Icing is still being used to create those beautiful flowers, birds and other such intricate decorations that are commonly used to embellish wedding cakes.
Couples who want to step out of the crowd and go for something more original may even go for an arrangement of dainty cupcakes stacked on top of each other. In fact, most French weddings completely omit the wedding cake and instead go for the traditional Croquembouche which basically consists of choux pastry balls bound together with woven caramel and burnt sugar. Highly classy and elegant, this typically French dessert can be enhanced by adding some sugared violets here and there or by wrapping a thick, gleaming ribbon of semi-soft caramel around the entire arrangement.
Of course, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t defy tradition and go for the type of wedding cake which will reflect your personality. For example, if the couple is into Goth culture, they can always go for a Gothic wedding cake crafted in white, red and black or simply red and black.
