Other Raves: Patisserie Parmentier Eame Recognized in The Knot Best of Wedding Magazine

Frosted Focus: Wedding Cake Holds Center Stage
By George Cranford

Cake photographs often fill two pages of a wedding album, and much of the reception is centered around cake-related activities. The cake is generally the first thing guests comment on when entering the room. Each tiny detail is scrutinized, and the decorations and colors provoke discussion and amazement.

If this goal is to be achieved, simply "looking good" may not be enough. A cake should also be a scintillating piece of miniature architecture designed to express the sentiment a couple has for their wedding.

If you're having a huge turn-out, the central cake can still be of average size. Identical back-ups of sheet, torted or solid cakes of each flavor can be held in reserve. These can be cut and served to guests as the main cake is depleted. And back-up cakes don't have to be extravagantly decorated.

But the main cake must have structure and appearance. If you're having a traditional wedding with no central theme, you'll need to decide on shape, decorations and colors. If there's a theme, country & western for example, that affects the style.

But cakes generally come in stacked or raised tiered varieties. Stacked cakes feature one layer on top of another, while raised tiers use columns or other risers to separate layers.

Solid cakes have icing between the layers, while torted cakes separate their layers with fruit fillings or other confections. Cakes can have different constructions. They can be combinations of stacked and raised tiers, and each layer does not have to be the same flavor. Also, no cake has to have the same filling or icing between layers. These can be mixed and matched to suit a range of flavor preferences.

Cakes also can be low or tall. Multiple platforms and risers give cakes a three-dimensional appearance, and heights can be staggered. Shapes can be round, oblong, square, rectangular, triangular or any shape a skilled baker can contrive.

"Brides want different looks in their wedding cakes today," said John Parmentier, owner of Patisserie Parmentier in Novi, Mich. "They're getting away from the traditional. I can make cakes that look like stacked gift packages or hat boxes. Wedding cakes aren't just the 'up-and-down buttercream styles' any more."

Parmentier said he decorates cakes in very bright colors and some "washed-out jewel tones." He makes edible bows and flowers to brighten a cake's personality, and he uses white chocolate mousse and fresh fruit varieties for fillings. He said many brides are returning to rolled fondant icing to give their cakes an elegant, porcelain appearance.

Rolled fondant is made from confectionery sugar, gelatin and water. The icing is rolled flat and wrapped over the cake as opposed to being spread. It has a smooth, glossy finish; and the texture is suitable for intricate, detailed decorating. Rolled fondant is the most expensive of the cake coverings, and it's highly sensitive to heat.

Conventional buttercream icing is made from confectionery sugar, butter and milk. It is spread over the cake and can be textured. Some brides even choose a chocolate ganache icing for their cake. That's made from chocolate and heavy cream, and it has a thick texture. Royal icing is an egg-white and sugar mixture that is colored and formed into hard decorations or flowers. Marzipan, made from egg-white, sugar and almond paste, is also used for sculpting.

"I use some fresh flowers and gum-paste bows on cakes," Parmentier said. "Cakes today are more simple - lace patterns and pin-dots are popular, and I am doing some braided borders with unique bows. I also like to marble-ize my fondant with different colors to give it a unique look."

Nancy Cimini, a sales assistant for Heinrich's Decorating Nook in Center Line, Mich., said her store specializes in unique cake decorating accouterments. Brides peruse her wedding cake toppers and ornamentation for exciting and aesthetic ideas.

"We custom-make wedding cake tops and blown-glass decorations," Cimini said. "And we also have supplies like unity candles, wedding books, server sets, revolving cake stands, columns, monogrammed champagne glasses and imprinted cake boxes. We've had brides buy cake decorations ranging from motorcycles to pigs and frogs."

Cimini said they make cake decorations from silk flowers and gum-paste, and they make custom toppers and flowers to match. There have been requests for various cartoon characters - Mickey and Minnie Mouse are the most popular, she said. Brides bring in ideas or drawings, and Cimini assists them to develop specialty creations. Cinderella, knights and castles are also among the favorites.

With the possibilities and selections available to brides and cake shops today, there is never an excuse for a dull, lifeless wedding cake.

For example, Militello's Bakery in Shelby Township, Mich., specializes in making wedding cakes into great-tasting, eye-popping masterpieces.

Owner and decorator Gasper Militello said that he uses rolled fondant and fresh, silk and gum-paste flowers to make cakes exciting. Traditional white cakes have changed, he said, to chocolate marble, yellow, cherry-nut, banana-nut and European styles.

"We specialize in European torts," Militello said. "We have up to 16 flavors to choose from. There are raspberry, strawberry, lemon, hazelnut, black forest, peach schnapps, chocolate-rum truffle, chocolate Vienna, Bavarian raspberry cream and many others. This is where the trend is headed. Out of the 200 or so wedding cakes we make per year, 95 percent include the new torts." In addition to rolled fondant and buttercream, Militello also uses a whipped-cream icing.

"Brides don't have to settle for a traditional birthday cake decorated to look like a wedding cake," Militello said. "Many of our cakes are done on individual tiers and presented on pedestals. Stacked cakes don't present well on the table. We average five or six tiers, and it can go to as many as 10 or 12. Icing colors are trending toward white with the flowers being the accent colors. We also help to bring costs down by providing secondary sheet cakes without fancy decorations."

Overall, today's brides prefer a simple, elegant look. Staircases, fountains, plastic angels and trellises seem to be passé. Flowers, intricate detail, dainty figurines and creative artistry have taken their place.

In addition to tasting and looking good, wedding cakes have become a central conversation piece and a major photographic attraction. Diverse flavors and fillings are satisfying everyone's tastes. And cakes are reclaiming their rightful place as not just an integral, but a pivotal, part of the wedding.