Unforgettable Wedding Cakes

Some surprises for wedding cake hunters!

Psychologists tell us that taste and smell are the strongest memories. If you want to create an unforgettable impression of your Indianapolis wedding, pay special attention to your cake. The wedding cake is traditionally served near the end of your reception, so it's the last thing that people will remember.

Many, many bakers produce beautiful looking cakes, but cake decoration and cake baking are two entirely different sets of skills. Many bakeries still buy generic ingredients in five-gallon barrels. This includes icing made from white animal fat and sugar, and cake made from bleached white flour and water. The result is a cake that tastes like sugar, and not much else.

Can you taste the difference between a mix cake and a scratch cake? You can bet your guests can too. Brides need to look for a baker who makes a cake from scratch rather than a commercial mix.

This winter wedding cake was decorated with crystal snowflakes and sprinkled with a silvery edible glitter. Talk about imaginative! Think about making your cake decoration seasonal.

Sometimes the traditional icing is replaced by rolled fondant, a frosting found more commonly in Europe. It's lighter and smoother than American icing and can be sculpted by the baker. The only downside is that fondant looks great but tastes really bad. Try and find a baker who can make the same beautiful sculpted look with real buttercream icing.

After sampling a cake, you can worry about the appearance. Use your imagination. Give your baker some of the flowers you will be using, or a piece of lace from your gown or veil. If the baker isn't flexible, find someone else. Brides are more sophisticated than ever today, and they want their cake to be a reflection of their personality, of who they are. When you have finally sampled the wares of several different bakers and spoken with them personally, then make your decision.

Few brides today settle for the traditional plastic wedding figures on top of their cake. Many bring something personal, or search through antique shops for the ideal old-fashioned piece to top their cake. Bakers have seen bride's personal christening cups, or some family silver heirloom. One bride placed her grandmother's tiara and her mother's veil on top of her cake!

Make your cake something special, something personal, and something to remember! Check a new twist on cake toppers at Princess Bride Tiaras. The photos on these pages were supplied to us by Maribelle Cakery, an award-winning wedding cakery in Cincinnati.