One of the best parts of a wedding (aside from the love between a bride and groom, of course) is the wedding cake. Why? Because it’s a focal point of the wedding reception. It’s pretty to look at and delicious to boot. Speaking of delicious… Before the cake is devoured at the reception, the bride and groom (that’s you!) will go to what’s called a cake tasting where you’ll try a variety of cakes, flavors, fillings and frostings. Yum! You’ll hear terms like ganache, buttercream, basketweave and piping. Huh? You could nod your head, pretend you know what they’re talking about, and go with whatever they think is best. Or, you could read our helpful guide to wedding cake terms below!

 Cake by Tipsy Cake via Style Me Pretty: Illinois

Common Wedding Cake Terms ::

{Tiers} Wedding cakes are made up of levels called tiers. For instance, a 3-tier cake, will have what appears to be three separate levels, which are connected by things called pillars (that can either be seen or not). Cake tiers can be round (traditional), square (different and fun), or hexagonal (trendy and fashionable). Tiers can also be molded into all sorts of shapes like hat boxes or hearts. Each tier can be cut into a certain number of pieces. Depending on the number of guests at your reception will determine how many tiers your cake will have.

{Fondant} A type of frosting that is as sweet as it is elastic. Made of sugar, corn syrup and gelatin, fondant is literally rolled out with a rolling pin and molded over a cake. It’s smooth, firm base is perfect for all sorts of decorations. Fondant is best for outdoor weddings as its more resilient to higher temperatures and humidity. It can be colored and/or tinted to match any of the colors of the rainbow.

{Buttercream} A type of frosting that is smooth, silky and very creamy. It stays soft so it’s easy to cut through. Buttercream can be colored and/or flavored (like with Grand Marnier – yum!). Because it is made of butter, buttercream has a tendency to melt in extreme heat or humidity.

{Ganache} A sweet, rich chocolate made of chocolate and heavy cream that is denser than mousse, but less dense than fudge. Ganache can be used as either filling or frosting, and will soften quickly in humidity.

{Gum Paste} A mixture of sugar, cornstarch and gelatin. Gum paste is used to mold realistic-looking flowers and fruits for decorations and/or garnishes. These decorations are edible and can last for several years. (I have to wonder how they’ll taste then though…)

{Royal Icing} A mixture of egg whites and confectioners sugar makes this icing start off as a soft paste, which is then piped from a pastry bag to create decorations and garnishes on a cake. Once dry, royal icing becomes hard and brittle.

{Marzipan} A paste made of ground almonds, sugar and egg whites that can be molded into edible flowers and fruit garnishes. It can also be rolled into sheets like fondant and used as icing (or filling).

{Piping} Decorative details created with the use of a pastry bag and/or various metal tips. Piping details include basket-weave (interwoven vertical and horizontal lines much like that of a wicker basket) and lattice (open criss-cross) patterns, borders, flowers, leaves, dots and more.

Cake by Judit Meron via Style Me Pretty: Destination

Wedding Cake Flavors ::

Cakes come in so many different flavors. There’s your basic vanilla, chocolate, white, yellow, butter and devil’s food. There are specialty flavors like red velvet, german chocolate, mocha spice, pumpkin spice, poppyseed and carrot cake. There are other flavored cakes too, like apple, lemon, key lime, almond, strawberry and caramel. There’s even funfetti (white cake with rainbow flecks that look like confetti), torte (a dense cake with no leavening agent) or angel food.

Wedding Cake Fillings ::

There are many, many options when it comes to wedding cake fillings. There are fruity fillings like orange marmalade, strawberry or raspberry preserves, apricot jam and lemon curd. Fresh fruit fillings like raspberries, strawberries or bananas are also options. After your fruits you’ve got your peanut butter, caramel, chocolate and white chocolate mouse, swiss meringue, pastry cream, buttercream, chocolate ganache, custard and chantilly cream. Honestly, the fillings list is seemingly endless. Which is a good thing as more often than not people favor different flavors.

Wedding Cake Frostings ::

Frostings include buttercream, fondant, royal icing, ganache and cream cheese. They can be flavored to make cinnamon or caramel cream cheese, fresh strawberry or lemon, peppermint or peanut butter frostings. Oh, and chocolate and vanilla, of course!

Wedding Cake Decorations ::

Options here include fresh flowers and fruits, edible (sometimes crystalized) flowers, adornments made of gum paste or fondant, trendy bunting, or your traditional (or non-traditional) cake topper.

Cake by Amy Beck Cake Design via Brides

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all. of. these. options. But remember, you have time to taste, decide and even change your mind (up to a certain timeframe, of course). And you can always mix and match. You could have a poppyseed cake with orange marmalade filling and Grand Marnier buttercream frosting. Or a chocolate fudge cake with a raspberry filling and chocolate ganache. Or a vanilla bean cake with silky buttercream frosting. Or a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. I feel a sweet tooth coming on… Heck, you could have all of these in one cake, each tier having a different mix of flavors. Taste sensation! And you’ll be able to please just about every one of your wedding guests. As long as you like it though, that’s all that matters. :)

Have I caused a serious case of sweet tooth yet? Or have you slipped into a sugar coma by now? What kind of cake did you have (or will you have) at your wedding?

Happy Tasting!

I think I’ll go have a piece of leftover birthday cake now…

xoxo