Cake Trends
Sweet Ideas

Anja Winikka
TheKnot.com

1: Letterpress patterns

Why should invites have all the fun? A letterpress design is a trendy way to show off your gown’s ornate embroidery, your invitation’s floral design, or even your chosen china pattern. Using baker’s tools, or a custom-made rubber stamp, the design is actually impressed onto rolled-out fondant. It works best with detailed designs, adding and elegant dimension.

Design do: Break up the pattern with a ribbon or a strip of colored fondant on every tier. It will give the eye a rest, accentuating the intricacies of the design.

2: Nostalgic Flavors

Come up with a cake flavor inspired by your past. Did you love Oreos and milk for an after-school snack? Then go for chocolate cake with a cookies and cream buttercream filling. Perhaps he proposed over mint chocolate ice cream. A mint-chip buttercream combination makes a delectable filling for chocolate cake. You could even choose to get the same flavor Mom and Dad had for their wedding cake, and then add a sweet filling of your choosing to each layer—it’s something old, something new.

Flavor fact: Don’t get too attached to a specific recipe. Just because you love your grandmother’s spice cake, doesn’t mean that her exact recipe is doable for two hundred people. Share the idea with your baker, and come up with a wedding cake version of her crowd-pleaser.

3: Believable Colors

Opt for organic, sophisticated, and edible cake colors—not a Crayola kaleidoscope. Think peachy pink not Barbie pink; go lime green, not dark green; do robin egg blue, not bright blue. If you want to have a bold hit of color, focus on the details and do a monochromatic look in varying shades. For example, your bottom-tiered sugar paste floral accents could appear in a deep eggplant purple. The flowers can move into lighter shades of purple—leading to the top tier, which would be covered with sweet, pale lavender flowers.

Design do: Compliment your wedding colors. If your invites are ivory and green, have your cake frosted in that same shade of green. Give your baker photos of your bridesmaid dresses, the actual invite, and a color swatch of the tablecloths to get a perfect match.

4: Signature Silhouettes

Reflect your wedding theme or motif in a fresh, modern way with sophisticated silhouettes. Created with any color fondant, cutouts of your wedding motif, or a bloom from your bouquet could appear on your cake. The archetypal boy and girl silhouette in brown and ivory could work for a modern wedding. Or, bring in a sense of your surroundings, and do starfish silhouettes for a beach wedding or butterflies for a spring wedding—it’s a very translatable trend.

Design do: The more involved the cutout, the less bold the statement. It’s the simplicity of the pop-up that gives a cake depth, literally. So if you want your cake to reflect the sweet embellishments and intricacies of your gown, silhouettes are not the way to go.

5: Seasonal Fillings

Customize your cake just as your do your menu. For a winter wedding, think hazelnut, peppermint, or dark chocolate. Autumn? Try a cranberry filling with chocolate cake. But if you have your heart set on a specific flavor, just season-ize it. In the fall or winter, pair and orange cake with chocolate or liqueur flavoring; in the spring, request almond or whipped cream to give the orange flavor a lighter taste.

Flavor fact: Make sure the flavor combos work well together. Pumpkin cake with chocolate spice filling might taste great to you, but think about how many palates you’re aiming to please. Ask your baker for complementary suggestions.

6: Edible Add-ons

We’re not talking sugar flowers—try adding actual candy like conversation hearts or sugar-covered cherries to the outside of your cake. For a fun take, have your baker add iced shortbread cookies that spell out “Just Married.” For a decadent, elegant look, cover a tall, towering cake with rich chocolate truffles.

Flavor fact: Heed your baker’s advice when it comes to cake extras. You may love the idea of adding colorful candy to your cake, but it might not be feasible (melted Skittles running down your buttercream-frosted cake and turning it rainbow-colored would not be fun!).

7: Oversized Flowers

Exaggerated sugar paste flowers are the perfect way to get an elegant look without paying a fortune for a floral-covered cake. The key is contrast: Choose a flower type that is normally small and dainty, such as daisies or stephanotis—giving sweet and simple a bold new take.

Keep it in check: Opt for flowers that are relatively straightforward and pretty in shape, so as not to overwhelm—an oversized orchid on top of your cake might look a little frightening.

8: Mixing Shapes

Tiers in contrasting shapes add intrigue to a basic cake. You could top hexagon-shaped bottom with two rounds. Or, use a different shape for every Let your reception room be your guide. For a ballroom bash, do a tall and traditional square bottom tier and several rounds to top it off. For a casual loft wedding, play with a combo of hexagon, round, and square-shaped tiers.

Design do: Suit your wedding style. If your look is classic with clean lines, take it and just change the shape of the bottom tier.