You cut a cake on many occasions like birthdays, Christmas, New Year or on any day, any time you wish! But it's different when you cut a cake on your wedding day. Traditionally, a wedding cake was considered as a symbol of fertility, but the underlying emotion has always been the bonding between the bride and groom. So, a wedding cake, essentially symbolizes the couple's love, and draws the attention of every guest. To make the occasion memorable, you can add a personal touch to this 'symbol of love,' by decorating the cake as you wish. You can also customize it in sync with the theme of the day.
While decorating a wedding cake, you could consider the following factors: the material to be used for the decoration, climatic conditions and affordability. Besides interest in decorating, you should have the tools and accessories necessary for the work, like piping bags, spatulas and turn tables. You should also have enough time and patience for decorating, if you want to do a good job. Before decorating, you should first decide the design of the cake, its flavor, fillings, the icing, decorating material and the toppings. You can decorate a wedding cake with icing, coloring, and by adding flowers and laces. Plan well in advance and preferably, make the cake on a trial basis before the actual wedding day.
Wedding Cake Design
You can decorate a wedding cake according to the design of the cake. Round shape is very popular, as it is easy to frost and to decorate. Square shape is also in vogue, due to its crisp look. Hexagonal, heart-shaped, petal-shaped cakes are also good. You can even choose a traditional tiered wedding cake, or give it a modern touch, by choosing different shapes for the tiers. Bottom tier can be of square shape, the middle one, hexagonal and a round shape at the top looks beautiful. Try to mix-match the shapes and make it a unique creation of yours.
Wedding Cake - Icing and Color
Once you have decided the wedding cake design, flavor and fillings, the next part is the decoration. Your cake is ready and now you can select the color and material for icing. While choosing the material, you have to take into consideration, the climatic conditions. There is a wide range of icing materials available in the market, like, fondant, marzipan, butter cream, chocolate ganache and royal icing.
- Fondant is the most popular and widely-used icing material, which is made up of sugar, corn syrup, and gelatin. You can roll it into sheets and cover the cake with it. It gives a smooth and silky finish to the cake and seals the freshness of the cake. It can stand moderately warm temperatures, but it should not be refrigerated, because when you bring it out of the fridge,it condenses as it comes to room temperature, which spoils the finish. So it is better not to refrigerate, unless the cake contains fillings or decorative materials made of perishable items. A point to be noted here is that you can refrigerate the fondant icing before you put it on the cake, but avoid refrigerating the cake which has fondant icing on it. An advantage of fondant is that it can be molded into any shape, like, butterflies, flowers and doves, which makes the wedding cake look more attractive. The fondant icing forms an excellent base for the decorations. You can even add color to the fondant or give it a shimmer or matte finish.
- Buttercream is popular for its soft creamy texture. It is made of creamed butter and sugar and is inexpensive as compared to other types of icing materials. It can be easily handled and colored. The only drawback is that it is prone to melting in warm temperatures. If you want to use it in summer, keep it refrigerated till the time of cutting. Otherwise you can use it in winter, or in temperature-controlled areas.
- Chocolate Ganache is made of whipped cream and chocolate. Those who prefer the traditional pastel-colored cakes may not select this, as this icing has a dark, chocolaty color. If you are crazy about chocolate, go for it. However, you cannot expose cakes with this icing, to warm temperatures, as they tend to melt.
- Marzipan is another option, made of ground almonds and sugar. This icing is sometimes used for fillings too. It tastes like almonds and can be molded into any shape, like that of flowers and leaves. You can also color the decorations made from marzipan.
- Royal Icing is also used to decorate wedding cakes. This is made of sugar and egg whites and is sometimes referred to as 'glace royale'. This icing is not used to cover the cake, but, only to decorate the outer part. Royal icing is used for piping, bead work and latticework. It is soft, while applying, but, later, becomes firm and crusty.
Wedding Cake - Decorating Material
The most popular among wedding cake decorations are flowers. You can make a plain cake attractive, by adding some fresh flowers to it in a creative way. Molded flowers made of fondant, marzipan or royal icing are also used to decorate wedding cakes. Another option is adding laces, beads, ribbons and bows. You can use either artificial ones or those made of icing.
One of the important parts of a wedding cake is the topping. They are usually inedible and can be made of plastic, porcelain or rhinestone. Earlier a miniature sculpture of a bride and groom was used as the topping. Nowadays, more innovative toppings are in vogue. You can use intertwined hearts, doves, flowers, replicas of wedding rings or anything you think is perfect for the occasion. You can also make a colored silhouette of the couple's initials, or make engravings of any shape of your choice, or just anything you like, that would be appreciated.
Take your time, have patience, and let your imagination work wonders. By decorating the wedding cake yourself, you can save money, while also giving a personal touch to it. You could even discuss with the baker and share with him, your plans for the cake decoration. So, use your creativity and make your wedding cake unique and memorable.
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