Beautiful Black, White and Silver Wedding Cake

Five tiers, octagonal cake, wrapped with black ribbon



We just received these pictures of the cake we did last May for Melissa and Tyler's beautiful wedding in the amazing Field's Sunken Ballroom at the Portland Art Museum.  

Melissa did her entire wedding in black, white and silver with red accents and flowers.  She wanted to use these same colors in her cake but wanted it to be unique.  We took a five tiered octagonal cake and decorated the sides with design elements from her invitations.  To pick up the silver we applied beading to the swirls and the florist topped the cake with deep red peonies that were also included in her bouquet. 

The bride was beautiful, the room was beautiful and we think the cake was beautiful!

Erica & Matt's Wedding

Erica and Matt were married this past August at the First Baptist Church in Portland followed by a beautiful reception at the Heritage Ballroom at the Governor Hotel, one of the most beautiful rooms in the city.  Matt and Erica were such a fun couple, they knew just what they wanted and as you can see from the beautiful pictures by their photographer, Paul Rich, they did an amazing job!  My favorite memory of the day was a visit from Erica's dad while the florist and I were setting up the cake.  He looked nervous, but wanted to be sure that every detail was perfect and to take time to thank the vendors in person.  What a great dad!  Our congratulations to Erica and Matt, thanks for letting us be a part of your lovely wedding!
Paul Rich Studio; Erica and Matt's Wedding



The best of both worlds!

I met with Jennifer and Sandeep this past summer to come up with a design for their wedding cake.  Sandeep's family came from India and he and Jennifer were incorporating Indian traditions into their planning.  They would be having an Indian wedding ceremony on Friday with Jennifer dressed in a traditional Sari which for weddings are always red.  They then planned a traditional American ceremony and were to be married in the Old Laurelhurst Church on Saturday with their reception to follow at the World Trade Center.

They wanted a cake that would capture the best of both their traditions and this is what we came up with.  A five-tiered white fondant cake with each tier wrapped in it's own Sari style design.  The red fondant was embossed with a design, was applied to the cake, and each wrap was hand painted with edible gold.  After the tiers were painted gold beads were applied.  The cake was setup in the beautiful World Trade Center and served with platters of Indian sweets.

Congratulations Jennifer and Sandeep, what a lovely way to bring the best of both backgrounds to the start of your life together....and isn't that what weddings are all about!

The Case For Fondant

Over the years I've met with so many couples who come in for their tasting with a picture they've pulled from the latest wedding magazine of a cake they want recreated for their wedding. Almost always the cake is done in fondant and almost always they want to know if it can be done in buttercream. Why? Because they have either heard horror stories about fondant or they have tasted horrible fondant and they don't want to inflict it upon their guests. So why does fondant, which is so universally used have such a horrible reputation and what can you do if the cake of your dreams is fondant?

First, some common misconceptions; a fondant cake and a butter cream cake are exactly the same, the fondant cake just has one additional layer, but both cakes have a generous layer of butter cream. Fondant does not taste "bad" and in fact can be quite delicious.

So why does Fondant have a bad reputation. It helps to know what Fondant is made of; Fondant is very similar to marshmallow's although Fondant is not cooked and therefor remains soft and pliable enabling it to cover cakes. Handling of Fondant makes all the difference in the final outcome. Most fondant in commercial use comes in 5lb blocks and it is my experience that this fondant does not taste that great when fresh. In most commercial bakeries your wedding cake is decorated on Thursday or Friday and must sit out until the wedding on Saturday as fondant cakes are usually not refrigerated. Go back to that marshmallow and imagine putting a fresh, soft one on a plate on Thursday and coming back to eat it on Saturday...it would be dry, chewy and stiff. The same is true of fondant.

So is it impossible to get a yummy fondant cake? Absolutely not! Fondant made from scratch is so much better than what is available commercially. It tastes good, has a lovely scent, is much easier to work with and stays soft and lovely much longer than that produced commercially. Fondant made fresh can also be flavored depending on the flavor of the cake itself, vanilla, lemon, almond, champagne are just a few of the flavorings that can be added. This fondant starts out much fresher and so stays that way longer. It is also important that the fondant be applied to the cake as close to the delivery time as possible. Every day that the cake sets out with the fondant applied it becomes less appealing.

So, what do you look for when you go to meet with your cake designer? Ask what type of fondant they use, is it freshly made or purchased. Ask for a sample to try. Ask how many days before the wedding the fondant will be applied to your cake.

A bakery that cares about the taste of your cake will make sure that the fondant is as luscious and lovely as the cake itself.

photo by: Joni Schrantz, StudioESS

http://www.studioessphoto.com