Wedding Cake Flavors - NJ Cake Bakery

Wedding cakes are often the centerpiece of the decor of your reception. And although your guests may be impressed with the appearance of your wedding cake, what they will remember most is the taste.

Selecting flavors for your cake should be one of the sweetest parts of planning your wedding. Can you think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than sampling a few slices of several delicious cakes?

Finding the right bakery to work with is the first step in selecting the flavors for your wedding cake. Many bakeries will charge a small fee if you wish to taste specific flavors. Often this fee is deducted from your final cost should you decide to order from them.

Have a good idea of what your wedding menu will be like when you go to your tasting, so you can tailor the cake to the rest of the meal. For example, if your meal is focused on Spanish flair, how about a rich vanilla cake with dulce de leche or a guava filling? Or maybe a cake with hints of ginger would be a perfect ending to an Asian feast.

Think about choosing a flavor that might have personal meaning to you and your beloved. Was your first date over coffee? Perhaps a mocha filling. Is your fiancee Italian? A fresh cannoli cream may delight him.

Don’t be afraid to stray from basic flavors such as vanilla and chocolate. Some of the more unique and complex flavor combinations we like are:

• Coconut cake striped with key lime curd and vanilla bean filling. This cake is not only a delicious pairing of flavors, but it also looks amazing when plated .
• Dark chocolate cake with coffee buttercream and almond toffee bits. The crunchy toffee offers an unexpected yet delightful texture.
• Vanilla cake with banana cream and passion fruit filling. The combination is so very refreshing and perfect for a summer wedding.
   

You may also want to serve more than one flavor of cake at your reception. This can be accomplished by having a groom’s cake in addition to the wedding cake. Traditionally, groom’s cakes are a richer flavor like chocolate, red velvet, or a dense fruit cake. Of course, you could just choose the groom’s favorite flavor! You may also request your baker to make each tier a different flavor. This can often be done at little additional cost.



About us: Confectionary Designs is a boutique bakery located in Bergen county New Jersey NJ. Our specialty is creating custom cakes for all of life's occasions. We work with you every step of the way in creating a detailed and delicious wedding cake that you and your guests will remember!

Congratulations to all the Newly Engaged Couples

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Bergen County, New Jersey

Statistics show that 50% of engagements occur over the holiday season. Congratulations if you are one of the lucky couples engaged over the 2011 season! In celebration we are republishing our "Wedding Cake Sweet Plan."

One of the most important decisions a bride will make in planning her wedding will be the design of her wedding cake. It is not the most important design decision, but it should be made together with the other decisions that will make your wedding the special event you want it to be. Here's a guide to help.


Eight Months to Go:

Come up with design ideas that you think will work as an overall theme for your wedding. Browse the internet or bridal magazines for inspiration. Don’t just look at cakes; use other elements for your design. For example, do you want your cake to compliment the lace on your dress? Use any idea to spark your imagination!

You should have an idea of the type of cake you want – will it be a traditional cake, a farandole of mini cupcakes or a whimsical cake that fits your personality? The style of cake may also depend on the number of guests at your wedding. Discuss this with each baker you interview.

Start to narrow down the list of bakers you would like to meet with and make tasting / design appointments. Make sure you discuss your budget with the baker prior to making the appointment as some may not be able to work within your budget. Your goal during this initial meeting is to determine if you are satisfied with the product quality, review the baker’s portfolios, and determine who can help you create your dream cake.

Six Months to Go:

Many specialty bakers are booked several months in advance, especially during peak wedding seasons, so book early if you have a specific baker in mind. Your baker should be working with you on the design, and asking questions such as: "How do you envision your wedding? What color/design are your flowers? Is it a lunch or dinner? What is being served? Is this an outdoor wedding? What's the theme? Are you thinking of something offbeat or classic? What does your dress look like? Approximately how many guests are you anticipating?" All of these questions, and others, will help determine the best design and flavors to fit your preferences.

Most bakers will require a signed contract and a 50% deposit to book a date.

One Month to Go:

Double check all the details with your baker – from the final payment to the delivery instructions.

The Day After:

Enjoy the first day of your new life and let your bridesmaids or mother do all the work for you! If you want the top tier saved for your first anniversary, they need to remove any sugar flowers, double wrap the tier in several layers of plastic wrap, seal it in an airtight bag and store it in the freezer. Also, they will need to return any items you may have rented from the baker, such as a cake platform.

Itty-Bitty Cake: The Winner!

We were so excited when our mini-wedding cake won first place in Wed's Great Cake-off in its category! This was especially an honor given the number of beautiful wedding cupcakes and small cakes submitted by some really talented decorators.

Creating 'itty-bitty' cakes is more difficult than working on a monster five-tier cake since it is such a small canvas on which to place so many details. Regardless of the work, the outcome gives us a great sense of satisfaction (especially when the work is acknowledged with a win and a happy customer!).

Thanks for letting me brag a little!

http://www.confectionarydesigns.com

Flowers and Food: Sugar, Silk, or Real?

At our New Jersey bakery we are obsessed with following, if not exceeding, our local health codes especially when it comes to sanitation. Everything used for our cakes is either edible or food safe items (e.g. dowels to support cake tiers, etc....).

I tend to cringe when a client wants to put fresh or silk flowers on a cake. Many fresh flowers are covered in pesticides, some being quite toxic, and most silk flowers are not made with food safe materials.

We always recommend our clients opt for sugarpaste flowers. The first reason for this is we know we are providing a cake that is safe for our clients to consume. The second reason being it is aesthetically pleasing to look at a cake and know everything you see is completely edible!

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Sugarpaste cymbidium orchid

 

Bling Bling Weekend!

A few weeks ago we had a blast putting together some cakes with lots of 'bling.' Some weekends it seems we have all baby shower cakes, or all birthday cakes, or all wedding cakes, but our 'bling' weekend was all about sparkle!

The following cake was made for a client's milestone birthday party and is the epitome of bling - it sparkled like diamonds under the lights at her venue. Her flavors were a combination of orange cake with pineapple cream cheese filling and strawberry cake with strawberry mousse.

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The following cake was also made for a birthday party - love those big Sweet 16 parties!  Everything you see, the shoe, make-up, jewelry, etc... is edible. We started making the design elements for this cake a few weeks in advance so everything had time to dry properly. Of course, the cake can only be made and assembled right before the delivery so its always a rush putting everything together nice and sturdy!

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Thank you for visiting our blog!

Bowling Bag Cake and Edible Shoes

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It's an old cliche that we are our own worst critics, but the saying holds so true when it comes to making custom cakes for our clients. There are not many cakes that leave the shop that I look at and think "we could have done something a little better on that cake."  Then the client sees the cake and just loves it!

The bowling bag cake pictured above is definately not one of the cakes I think this about as it is probably one of my favorite cakes we've done (OK, so I have to give Pam the credit for a great cake!). I love the shape, the decorations ,the vibrant colors, and the edible shoes are so perfect!

This is the third bowling-themed cake we've done for the same client who holds her birthday parties with a bowling bash every year. Can't wait to see what next year's cake looks like!

Here's a picture of the edible shoes drying (we use plastic wrap to help hold the shape as it dries).

Our Wedding Cake Video

Yesterday I posted that we are in the middle of the season of marriage engagements. I thought I would share the following video with you that has several of our wedding creations. Enjoy!



http://www.confectionarydesigns.com/

Bogota, NJ