Wedding Cake Decorating Tips

Creating a wedding cake or anniversary cake for a large party requires careful planning due to the size of the task. The first step is to formulate an image of what the cake will look like. Before you launch into your own dreaming, consult with the wedding or anniversary couple, first to find out if they have any specific expectations or preferences. They may give you full discretion or may want to be closely involved in the designing. Once you have done this, you can create your design, perhaps referring to recent magazines and books for current cake decorating tips.

Once you have chosen recipes, flavors, colors and decorations, plan for the following steps. Usually each step can be carried out on one or more different days:

1. Prepare a trial cake to test your concept and practice techniques.
2. Plan how the cake will be displayed.
3. Do the big shopping trip for the project, purchasing ingredients, display accessories etc.
4. Bake and store the cakes.
5. Prepare and apply icing and decorations.
6. Drive the cake to the party location and prepare the display.

How Cakes are Tiered or Stacked

A tiered cake appears to be a single tower, but in fact consists of several cakes joined together. Cakes can be stacked directly on top of each other or separated by pillars or columns. When cakes are resting on top of each other, you need to insert dowels through the center of the cakes to provide structural support. Doweling can be purchased at your local hardware store or at a cake supply shop. You can learn how to work with doweling from cake decorating tips online or in books; but unless you are a very "handy" person, it would be wise to try it for the first time with an experienced baker or in a cake decorating class.

When you tier with columns or pillars, you can use a cake separator set. When you look around at your local cake decorating supply center, you will see there are many options and accessories for creating a tiered cake.

Ideas for Choosing Decorations

The most important cake decorating tip for weddings and anniversaries has already been mentioned: consult with the celebrated couple! Given that you know their likes and dislikes, here are some ideas for decorating a wedding cake:

• Consider using fondant if there will be an outdoor wedding - fondant is more durable than buttercream and can withstand higher temperatures.
• Use colors, flowers, embroidery, and ribbons etc. inspired by the bridal flowers and dresses.
• Borrow themes from the couple's lives and families.
• Flavors, colors, and symbols can originate from the place of marriage or honeymoon.

For an anniversary cake, consider some of the above ideas - and the ones below:

• Writing is appropriate on anniversary cakes. You can record the year of the anniversary and/or write "Happy Anniversary!"
• Find out and use the symbol connected to the anniversary, for example, silver for the 25th.

Expensive Wedding Cake Icing

Wedding cake icing is quite often over looked by the bride & groom. Yes, it's a seemingly small detail of the much larger picture, but that doesn't mean it's unimportant. Truth be told, if you choose the wrong wedding cake icing, the result will be a cake that forces guests to up-chuck the dinner they ate just minutes before.

The Icing You Don't Want...

Fondant: This is a commonly used icing for wedding cake. Why? Well, it's not because of it's taste, that's for sure. The reason fondant icing is commonly used is due to the fact that it's the best icing for creating & maintaining gorgeous cake decorations & designs.

Once fondant icing hardens, the designs & decorations will remain in place and in perfect condition until the cake is ready to be eaten. The unfortunate drawback, this icing (usually) tastes like dung; at least according to most people.

Quick Note: The are a few different types of fondant icing. Some will be better than others.

Wedding Cake Icing You Do Want...

Butter Cream: This is the most popular cake icing around. It's easy to decorate with, it tastes good, and it's pretty cheap too. The one and only downside to this icing is that it bleeds easy if the temperature starts to climb.

Royal Icing: This is basically "sugar" icing. It can be used to create fairly intricate designs with minimal hassle. Like fondant, this icing hardens after sitting in place. It's fairly tasty and is widely used by amateur cake makers.

While you don't have devote hours & hours to choosing the right wedding cake icing, you shouldn't just pass it off and hope things turn out all right. Give icing some serious consideration and you won't be disappointed when it's all said and done.

Wedding Cake Tops

Wedding Cake Tops come in a complete range of stylish and superb wedding accessories for embellishing cake tops. What ever be the type and style of your wedding cake, these tops are perfect matches for every cake. The cake toppers are available at discount price options, variety of assortments and above all, in a vivid combination of colors to blend easily with the colors of the auspicious occasion.

These wedding favors are suitably customized and personalized using a variety of methods Personalization quotes can be hand written or embossed with the help of tools. No wedding cake is a complete without the customary cake tops. The Glazed Porcelain Doves and Flowers Cake Top is a blend of modern artwork with a traditional ceremonial display. This makes it an ideal keepsake for generations so as to remember the mesmerizing wedding occasion. The Butterfly Wishes Cake Top is creatively designed in a heart shape with a pearl outlining, which is further interspersed and bejeweled with butterfly ribbons and colorful faux jewel butterflies. The lavender flowers at the base add all the fragrance and aroma to this cake top. The cake top gives elegance besides being a yummy addition to your cake.

The Keepsake Calla Lily Cake Top comprises of a uniquely designed and handcrafted mix of Calla Lily flowers with a large white sheer ribbon and yellow accents.These are nicely packed in a resin finish gift box, which also has a small hidden space, which is revealed when one removes the top of the lid. The space is ideally stored for sentimental quotes and a personal phrase blending in with mood of the wedding ceremony. The Bride and Groom with champagne satin bow bisque porcelain keepsake cake top is praiseworthy and a much sought after wedding favor for celebrating the cake cutting ceremony. The blend of traditional style and classy look symbolizes permanence and dedication in love and the relationship. The Traditional Celtic Cake Top and The Heart Framed Trinity Knot Cake Top is an exotic styled cake top imprinted with traditional Irish messages that is in sync with the tone of a marriage setting.

The cake top finished in glazed porcelain further gives a sparkle and glinting appeal to the overall ambiance.The Traditional Script Brushed Silver Asian Double Happiness Cake Tops are especially themed happiness symbols that go a long way in spreading happiness, laughter, and fun in the ceremony. The Stylized Hearts Brushed Silver Asian Double Happiness Cake Top are yet another range of sumptuously handcrafted cake tops that decorate not only the cakes but also enhance the beauty of your head tables and reception tables.

The Bridal Beauty Calla Lily Keepsake Cake Top is the most happening and stylized cake top that adds a touch of elegance and awe-inspiring appeal to the wedding cake. The design of this cake top enables it to store lovely treasures in the form of memorable quotes, romantic phrases, love poems and many more. In addition, there is entire line up of cake top themes that include Butterfly Wishes in Precious Jewels Keepsake Cake Top, Butterfly Wishes in Pure White Keepsake Wedding Cake Top, Contemporary Couple Cake Topper and many more that will complete wedding cake and make it even lovelier.

Wedding Cake Serving Sets

Wedding cake serving sets usually come with a cake knife and a cake server. The blades of both of these items are usually made from stainless steel, but some models can be silver or pewter plated for added visual effect. The handles of a cake serving set is where most of the stylizing is done. Handles come is crystal, silver, pewter, composite materials, plastic, and glass.

The cost of the average wedding cake serving set will be somewhere around $30 to $50. The actual price that you pay will depend on the materials that the cake knife and cake server are made from, the handle design that you select, as well as what vendor you buy it from. If you want to maximize the value of your cake serving set then you may want to consider registering for your serving set when you register for your wedding china. By doing this you will be selecting a cake serving set that will match your wedding china, which in turn will allow you to use it more than once.

In addition to matching cake serving sets to wedding china you also have the option to match the set’s design to the theme of your wedding. There are many different styles of themed wedding cake serving sets that you can choose from. A few of the more popular serving set themes include beach themes, contemporary themes, Baroque themes, and antique themes. To find a serving set that will match your wedding’s design, look for a handle design that elegantly reflects one element of your wedding’s design such as a color, a pattern, or an icon that relates to the theme of your wedding. For example if you have a beach theme for your wedding then you may want to look for a wedding cake serving set that has starfish on the handles.

If you prefer a more elegant style for your wedding cake serving set then you can always opt to buy a silver cake knife and cake server set. These sets will tend to cost more than the average wedding cake serving set, but their elegance, beauty, and heirloom quality make then well worth the added cost. Another advantage of buying a silver wedding cake serving set is that you can have it engraved with the names, initials, and the anticipated wedding date for the engaged couple. Engraved cake servers make a great bridal shower gift, and a great memento from the couple’s wedding.

After the wedding is over many couple’s don’t know what they should do with their serving sets. If they have matched their wedding cake serving set to their wedding china then they can store the wedding cake serving set as another piece of their silver and china set. On the other hand if they have a novelty or engraved wedding cake serving set that they don’t want to use again, then they may want to create a shadowbox display that includes the wedding cake serving set, their wedding cake accessories, and other small decorations from their wedding. This shadowbox display will allow the newlyweds to proudly display memorabilia from the best day of their lives.

Cheap Wedding Cake Mixes & Tasty Ingredient Ideas

How important is the wedding cake. I am afraid I can't answer this, however if we stay with tradition then it's essential to have a wedding cake if it is a perfect wedding you desire. And isn't this what every bride-to-be wants "perfection." If you've asked this question because you're not fond of the ingredients included in a traditional wedding cake then you don't have to have them. Wedding cakes can be tailor designed around your wants with ingredients and decoration of your own personal choosing.

For the perfect wedding add a wedding cake to your wedding to-do-list.

Preferences for wedding cakes will differ, as they do with wedding dresses, wedding music, wedding locations and wedding guests because people have different likes and dislikes. Nonetheless in most cases the bride and groom always get what they want. The cake is the main focus of the wedding reception making a fabulous centerpiece. Choosing the right wedding cake is important for guests that have a sweet tooth because their focus will be on the cake at all times.

There is more to choosing a wedding cake than just pointing to a picture and agreeing that is what you want. Things need to be considered that are often overlooked like the color of the icing and cake design to match your wedding gown or theme. The ingredients used to bake the cake are also very important indeed; after all we have a lot of people to please.

Make light work of choosing your wedding cake and follow the tips listed below. With this daunting prospect in mind, let us make your wedding cake planning less of a hassle.

First of all you need to be aware there is more than just taste and color of your cake to consider. Planning a wedding on a budget can cause issues regarding the cake but you shouldn't let this worry you. Cheap is just as tasty as expensive, and just as pretty too.

Before planning gets underway sit down with your partner and ask yourselves.

How much money your prepared to spend on your wedding cake, or if you`re counting the pennies then what type of cake you can afford?

The cake is to feed the mouths of many so plan the size of the cake around how many guests you're likely to invite.
Doing the above will save you money. Too much cake is a waste if you go for big. The type of wedding cake you can realistically have should be determined on the pointers mentioned above.

Choosing a wedding cake should have you think "shape, color, ingredients and decoration.

A great place to start for ideas on cake appearance is to browse pictures in magazines, books and wedding cake websites. Visit the bakery and see the real thing. This will give you the opportunity to talk about your desired cake.

It helps if you know the reason for wanting a wedding cake. Is it to use as a piece of eye candy. If so concentrate on design and prettiness.

If it's for hundreds of guests to feed on? Then size of the cake is important.

Do you want the wedding cake to match your color scheme, if so speak with the baker in advance so he/she can advise on what will work and ideally suited to your request?

In the world of Wedding Cakes Decorations come in vast variety. Cake accessories like ribbons, flowers, wedding cake toppers, edible rosebuds to candles are a few to mention.

Most "essential" in any wedding cake is the flavor. You can have the loveliest creation made but what's the point of pretty without taste, it doesn't' make sense and neither does it make good eating. Traditionally wedding cake filling is fruit. But if you prefer chocolate as your selected flavor then there's no reason why you and your guests can't have chocolate.

Out with tradition to make way for new scrumptious wedding cake flavors eaten at weddings. The white wedding cake with white butter-cream icing is not as common as it was judging by modern day weddings.

Remember this is your day and your cake.

Cheesecake goes down well. It's an ideal choice for the not so grand wedding, but is fabulously appropriate and cheap for a small wedding. Meringues, baked Alaska, fruitcakes, chocolate cake, and angel food cake are also increasingly popular.

You never see a guest turn their nose up at carrot cake, is it because it's moist and spicy? Carrot cake is usually based on oil instead of butter. If you're not a lover of raisins you don't have to add them. Swap with pecans or walnuts. If you're doing your own decorating then cream over with white icing adding pecans here and there with other edible cake decorations.

Pumpkin cake another favored sweet confectionery. Decorate pumpkin cake with cranberry and greenery. At its best when iced with cranberry butter cream.

Chocolate-Raspberry - a yummy chocolate cake with a raspberry filling. Icing is chocolate butter cream. The cherry on the cake for the chocolate-raspberry (excuse the pun) is to pipe cream with chocolate curls and decorate with edible floral cake accessories. Pressed and crystallized flowers are fabulous cake decorations.

Do you think your guests will fancy a slice of coconut cream pound cake, if so do them a favor and serve up this cake because a little of what you fancy does you good.

Coconut Cream Pound Cake Recipe

Ingredients

225 g softened butter
224 g softened cream cheese
600 g white sugar
Half a dozen eggs
5 ml coconut extract
375 g all-purpose flour
2 g baking powder
150 g coconut flakes
Baking Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan.

Cream the butter and cream cheese until thoroughly blended. Add sugar and whisk to light fluffy texture. Add 1 egg at a time and whisk followed by coconut extract. Pour flour and baking powder in until lightly moistened, then the coconut. Mix is ready for the baking pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before moving.

Another cake simple to make and goes down well with wedding guest and their gullets to is the (Easy Light Fruitcake.)

Ingredients
455 g candied cherries, halved
5 candied pineapple rings, finely minced
870 g golden raisins
360 g candied mixed fruit peel
170 g almonds
125 g all-purpose flour
455 g softened butter or margarine
400 g white sugar
Half a dozen eggs
5 ml vanilla extract
60 ml orange juice
625 g all-purpose flour
9 g baking powder
3 g salt
6 split almonds
Baking Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C). Line the bottom and sides of two greased 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pans, and 1 round 4 1/2 inch x 3 inch deep pan with brown paper. Grease the paper.

2. Mix cherries, minced pineapple pieces, raisins, mixed peel, 1 cup pecans, and 1 cup flour in a basin. Blend all ingredients until fully coated with flour and stand to aside

3. Using a separate bowl, cream the butter/margarine and sugar. Whisk in 1 egg at a time. Add orange juice and vanilla and stir. Take 5 cups flour, your baking powder and salt and add to creamy mixture. Add floured fruit and nuts. Carefully pour mix into baking pans. Fill each pan 3/4 full. Add split almonds over the top.

4. Usual baking time 3 hours. Pierce cake with a toothpick and if done the toothpick comes out clean. If the top of your cake darkens before the sides cover with foil.

My suggestion: plain sponge. Nearly every cake base is sponge mix. If a person says they don't like a particular cake, it means they're not fond of certain ingredients used to fancy up and flavor. Keeping it plain allowing your guest to choose their own fillings, is the key. Fill glass bowls with a variety of flavored fillings (chocolate sauce, custard, jelly, and butter cream, raisins, mixed fruit, syrup, treacle and different flavored jams and fruit sauces? Do this and your guests won't have to wait for you to turn your back before spitting out cake chosen by you.

Plan For Picking Out a Wedding Cake

Let's be honest. Wedding cakes can be really expensive. Heck, weddings in general are really expensive. The moment you hear the word "wedding" the next word you think of is probably expenses. Well, the good news is there are ways to save money on a wedding cake.

To give you some perspective, take a trip to your local bakery. You'll probably see the most mouthwatering and delicious cakes you'll ever see. The prices for regular, ordinary cakes are probably somewhat reasonable. Now, take a look at their wedding cakes. The prices suddenly seem steep. Interesting, how that happens, isn't it? What's even more interesting is that the same kind of structure was used for the non-wedding cake was used for the wedding cake. The only difference is that the wedding cake is double the price.

Don't ask for a tasting. All that's going to do is give the baker a chance to act like a salesman. He is going to try to sell you something that is way out of your budget. After you add up all the bells and whistles he is going to offer you, you are probably going to end up with something that you wouldn't have wanted in the first place. When a baker hears customer asking for a tasting, it's like the equivalent of a shark seeing blood. He's going to go after it. This is because no one ever asks for a tasting when it comes to birthday party cake.

Get yourself a price list and study it over when you are at home. Make sure you don't discuss anything when you are in the bakery.

If you are on a budget, understand that you are going to have to make some concessions. That's just part of a wedding. For instance, is it absolutely mandatory that a wedding cake has to be tiered? You can go for a very well decorated sheet cake. This can save you a lot of money. It's a lot easier for the baker and his staff to make the cake. You can always give it a little more color and design on the day of your wedding by putting some fresh flowers.

Also, if the delivery fee that the bakery charges is too high (and in most cases, it is), why not just get somebody to pick it up for you. Obviously assign this task to someone who is not accident prone. The last thing you want is a mashed wedding cake.

Let's use an example. Let's say you need a wedding cake to feed 100 people. A tiered wedding cake costs $395. There are also extras you can pay for like $15 for columns, $35 for a wooden base, etc which add to the cost. So at the end of the day, you may be paying $5 per serving. With the tips I just gave you, there is absolutely no reason why your wedding cake can't cost you just $2 per serving. You don't have to take my work for it. Try it for yourself. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Affordable Ways to Have an Original Wedding Cake

The wedding cake can be one of the most important and most costly parts of your wedding. In the end you still will need a cake. In times like these when a bride has to pay a little more attention to her budget, you need to know how to cut corners or do the same thing for less. This is something that can extend to the rest of your nuptials. If you really think about it a lot of the extras you pay for can easily be substituted with options that won't strain your pocketbook. The key to doing it successfully is to use the options available to you and your won ingenuity and imagination. If this is done you can still have an excellent and outstanding cake for less than the high end makers would charge. Here are some suggestions to help you out.

A great idea I've read about is a satellite cake. This is a cake that is made separately from the main cake you ordered. This is a great idea if you are looking for a cake with height but can't spend the money needed for a whole taller option. The cake doesn't have to be much, just try to make sure it is the same flavor and has similar icing. Since it is the base you can also make it plain as long as it doesn't throw off the main design of the main cake.

Another great idea I've heard is to serve a group of smaller cakes. The main point of a desert is to be eaten. Why go for the fancy when a lot of smaller cakes of decent quality for a cheaper price get the job done? This is a great idea for a bride less focused on the look and for feeding a large amount of guests. This also makes it possible to offer different flavors and styles. You can use this as an opportunity to have something like a dessert bar.

Look for caterer that is also a baker. Specialist anything is going to cost you extra. If you can find a caterer or hotel chef that has the same amount training and can do the same work go for it. The beauty of it is that since they are not "experts" you will be able to get a great result for less. Another variation on this idea is to use your own personal contacts. Do you have a friend or relative that is a baker or patisserie? Then tap your own personal resources. You can offer to buy the ingredients. In many ways this will help cut the final cost of your wedding cake.

Get your cake topper separately. Don't try to buy the cake with all the fixings and accoutrements. That is just asking for sticker shock. The internet now makes it possible for you to find cake toppers that are affordable and you can pick from a very wide selection to fit any theme or design idea you have for your wedding.

Do it yourself; this one might sound a bit radical, but if you are handy in the kitchen and even have just some experience making cakes, then this is the option for you. First make sure you have the time. Second, find a good recipe with clear instructions you can follow. The internet for one is a startlingly good resource. Have some friends competent in the kitchen that can help you. If you are willing to set aside sometime to pull it off you can have your own wedding gateau for a fraction of the price. Warning, do know that this isn't like ordinary cakes so follow advice and practice where needed.