Sugar High

By Christa Leupen

It’s that towering creation of sugary perfection that adorns the edge of your dance floor — the wedding cake. You might not have put much thought into it before, but a lot of decisions are involved when it comes to putting your best frosting forward. Two of Cary Magazine’s Elegant Weddings Gala bakery sponsors weigh in on creating your dream cake.

Do you find that people are moving away from traditional cake flavors and getting more creative or personal with their cake flavors?

Blue Moon Bakery: I think people like to have a variety to offer their guests. We have seen more people choosing red velvet cake with ganache and cream cheese frosting in the last couple of years.

Sugarland Bakery: Not surprisingly, people look for crowd pleasers when they are feeding a large group. More than half the brides we talk to choose more than one flavor in their cake, and one of those flavors is almost always chocolate.

What are some of the most popular flavors requested from your shop?

Blue Moon Bakery: Our vanilla cake, with strawberry mousse in between the layers, frosted with vanilla buttercream, and chocolate cake, with hazelnut mousse, frosted with vanilla buttercream have remained our two most popular flavors for wedding cakes since we opened in 1999.

Sugarland Bakery: We have over 35 flavors on our Specialty Cake menu, and a consistent best seller for us is Casey’s Cake — which has passion fruit, custard and fresh raspberry. Mimosa, which has tangerine and champagne is very popular for morning weddings, and since this is the South we sell an awful lot of Almond Pound with fresh raspberry.

What about the strangest flavor request you’ve been asked for?

Blue Moon Bakery: One of the most unusual flavor combinations requested was chocolate cake with lemon mousse. We suggested using this unusual choice in the smallest cake layer, specifically for the bride and groom to enjoy. We always encourage our clients to choose flavors that most people will savor. We want family and friends to remember “the best cake they had ever eaten.”

Sugarland Bakery: We do a lot of Asian and Indian weddings, so we got lots of requests for cakes with mango or lychee, and we are seeing more and more requests for Cajeta, the Mexican caramel, as well.

Have you also seen any trends in moving away from the traditional white wedding cake? Are people requesting cakes in different colors or designs? What are people looking for?

Blue Moon Bakery: We do a good mix of traditional all white cakes and more modern colorful cakes. We have definitely seen an increase in requests for more colorful cakes. The varied cake television shows have prompted more non-traditional designs and colors.

Sugarland Bakery: We are sort of famous for our “not-white” cakes. My favorite cake that we ever did was a very tall lime green cake with purple sugar flowers. This year, aqua and red together are my favorite fresh looking combination.

What about cakes that aren’t actually cakes at all, like cupcake or doughnut towers?

Blue Moon Bakery: We have done several cupcake trees for wedding receptions. They usually have tinted icing, flowers or swirls on top.

Sugarland Bakery: We make over 50,000 cupcakes a year, and an awful lot of them are for weddings, and I think they are especially nice at daytime or semi-formal weddings. For something different, we also make piece-montee out of French macarons or Croquembouche, which is a tower of cream puffs that are both traditional at French weddings.

What are some of most interesting cake designs you’ve created?

Blue Moon Bakery: We have done several exquisite cakes where the designs came from the bride’’s wedding gown. The most colorful cake we have ever made was a topsy-turvy neon colored cake for an actor that played one of the lead characters in the Ninja Turtle movie.

Sugarland Bakery: We just did a cake that had over 12,000 Swarovski crystals incorporated into the design. We did a wedding cake this fall that was a tree. Nobody has ever come to us with a cake we couldn’t do. That’s the fun of the job.

Are there any recent trends that you’ve seen in the types of decorations brides are using for cake toppers?

Blue Moon Bakery: Silver monogram toppers, sometimes called cake jewelry, have become very popular in the last couple of years. They are sleek and very classic looking. One couple commissioned a silversmith to create a unique monogram piece that they planned to keep on their mantle.

Sugarland Bakery: I don’t think a topper is integral to a cake. I think cakes look more modern and architectural without them, and that is a look I like very much. We do a lot of fresh or silk flowers and monograms as toppers, and of course since we’re on Franklin Street, we make UNC’s Old Well out of sugar, and that is a very popular topper.

Do you have any suggestions for creative cake toppers?

Blue Moon Bakery: I think the topper can be used to show the couple’s personality. We have had several couples design their own toppers out of wire or wood. Fresh flowers have always been my favorite.

Sugarland Bakery: Make it personal. We do great toppers that can be replicas of the bride and groom made from sugar. Incorporate things that are meaningful and that you love.

What’s the most unique cake topper you’ve seen?

Blue Moon Bakery: A bird’s nest made out of wire with silk birds in it was one of the most unique toppers. Individual cakes of varying sizes were placed on a custom made plant stand that belonged to the bride’s grandmother. Grape vines and fresh flowers, including birds of paradise, were used to decorate the stand. It truly was one of a kind!

Sugarland Bakery: One couple had us put their Wii Miis on a cake.