From the Professionals...Let's talk Cake!

Each month we delve deeper into subjects with the help from our trusted Whitewed Professionals! This month we've asked Sarah Forward of Cakes by Mrs F, Kim Curtis of Kimmi's Cakes and Hannah Culley of Hannah Culley's Cakes (three of our Whitewed vetted and approved cake designers) to talk all things cake with us! From interesting history, upcoming trends, when to cut the cake and lots more!

Wedding cakes have long been part of the marriage tradition and their styles are completely diverse: would you prefer a traditional three tier wedding cake or perhaps cupcakes and a cutting cake? Cake pops are super cool, as are macarons...and dessert tables look truly gorgeous!

Flavours and fillings have changed to way beyond the “traditional” dried fruit standard. If you fancy rich, chocolate ganache or an exotic mango and passion fruit filling with white chocolate, the choice is yours.

Let see what our professionals had to say where we quizzed them on all things cake!...

Cake Credit: Hannah Culley's Cakes

Let's talk cake cutting! When should the cake be cut and eaten?

Hannah of Hannah Culley's Cakes believes the earlier in the evening the better! She suggests that between 6-8pm would be the ideal time, as the cake will have been stacked and ’stood’ for pretty much the entire day! Cutting the cake at this time allows for it to be served straight away with your evening food. The cake is always well stacked, but the strain can be a lot especially for a bigger cake - so the sooner the better!

Kim of Kimmi's Cakes agrees with Hannah and suggests that the cutting of the cake is one the last official events you as a newly married couple carry out on your day, so believes it should be done just before your first dance as all of your guests will be present to watch. It can then be taken away to be sliced up for your guests to enjoy throughout the evening. This is the traditional method that many still adopt, however Kim recognised that alternatives such as opting to have your wedding cake pre-sliced as favours for guests, or serving it as part of their wedding breakfast as pudding are also suitable options!

As Kim says, 'really, there’s no set time of your wedding day to cut and serve your cake as it can work around what you decide to do! It is your day after all!'

Cake Credit: Kimmi's Cakes, Photography Credit: Nick Walker Photography

Where should the wedding cake be displayed?

Kim answers this one for us first. She says ' Your wedding cake is one of the things your guests will be excited to see! You’ve spent months planning the design and carefully selecting and sampling each of the flavours, now you have to choose where to show it off!

Some venues will have a designated area for your cake to be displayed on however, it’s what works for you, your venue and your day. Some of my couples have chosen to have their cake in the middle of the dance floor to be admired by all, before it’s cut and taken away for everyone to enjoy, others have gone for the bottom of a floral decorated, spiral staircase in the entrance hall of their venue.

There are so many ways to display you cake nowadays, from classic white linen covered tables and foliage adorned cake hoops, to the centre of dessert tables and even suspended cake constructions!

Most cake designers will be more than happy to get on board with your ideas to make your wedding cake dreams come true!'

Sarah of Cakes by Mrs F agrees with Kim that cakes are becoming more of a feature, and rightly so. They are moving out of the corners of venues to be a centre piece at the wedding. Sarah says 'putting a cake in a frame such as a hoop is very popular or sitting the cake on a dance floor for all to see is also increasing in popularity too.'

We asked Hannah of Hannah Culley's Cakes to advise on the practicalities to consider when deciding on the best placement for your cake...'Away from direct sunlight especially in the hot, summer months and especially if you’re having a buttercream cake as you don’t want the heat to melt it! I would suggest away from the main walkway avoiding people/children that may hit the table or where’s there will be people walking in and out. Somewhere out the way, in good lighting with space around it so you can also get good photographs of you cutting it with space for people to gather round too.'

We couldn't agree more! Why hide your cake away in a corner when you and your cake maker have spent hours designing and perfecting your cake to fit in with your wedding styling - display it with pride!

Cake Credit: Hannah Culley's Cakes

As we know, wedding cakes have long been part of the marriage tradition so we thought you'd love to hear a few fun facts on the history of the wedding cake, and some of the traditions that are slowly phasing out. This is one of those...

In Ancient Rome days wedding cakes were broken over the bride’s head to bring good luck to the couple in fertility and for prosperity! We're pretty sure you're happy that this tradition has seen the end of its day - imagine your beautiful dress! Thanks Hannah for sharing this fun fact with us!

The most popular combination for a wedding cake is still three tiers, and this is something that has been around since the early days, with each tier originally having a role to play. Sarah Forward of Cakes by Mrs F shares the roles with us... 'The bottom tier was served at the wedding reception, with the middle tier handed to guests as they left the party, and finally the top tier saved and frozen for a Christening cake.'

Kim of Kimmi's Cakes strongly advises against following this tradition of freezing the top tier of cake though. As she says 'Why would you freeze a cake when it tastes so good fresh! Your wedding cake maker can bake a delicious fresh cake for your christening or even make a replicate of your top tier for your first anniversary!'

Lastly, did you know... It is believed that wedding cakes started to be round after a baker was making his Daughters wedding cake in central London, the view from the bakery looked out as St Paul's Cathedral and this inspired him to make a round cake. Thanks Sarah of Cakes by Mrs F for sharing your #cakegeek facts!

There really is so many interesting and fascinating cake facts and traditions - a simple google search will bring up thousands! Will you be following any for your wedding day?

Cake Credit: Kimmi's Cakes, Photography Credit: Siobhan Beales Photography

Flavours! There seems to be a flavour phenomenon, with so many exciting and new flavours available on the market! We ask Hannah and Kim to chat to us a little about this. We had so much we wanted to know, 'are couples being more adventurous? What’s hot? Is fruit out?' Here's what they had to say...

Hannah says 'In all the years of my business I’ve done one fruit cake tier. It’s extremely rare and the traditional fondant/marzipan cake is no more! Couples love luxe, modern flavours – salted caramel is still very on trend as well as raspberry and white chocolate and flavours such as Nutella too for the chocolate lovers! Couples also are still following in the footsteps of Meghan and Harry and having lemon & elder-flower too. I would suggest always including a ‘classic’ crowd pleaser flavour such as lemon or Victoria sponge, a flavour you know people will love and won’t be wasted. This also pleases the grandparents too!

Kim on the other hand has found that the fruit cake seems to be making a mini come-back. She says 'There is some controversy on the classic fruit cake, one of my personal top 10! A flavour which is slowly making a comeback in my opinion. Lots of couples I’ve spoken to are wanting the traditional fruit cake to either have as a tier in their wedding cake or as a separate cutting cake.'

Kim loves coming up with new flavours when she gets time to have a play around in the kitchen. 'Currently, I have 27 mouth-watering flavours in my menu which I’m looking to add to in the new year! Some of my most popular flavours are classics such as Vanilla, Chocolate and Lemon with some new favourites in there including Coconut, Mango & Lime, Biscoff and Pink Gin! I’m always happy to try new flavours out so if there is something which isn’t on my menu that you would like to try let me know and I’ll be more than happy to give it a go!'

Cake Credit: Kimmi's Cakes, Photography Credit: Gordon Singer Wedding Photography

Going hand in hand with breaking the mould of flavours is the increasing change in dietary requirements that our cake designers are challenged with. We have to say, as samplers of many cakes (yes, a real perk to working the wedding shows where cake makers have lots of samples to try!) we have often eaten gluten, dairy or vegan friendly cakes without being able to taste a huge difference - how talented are our cake makers! We asked Kim and Hannah if they've seen an increase in dietary requests, if they cater for them, and if they have any top tips or recommendations to share with you?...

Hannah of Hannah Culley's Cake says 'there definitely is an increase in vegan requests which I can cater for in cupcake form, with gluten free seeming another common allergen too.' She suggests a box of ‘Allergens cupcakes’, a separate box of cupcakes to cater for the guests that need them which are labelled so the venue know. Alternatively, some couples have their top tier gluten/dairy free so they don’t have to have a separate box which is also a fab idea!

Kim of Kimmi's Cakes also caters for all dietary requests and says 'there has been a huge increase in various dietary requirements from vegan to gluten free. I’m proud to cater for most dietary requirements as no one should be without cake! You should always ask your cake maker if they can cater for your requirements, as they can always provide suggestions on how you make your work for you and your guests.

I offer separate tiers and cupcakes for guests who would otherwise miss out. Some couples have even opted for their whole cake to be vegan and have not told guests, they didn’t know it wasn’t ‘normal’ cake!'

Sarah Forward of Cakes by Mrs F is quite the macarons pro and she suggests that not only are they great as a tower or for decorating your cake, best of all, they are a great gluten free option too! Worth remembering!

Cake Credit: Hannnah Culley's Cakes

'There are so many options you can go for with your wedding cake design, from a naked cake finished with fresh fruit to a super classy fondant finished cake with various textures and sugar flowers. Your style, venue, budget and theme are all things to take into consideration when you start planning your wedding cake. Pinterest is a perfect way to start!

Still, one of the most popular styles for this and next year is the semi-naked/buttercream cakes with fresh florals. They complement the wonderful rustic venues we have surrounding the local areas and look perfect finished off on a log slice.

Popular colours for 2020/2021 so far are burgundy, emerald and navy with the odd blush pink in there still. I cannot wait to make them', says Kim of Kimmi's Cakes!

Hannah has also found the buttercream trend to still be very popular, with the semi-naked trend easing a little, with the textured buttercream effect increasing in popularity! Hannah says 'it’s slightly different, cleaner, still buttercream but not the rustic look and looks good in a non-barn venue. Blush pink is still very popular with my couples, as well as the white/neutral look which I’m finding is the more popular choice ever so slightly. Rose gold is starting to fade away and gold coming in!'

Sarah says 'colours are either bold and bright or muted and lots of gold is appearing, real luxury looks.'

We can't wait to see the deeper richer tones arrive, especially with the use of real flowers which Sarah Forward of Cakes by Mrs F is seeing a increase in. Sarah is also seeing the return of the fully iced cakes, even on more rustic designs, and most exciting to her, is the return of the sugar flowers (hooray!). Sarah believes we'll be seeing a lot more of unusual designs, hanging cakes and different shapes - hexagons especially, how exciting and luxe are these sounding! Sarah recently shared a hanging cake she'd designed for a recently summer wedding, and wow was it a show stopper!

Cake Credit:Cakes by Mrs F

There really are no limits to your cake with the right cake maker in tow. As Kimmi says, you can pretty much have any cake style, flavour, design or location if you work with your cake maker and venue collaboratively...

"Alongside flavours, the style and decoration of your cake is something that has no limits! If you have a preference of style e.g. buttercream or fondant ask your cake maker about what you want, what time of year your wedding is and the location of venue. This way they can advise the best way to achieve your design. Buttercream cakes are stunning in the rustic venues however they can be a risk for some bakers on super-hot sunny days!

Experienced cake makers and venues will be more than happy to help you achieve your cake dreams, from chilling the cake prior to leaving for your venue, to setting up last minute before your guests arrive so that no disasters happen in the heat.

Generally, you will be able to have any type of cake in any location just make sure you let your cake maker know so they can advise you on what is required and how best to proceed."

Cake Credit:Cakes by Mrs F

Thanks to our wonderful cake designers for shedding some light on CAKE this month. Who else is desperate to go eat some now?!

Why not head over to The Whitewed Directory, check out the pages of Kimmi's Cake, Hannah Culley's Cakes and Cakes by Mrs F to find out more about their work, book in your consultations to chat cake, and enjoy a taster or two as well!

Happy Planning

Love Team Whitewed