We’ve talked about Cake Wrecks, Cake Traditions, Cake Designs, and Cake TV Shows. So what’s left?! Cake FLAVORS! We couldn’t celebrate cake week without talking about what the cakes actually taste like, now could we?

We haven’t necessarily tried these cake flavors, but they definitely caught our attention. What do you think?

Flavor 1:
Lemon Cake with Toasted Coconut Mousse
This flavor seems very simple, mixing citrus and savory coconut. I can imagine this in a spring wedding.

Flavor 2:
Vanilla Lemon Cake Infused with Green Tea and Lemon Zest with Honey Green Tea Buttercream
This seems like it would be for a health conscious, organic couple. Green Tea automatically makes me think of refreshing and healthy. I can see this in a summertime outdoor reception among gorgeous greenery.

Flavor 3:
Hazelnut Meringue Cake with Chocolate Ganache
Hazelnut flavors make me think of hot chocolate. A savory cake like this can be enjoyed during the winter months. It’s seems like a very comforting, down-home cake. I’m picturing a romantic fireplace in a quaint lodge surrounded by friends and family. Anyone else envision this?

Flavor 4:
Devil’s Food Cake with Peppermint Chocolate Chip Mousse
One word: Christmas. Peppermint flavors and scents always remind me of the holidays. Devil’s Food cake is the ultimate chocolate indulgence, and adding in chocolate chips is just downright delectable! The rich flavor of the cake followed by the refreshing peppermint chocolate chip mousse would be a hit at any wedding reception.

Flavor 5:
Vanilla Cake with Blackberry Curd and Passionfruit Mousse
A simple vanilla cake accented by blackberry curd would be delicious. Passionfruit is a great tropical fruit, so I can see this cake in an outdoor Spring or Summer reception, maybe on the beach. Yes, sunset would be nice.

What are some of your favorite cake flavors? If you’re married, what flavor did you have for your wedding cake?

Have a great weekend!
Southern Event Planners
Memphis wedding planners

Wedding cakes and cakes of all kinds are having their 15 minutes of fame in the media. Whether it’s a feisty baker, an extreme cake creator, or a challenge to see who can make the best wedding cake in 8 hours, TV stations have picked up on this current craze.

Let’s take a look at some of our favorite cake shows, shall we?

Number One:

Ace of Cakes
Food Network
Thursdays at 10:00pm EST/9:00pm Central

How can you not like watching Chef Duff, Geoff, Mary Alice, and the gang? They make some amazing cakes, but the quick wit, dry sarcasm, and unmatchable humor makes Ace of Cakes a truly entertaining show. It just looks like an an all around fun place to work. Sure it looks stressful at times, and tears are shed when the icing falls off or the fondant cracks for the 5 millionth time, but overall, the laughter cancels out the tears. Like we’ve said before, without laughter, life is just stressful!

Number Two:

Cake Boss
TLC
Mondays at 10:00pm EST/9:00pm Central

A fairly new show on TLC is picking up viewers left and right. This show follows Buddy Valastro, a fiesty New Jersey baker who’s trying to run a family business: Carlo’s Bake Shop. Pranks, arguements, and beautifully crafted cakes are sure to keep you watching. But be careful, if you even MENTION that you want an erotic cake for a bachelor or bachelorette party, Mama Valastro will come after you! She won’t allow it…not in her family business!

Number Three:

Amazing Wedding Cakes
WeTV
Sundays at 10:00pm EST/9:00pm Central

This show is a little different than the first two we mentioned. It’s solely dedicated to the creation of wedding cakes, and it follows four different bakeries from around the United States: Cake Alchemy in Pennsylvania, CakeGirls in Illinois, Christopher Garren’s Cakes in California, and Merci Beaucoup Cakes in California. I’ve noticed there were some recent changes to the show, and one of the guys that worked for a previous bakery that was featured now works for Merci Beaucoup Cakes. At Cake Alchemy, one of the owners is not on the show anymore. I wonder if she quit and went her own way. One of the latest episodes featured a spinning DJ’s table groom’s cake done by CakeGirls. It looked like the real thing! The groom had his doubts and reservations about the look of the cake, but he was thrilled when he saw the finished product:

Photo from WeTV

Southern Event Planners
Memphis wedding planners

In keeping with our Cake Week theme, we figured we would feature a “What’s Up With That?!” post about cake. Let’s take a look at cake charms and the ever-so-popular groom’s cakes:

Cake Charms:

 If you’re a girl who loves legends and old world traditions, consider doing a “Cake Pull” at your wedding reception. This event dates back to Victorian times, and it’s a way to get your wedding party and possibly your guests involved in the festivities.

During the wedding reception, female attendants, usually single ones, stand around the cake and pull a ribbon that is attached to a charm inside of the wedding cake. The charm that they pull can tell them about their future, give them advice, or it may just have a special meaning.

One website that features the charms is WeddingCakeCharms.com. They have a great selection, and they have the meaning of the charm listed as well. You can purchase each charm individually, or you can buy a premade set. Most of the charms look to be about the size of a dime.

Here’s what you do:

1. Find a baker who knows the tradition. This is very important because he or she needs to know how to insert the cake charms.
2. Then, pick out small cake charms (one for each person in your bridal party, or however many you want) to be inserted into the cake. Each charm will be pulled out of the cake by a ribbon. You can pick out the cake charms based on meaning or theme. Make a small piece of paper to hand to the guests that are participating that has the meaning of each charm.
3. At the reception, have every participant gather around the cake and choose a ribbon to pull. You can have them pull the charms one at a time or all at once after a grand countdown.

So what do I do with the charms after they are pulled out of the cake???
Good question! There are several different ideas:

1. If you are doing the Cake Pull exclusively with bridesmaids, you can buy them each a charm bracelet, and they can have the cake charm be the first one on the bracelet.
2. After the guests find out the meaning of their charm, they can give them back to you, and you can put them on your own charm bracelet to commemorate the day.
3. If there are a lot of guests, they can keep their own charm as a memento and start their own charm bracelets or make a necklace out of it.

Groom’s Cakes:

We know the wedding is all about the bride, but letting the groom have a little slice of the action doesn’t hurt. The bride typically gets her way with an elegant wedding cake filled with luscious layers. But what about the groom? He can have his own personalized, funky cake!

Believe it or not, the groom’s cake originated right here in the southern United States. It was intended to be a gift from the bride to the groom on their wedding day.

The groom’s cake is usually “masculine” and features darker colors; however, in the past few years, grooms’ cakes have taken the shape of their hobbies and interests…maybe even an odd obsession. I recently attended a wedding, and the groom’s cake was an aardvark. Random? Yes. Meaningful? Apparently!

There’s a fun legend that goes along with this cake:
Supposedly, if you’re a single woman at the wedding reception, you take home a slice of the groom’s cake and sleep with it under your pillow. That night, you’ll dream of the man you’re meant to marry. Now, aside from this being totally messy, it’s a pretty neat legend.

So now you know what’s up with the groom’s cake!

Stacy
Southern Event Planners
Memphis, TN

Now that we’ve shown you a few wedding cake blunders, we’ll switch it up a little. We did some searching, and we found some amazing wedding cakes that we had to share with you.

Photo from Sugar Diva's Photo Stream

This is one of our favorite cakes from one of our own brides, Kim. Read about her here: Wedding Recap – Kim and Buck. The cake was made by Cakes by Ms. Peggy, and the photo was taken by Studio J.

Photo by Studio J Photography

While surfing the endless pictures of unique wedding cakes, we came across this wonderful creation:

Photo from Sugar Diva's Photo Stream

Amazing and tastefully done, yes? I love the coffee cups on the top tier with the steam lines.

Another cake we fell in love with was this one:

Photo from GNYC.net

The cake looks very clean and the lines are sharp and defined. It’s not overrun with flowers. Sometimes simplicity is best!

We can’t remember where we found this next cake, but it has to be shared. If you know who the baker is, or even the photographer, let us know and we’ll update the information. We want to give everyone credit for their work!

The red design features flowers, birds, rabbits, squirrels, horses, and I think I see some dragonflies and butterflies as well. Keep looking and let us know if you see anything else we missed!

Now for a change of pace. Brides are wanting cupcakes and small cakes for wedding favors, and they even replace the actual wedding cake with the cupcakes! We can’t remember where we found this photo either, so let us know if you know the baker. The photographer looks to be Billy Winters.

And last, but not least, one of our absolute fabulously favorite wedding cakes from one of our brides:

Photo by Ramblin' Rose Photography

The cake was done by  Cory Lewis of Cory Lewis Cakes, and the photo was taken by Ramblin’ Rose Photography. Gor-Geous!

Which one is your favorite? Comment below to tell us!

Southern Event Planners

Memphis wedding planners