Unique Wedding Cakes

Want to share some unique cake ideas you've seen or describe your dream wedding cake? Share your thoughts in the comments section at the end of this article. Or, ask our wedding expert, Sharon Naylor for advice on wedding cakes or any other burning wedding questions you might have.

Why Choose Unique Wedding Cakes

The wedding cake is usually the focal point of the reception. Unique wedding cakes can be pieces of confectionary artistry, conversation pieces, and reflective of you and your new spouse's sense of style and personalities. Some depart from standard wedding cakes to incorporate part of their heritage or ethnic background. Reflecting some part of a family tradition or piece of family history, as in a cake that resembles a family heirloom, can be a wonderful memory.

Recalling the place of proposal or place a couple met can be incorporated into a wedding cake. Special interests, hobbies, and activities can be conveyed in a cake as well.

You may want to incorporate your cake into your wedding theme, or you may wish your cake to reflect the colors and atmosphere of the season of your nuptials. Or, you may just want to make a splash with a daring and different cake.

Flavor and Fillings

A traditional wedding cake is white with white butter cream frosting. Unique wedding cakes can be as simple as choosing new and different flavors and fillings. Many bakers are willing to create different flavors for the different tiers if you wish.

For a spring wedding, lemon or lemon poppy seed cake with a lemon mouse filling can be a light and lovely alternative to white cake. Whipped toppings and luscious in season berries work well for summer weddings. Try a unique flavor for your cake like coconut, or a unique filling like pineapple, mango or key lime.

Carrot, spice, Dessert Recipes apple or applesauce, and nut cakes are wonderful for fall or harvest weddings. Use with cream cheese, maple, orange, toffee, or other filings. For winter weddings try chocolate, white chocolate, mocha, red velvet, or a rich butter pound cake. Amaretto or cappuccino, chocolate, fudge, hazelnut, and custard fillings all impart rich, warm flavors perfect for a cool weather wedding.

Design and Frosting

In addition to unique cake flavors and fillings, there are many unusual choices of frosting, shape, and design. While you want your wedding cake to taste delicious, you want a special and beautiful presentation as well.

Fondant frostings result in a hard, smooth finish, while butter cream frosting is more pliable and works well for lattice and textured finishes.

Unique wedding cakes might take the form of:

• Cakes with colored frostings
• Cakes with hand painted or airbrushed designs
• Topsy Turvy Cake -- layers that have a tilted look
• Square stacked cake decorated to resemble a stack of presents
• Octagonal wedding cakes
• Castle shaped cakes
• Heart shaped tiers
• Tiers frosted to look like draped cloth or swags
• Striped or patterned frostings

You can have a themed design such as a cake resembling a stack of flower pots for a Page garden wedding, a cornucopia for a fall wedding, or a Christmas tree tower for a winter wedding.

Embellishments and Presentation

The embellishment and presentation is also part of creating unique wedding cakes. Marzipan, gum paste, candy clay, and pastillage can all be used to create edible embellishments on your wedding cake.

Iridescent powders, cornelli lace, basket weave, or latticework designs, blown sugar pearls or jewels, and unique cake texturization can all create individualized looks for your cake.

More embellishment and presentation ideas for unique wedding cakes include:

• Fresh or sugared fruits
• Tea lite or votive candles adorning the cake
• Unique flower embellishments
• Unique cake toppers
• Frosting buttons, bows, or lace
• Fountain cake stands
• Unusual or theme cake stands
• Surround cake with a few wedding cake miniatures for whimsy
• Cookies and candy in complimentary colors artfully arranged around cake
• Theme decorations arranged on cake table

Wedding Cake Alternatives

For something very different, you can use another wedding cake alternative for a sweet ending to your special day. You might consider:

• A tiered presentation of cupcakes, cookies, or Recipes doughnuts
• A frosted cookie cake
• A large filled doughnut cake
• An ice cream wedding cake
• A cheesecake or mini cheesecakes
• Mini or individual cakes shaped like presents
• A 'cake' made entirely from stacked fresh fruit
• Chocolate fondue and fruit display
• An arrangement of jello salads and molds
• A Cake Recipes coffee cake
• A Recipes dessert buffet with chocolates and dessert miniatures
• Russian tea cakes
• An arrangement of croquembauche or cream puffs
• Baklava
• A whimsical presentation of funnel cakes
• Tiered pies or arrangement of pies
• Individual custards or flans
• Pudding, mousse, or tiramisu