Party Pros: Finding a Cake Designer

Even if choosing your cake is the last big item on your planning checklist, you'd do well to find a confectionary genius ASAP. First and foremost, find out if your site allows you to bring in an outside baker -- increasingly, sites prefer to keep this aspect of business to themselves.

Figure out if the cake is the least of your worries (you just want something sweet and gooey to feed your guests) or if it's high on the "must-obsess-over" list. If it's not that important, don't splurge on a custom-designed cake fit for royalty. And if you've determined your cake budget, the selection process will be that much easier. Here are your options:

Caterer/Reception Hall
Nine times out of ten, these folks can produce a delicious cake. But just because you trust their take on poached salmon and penne a la vodka doesn't mean they're cake wizards. Our advice? Be specific about your desires: Bring out visual examples, ask to see pictures of their past cakes, and sample the wares. Hopefully, you'll be delighted.

Pros: Convenience
Cons: May not be able to create your dream confection

Commercial Bakery or Boutique Bakery
Check out your neighborhood (supermarket or specialty) bakery, which may or may not specialize in elaborate cakes. You might have limited design, personalization, or flavor choices, but good bakeries offer styles that accommodate a variety of tastes -- and taste buds.

Pros: Convenience and lower cost
Con: May not be able to create your dream confection

Custom Design
The current trend in cakes favors enlisting the expertise of an independent cake designer. His or her cakes feature exquisite workmanship, sophisticated ingredients, and decorative techniques. Designers are passionate and treat each confection like a work of art. This approach allows for personalization and robustly imaginative planning. A gifted cake designer is often the only one who can turn your vision into reality.

Pros: Personalization
Cons: Cost is usually much higher

Before you start making appointments you might also get friends' recommendations; get referrals from your caterer (or site manager); ask florists and photographers for recommendations (visually aesthetic souls that they are, they should know of some creative cake bakers); ask your favorite restaurant's pastry chef to recommend bakeries, or see if he/she will agree to take on a freelance project.

As you start setting up appointments, find out when each baker's next tasting is scheduled. At tastings, clients are invited into the bakery to sample exemplary cakes, ask questions, and review portfolios. This is an excellent opportunity to meet bakers and fully understand the range of their abilities. Don't be shy -- attend as many tastings as possible.
To be fully prepared for appointments with cake bakers, learn the cake lingo. Here are some of the Basics:

Basketweave: A piping technique that features interwoven vertical and horizontal lines (like a wicker basket).

Buttercream: A smooth, creamy icing that stays soft so it's easy to cut through. It can be colored and/or flavored. Also used to create piping, swags, and other borders, as well as decorative rosettes. It can be used as filling, too. Party Pointer: Buttercream is made from butter (as its name implies), so it may melt in extreme heat or humidity.

Dotted swiss: A piping technique that forms tiny dots in random patterns that resemble a fine dot swiss fabric.

Fondant: A sweet, elastic icing made of sugar, corn syrup, and gelatin that's literally rolled out with a rolling pin and draped over a cake. It's a smooth, firm base for gum paste flowers, decorative details, and architectural designs, and has a porcelain finish. Party Pointer: A fondant cake should not be refrigerated.

Ganache: A sweet, rich chocolate, denser than mousse but less dense than fudge, which can be used as icing or filling. Party Pointer: Because ganache is made of chocolate and heavy cream, it will soften in very humid weather.

Gum paste: This paste of sugar, cornstarch, and gelatin is used to mold realistic-looking fruits and flowers to garnish a cake. Gum paste decorations are edible and will last for years, but, say some, they don't taste as yummy as marzipan.

Marzipan: A paste made of ground almonds, sugar, and egg whites, used to mold edible flowers or fruit to decorate the cake. Marzipan can also be rolled in sheets, like fondant, and used as icing.

Pillars: Separators used in a tiered cake. They can be made of plastic or wood in several lengths to achieve the desired look.

Piping: Decorative details created using a pastry bag and various metal tips. Piping details include leaves, borders, basket-weave patterns, and flowers.

Torte: A dense cake that does not use leavening agents like baking powder or baking soda.

Whipped cream: Heavy cream beaten to achieve a thick consistency. Party Pointer: Whipped cream does not work well as an icing, and must be kept refrigerated -- it is unstable and not recommended for outdoor parties.

 

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