Tired of the Traditional Three Tiered Fruit Cake? Look no further for inspiration…
Being a cake connoisseur, believe me when I say that I know more than most how unique each and every cake creation is.
Cake and Image by Gaz’s CakeryCake is love, joy, an explosion of endorphins second to none – when the bake meets a Mary Berry standard that is; cake is an art form, and cake is celebration. Which also means your wedding cake should be as unique as your wedding dress.
For all those of you out there who are classic fruit, nut and marzipan aficionados, turn away now. But for those of you brides and grooms to be who want to add a little wow factor to your nuptials, I present to you my super exciting list of Unusual Wedding Cakes!
Unusual Design
When it comes to the unconventional, a wedding cake is one of the best ways to make a we-dare-to-be-different statement. The Tree House cake works perfectly to impress your eclectic green, Boho and tree-hugging guests whilst simulataneously shocking Great Aunt Nellie. It also makes a totally refreshing change from the usual and the expected. Who says weddings are all about hearts and flowers? If you aren’t a bride who does skirts, frills and high heels in everyday life, why compromise your love of nature, tree climbing and the great outdoors on the ‘biggest day of your life’?
Cheesecake
We’ll start with Cheesecake because I am biased. This was mine and my husband’s choice of wedding cake for our Big Day a few years ago via the award winning English Cheesecake Company. Best Decision Ever. Not only did our triple tiered masterpiece look mouthwateringly delicious with all of those glistening strawberries illuminating the Pump Rooms where we tied the knot, but everybody – children included – absolutely devoured it. And if your guests aren’t going to enjoy the cake, frankly what is the point? As a bonus, the cost of the cheesecake (even via a London based company) was a fraction of the cost of all of our local bakeries for the same sized creation in cake form. And we also saved a small fortune by serving our ‘wedding cake’ as the dessert. Happy dances all round.
The ‘Naked’ Wedding Cake
Image by Kit Myers Photography
Cake by Elaines Clever CakesThis is a cake which is fast gaining a glowing reputation, and with good reason. For a fraction of the price of a classic wedding cake, you entrust somebody you know, who is a whizz at turning out a perfect Victoria Sponge… and who can ever decline a piece of one of those! They create as many layers as you have guests who will indulge in them; yes this may require a few extra tins being purchased but the look will be worth the effort, and then you (or they, if they are also nifty flower arrangers) decorate lovingly with fresh flowers of your choice. Orchids, roses and gypsophilia all look stunning. It makes the cake that much more memorable, works beautifully when it comes to the photography, and will be sure to enchant your guests who will never again look at a classic English cake in quite the same way.The ‘Natural’ Wedding Cake
We are BIG Harry Eastwood lovers at The Glass House. And Harry’s baking ethos of using the very best quality vegetables and fruits as a base in all of her cakes extends to the world of weddings. Her August Wedding Cake featured in her ‘Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache’ book looks fabulous when cut into rustic square chunks and strewn with pale lemon roses. This is vintage shabby chic summer celebrating at its best. Using ingredients such as carrot, courgette, elder flower cordial, orange juice and white rice flour, she shows us how creating something delectable doesn’t need to involve a mountain of sugar and food colourings!
Cupcake Stacks
Cakes by Gaz’s CakeryEasy, fuss free and in perfect portions… no need to cut with the knife and the ever sexist (or is it just me who thinks that?) rigmarole of the man taking charge of the knife as the woman’s hand ‘helps’ it glide through the snow white royal icing and marzipan layer of the traditional wedding cake! No, cupcakes are beautiful in their own little way and can easily be prettied up with unique designs – perhaps even stylized for each individual guest – or colour and pattern coded depending on whether the wedding guest is on the bride’s ‘side’ or ‘grooms’ ‘side’. Cupcakes are fun, less intimidating for kids and an all round party-pleaser whatever the occasion. They are also a helluva a lot cheaper than the grandiose multi layered cake.
Cake Pops
Cakes by Sweetthingsbyfi.com
Image by Limelight Photography
Now these have been making quite a name for themselves as wedding favours. But in my book they’re good enough to replace… or even be used to decorate the rim of the wedding cake. Let’s face it, by the time we have scoffed three courses (and at the upper-end of the wedding scale, this can sometimes be as many as 6 or more!) we are pretty full. Thoughts are turning to toasting with champagne followed by a sobering coffee, before a quick cat nap taking us into the evening disco. The last thing we want is an edible wedding favour to take home/back to the hotel room with us! But served as the alternative to wedding cake along with our tea or coffee, this sweet bite is just right. It’s savoured both for it’s beauty and temple-aching quantity of sugar. And then it is gone. No fuss and the BIGGEST success for a wedding filled with kids.
Crafty Continental Creations
Cake by French Wedding CakesEdd Kimber, a former winner of The Great British Bake Off has a fantastic recipe for a DIY Wedding Macaroon Stack. And this leads me to think of some other alternative European stack creations…
Why not attempt another French inspired masterpiece; the Croquembouche tower, a Spanish-themed Churros stack with delectable pots of glossy rich chocolate dipping sauce on the side, or a sweet berry and cream filled Polish Pierogi stack? The possibilities are as endless as your creative flair and national heritage!
The Wedding Pancake
Image by: Eric Kelley Photography
As featured in Brides Magazine last year, this is an absolute stunner of a cake. The pretty thin almost filo pastry-like looking layers make an unusual contrast to the more run-of-the-mill cake designs. This cake reminds me of the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki in New Zealand, indeed there is something exquisitely natural about this, representing a unique couple who see things differently and are daring enough to do things their own way. I can hear my stomach rumbling just thinking about it… not to mention the plethora of sauces you could create for the optional toppings!
Unusual Colours
Or dare to shake up the pain palette with a striking teal number like this one from Molly Bakes. Decorated in the most wonderful shade of green buttercream and drizzled with a wicked looking chocolate ganache, this is one Wedding Cake that will spark your guests imagination and show your creative side. Anything goes when it comes to your showstopper and there are no rules set in stone to say it’s white, ivory, cream or pink! You’ll especially impress your sister-in-law who ‘just happens’ to be dressed in an L.K Bennett teal twinset, heels and posh hat…
That’s got to be enough to whet your appetite for starters and lure you over to the unconventional side.
But, failing all of that, watch the Amazing Wedding Cakes programme on Food Network! 
Cake by: www.mollybakes.co.uk
Image by: Zoe Flammang This will take your imagination to heights (quite literally) that you’d never before dreamed possible. Budgets and brides’ ideas know no limit in the cities of New York, L.A and Chicago where the series is filmed. And if nothing else, you will find a whole new empathy for the unsuspecting grooms who are ceremoniously dragged from bakery to bakery; like me you’ll be begging them to invest in some acting classes for when the film crew return to televise their Renewal of the Vows cake conferences…
