Ask the Expert: If I knew you were coming I'd have baked a cake! (From Brides Dorset)

Ask the Expert: If I knew you were coming I'd have baked a cake!

12:30pm Thursday 19th November 2009 in Diary of a Bride By Pat Simmons

I have been making cakes for many years. It’s great fun and enables you to be creative and of course deliver a yummy end result! When my husband and I decided to get married, I didn’t think to order a wedding cake and naturally made my own.

Cake baking was always a part of family life every Christmas and Birthday in our household was acknowledged with a home baked cake. The word spread and I was soon approached by friends and family to do the same for them.

The inevitable happened – and ‘Pat-a-Cake of Wimborne’ was born from my country kitchen in Wimborne two years ago.

It’s a wonderful moment when you pass over your creation to a client, knowing that they will eat your cake with loved ones and I am happy to be a part of the celebration.

Choosing your wedding cake

Now on to choosing your wedding cake and where to start…

Your wedding cake is a focal point at your wedding reception and of course a tasty treat for you, your friends and family!

When choosing your wedding cake, the design and flavour should match you as a couple.

A good starting point is to decide whether the style or flavour of your cake is most important to you. Of course flavour is always important but certain decorations lend them selves to certain cakes and visa versa.

The design of your chosen wedding cake decoration may require the use of fondant, for example. A traditional iced fruitcake lends itself to intricate piping or sugar craft flowers.

If however you wish to have your favourite flavoured cake, such as carrot cake, then you would decorate with a butter cream frosting; the cake could then be dressed with ribbon and fresh flowers or sprinkled with crushed lavender petals, for a country feel!

If you are looking to make a statement and fancy something more exotic, why not flavour your cake with hazelnut, coffee or your favourite liquor!

Get Inspired!

You can take inspiration from many elements of your wedding and the type of people you are will influence your choices. For example you may be having a contemporary wedding and choose to dress each tier of your wedding cake with a black ribbon and diamante brooch, for a touch of glamour!

If you were having a Victorian English country garden theme, perhaps a heart shaped cake covered in pastel chocolate roses may be an option or individual cup cakes with miniature country garden sugar flowers on each.

You may wish to take inspiration from your wedding dress. Whether it has details you would like to be copied or if it has lace you could have edible lace to decorate your cake. You can even have the cake match your wedding dress colour, which always looks stunning in your wedding photographs.

Perhaps you would like sugar craft flowers to decorate an iced wedding cake, these can match your wedding bouquet. I always work using real flowers as a template to get a perfect colour match.

You may be a chocoholic and wish to indulge in chocolate - you can even get edible chocolate flowers made to decorate.

Desert options such as cheesecake, profiterole towers and dipped chocolate strawberries with meringues can also be fun alternatives to the traditional idea of a wedding cake, and is certainly a talking point for your wedding guests!

What to do next

Arrange a meeting with your cake maker and bring along any inspiration with you to show the baker your ideas. If you have a specific flavour of cake in mind let your baker know and arrange a tasting session.

Bear in mind that cakemakers will specialise in different things - I specialise in sugar-craft flowers and bespoke designs for my clients.

To keep up to date with the latest news from the Pat-a-Cake kitchen check our newly launched blog for inspiration and my latest cake designs.

All the best with your wedding plans!