After a crazy busy week (and a trip to my cousin’s wedding in Brits), I’m finally sitting down to write this post! With two weeks (and only one weekend) to go, things are getting a bit more hectic and crazier, and I sort of just want the wedding weekend to get here already so that I can just RELAX.
I’m so glad that this entry of cake and desserts comes straight after my previous entry on décor, as the entire dessert table, inclusive of our cake, may just be my second favourite part of planning this wedding (you can read about my first love in the previous post). Cake, desserts… oh the sweetness! I absolutely love to bake, which can be clearly seen through my blog called ‘Baked In Love’. To me, baking is something special as every cake, cookie or cupcake has a story. You bake because you want to bake, not because you have to. You bake to share and you bake to celebrate.
Now that we have acknowledged and established my love for all things sweet, let’s dream of cake pops, cupcakes and buttercream!
Cake inspirations:
Let’s get naked, people. If you’ve been following my inspiration boards you will already know that I have a style crush on the biggest trend to hit wedding cakes since pies and donuts, and if you follow any other international blogs you probably will have seen a good few of these already, but I thought it was high time we had some naked cake roundup goodness here on SouthBound Bride. So what is a naked cake? In short, it’s a sponge cake that remains un-iced. It might have icing in between layers (although cream cheese frosting, cream and fruit are also common) and it might be beautifully dusted with icing sugar or dribbled with caramel, but the sides are generally left au naturel. And unlike Britney getting in a cab without her undercrackers, it’s a beautiful sight to behold, especially if you’re having a rustic wedding. Decorate with fruit, flowers or both, and stick to a series of smaller cakes or follow the traditional tiered round or square cake. You can go for a classic deconstructed Victoria sponge, or have different layers in different flavours and colours, which also looks pretty amazing! Of course, not everyone is a fan – some cake pros I know feel it looks unfinished and worry about the cake drying out – and, of course, there’s no hiding any cake mishaps under fondant here. Despite this, I think we’ll be seeing lots of these in the upcoming season.
**UPDATE** See our latest roundup of naked cakes (especially for autumn weddings!) hereRead More
What isn’t there to love about cake?
A cake is an experience. From the whisking and mixing of the ingredients to its delicate artistic finishing it is a feast for the every sense. A cake is a birthday with re-lightable candles, a celebration, a gathering, a gesture of love. It’s happiness on a sunny day, sprinkling breadcrumbs in the garden for the birds and eagerly waiting for your mum to call your name to lick the spatula. It’s running through excitedly and devouring every last bit of the raw cake batter goodness, sometimes wondering why it ought to be baked at all. It’s that distinct, warm scent of deliciousness that makes you hold your hands over your face whilst you stare longingly into the oven, barely waiting for your creations to achieve the much anticipated golden brown colouring. It’s wearing pearls in the kitchen pretending to be Julia Child. Indeed, a cake is a memory, and so being, is a wedding decision deserving of some thought.
In the movie Father of the Bride, wedding planner Franck suggests that one begin the planning process by thinking of the cake, as the cake will determine the wedding that one ends up having. The cake suggests colour, formality, tone, and in line with Franck’s advice, choosing the cake was actually the very first wedding planning decision that I remember making… A 2005 decision to be exact! :) Flipping through a magazine, I had seen it, torn it out and kept it. A decision easily made, and a cake I just can’t wait to see!
Recently, however, it is actually this, the Father of the Bride movie cake, that I have found myself staring at bizarrely often. The rich butter coloured cake seems to almost twinkle with the magic, warmth and comfort of the Disney classic and seems to say ‘wedding’ with an inspired confidence.
