The Best Wedding Cake: A Taste Test

Choosing a wedding cake flavour can be a daunting task, but it's an important part of the wedding planning process. The cake flavour should ultimately reflect the couple's personal taste, but there are some crowd-pleasing options that are considered classics for a reason. Vanilla, chocolate, yellow cake, and red velvet have been the most popular wedding cake flavours for decades. These days, couples are getting more adventurous, with lemon, spice cakes, almond, and even cognac, coffee and cream, and peanut butter cup cakes becoming increasingly popular. The best wedding cake flavour is the one you enjoy the most, but if you're looking for a crowd-pleaser, vanilla cake with a berry filling or frosting is a safe bet.

Lemon cake with raspberry preserves and vanilla buttercream

The lemon cake is a perfect choice for a summer wedding, as the citrus flavour is light and refreshing. It pairs beautifully with the raspberry preserves, adding a sweet and tangy touch. The vanilla buttercream complements the lemon and raspberry flavours, providing a creamy and smooth texture.

When creating this wedding cake, you can follow a recipe or work with a professional baker to customise it to your preferences. You may also consider adding your own unique touches, such as fresh raspberries and twisted lemon slices as decorations.

This flavour combination is a wonderful way to surprise and delight your guests, offering a memorable and delicious experience on your special day.

Ingredients:

• Lemon cake:
• Fresh lemons for zest and juice
• Cake flour or all-purpose flour
• Sugar
• Butter
• Eggs
• Baking powder and baking soda
• Sour cream
• Milk
• Raspberries
• Lemon extract (optional, for a stronger lemon flavour)
• Raspberry preserves:
• Fresh or frozen raspberries
• Sugar
• Lemon juice
• Cornstarch or other thickening agent
• Vanilla buttercream:
• Butter
• Cream cheese
• Confectioners' sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Lemon zest and juice (optional, for a hint of lemon)

Method:

• Prepare the lemon cake batter by mixing dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda) and wet ingredients (butter, eggs, sour cream, milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest) separately, then combining them.
• Gently fold in the raspberries coated with flour to avoid them sinking to the bottom of the cake.
• Bake the cake layers according to the recipe, ensuring even baking and a light golden colour.
• Prepare the raspberry preserves by cooking the raspberries, sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch until thickened.
• Make the vanilla buttercream by creaming the butter and cream cheese, then gradually adding the confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, and optional lemon zest and juice.
• Assemble the cake by layering the lemon cake, raspberry preserves, and vanilla buttercream. You can also add fresh raspberries and lemon slices as decorations.
• Chill the cake to allow the flavours to meld and enjoy it on your special day!

Chocolate cake with salted caramel filling

The Chocolate Cake

The key to a delicious chocolate cake lies in the ingredients and baking technique. For a truly decadent chocolate cake, use a combination of cocoa powder and melted chocolate in your batter. This double dose of chocolate will intensify the flavour and create a rich, fudgy texture. Don't skimp on the butter or eggs, as these ingredients are essential for a moist and fluffy cake. A touch of sour cream or buttermilk can also enhance the cake's tenderness. Finally, a splash of hot coffee or espresso will enhance the chocolate flavour and give it that something extra special.

The Salted Caramel Filling

The star of this wedding cake is undoubtedly the salted caramel filling. To make it, you'll need to create a caramel sauce by melting sugar and adding cream, butter, and a generous pinch of sea salt. This process can be tricky, so be sure to monitor the sugar closely as it melts and changes colour. Once your caramel sauce is ready, let it cool to room temperature before using it as a filling between the cake layers.

Assembly and Decoration

When assembling your wedding cake, it's essential to create a barrier between the cake and the caramel filling to prevent the cake from becoming soggy. A thin layer of buttercream or ganache will do the trick. Repeat this process for each layer, adding a generous amount of caramel sauce between each cake tier. Finally, frost the entire cake with a chocolate buttercream or ganache for a sleek and elegant finish.

Final Touches

To take your wedding cake to the next level, consider adding some decorative elements. A light sprinkling of sea salt on top of the cake will enhance the salted caramel flavour and create a beautiful contrast. Fresh flowers or edible gold leaf can also add a touch of elegance. For a more whimsical touch, top the cake with caramel-filled chocolates or truffles.

Serving Your Wedding Cake

Remember to store your wedding cake properly before the big day. It's best to assemble the cake a day in advance and keep it refrigerated until it's time to serve. This will allow the flavours to meld and intensify, creating an even more delicious dessert. When it's time to serve, bring the cake to room temperature so that your guests can fully enjoy the rich, indulgent flavours of your chocolate and salted caramel creation.

Funfetti cake

If you are concerned about the funfetti cake being too informal for a wedding, you can opt for a sophisticated-looking cake on the outside, with the funfetti surprise on the inside. You could also have a tiered cake with one tier of funfetti and another in a more traditional flavour. Alternatively, you could offer funfetti cupcakes as an additional dessert option, alongside a more traditional wedding cake.

Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting

Red velvet cake is a rich and decadent wedding cake flavour that doesn't need much else—it's delicious all on its own. It is the "queen of all layer cakes", with a sweet marriage of buttermilk and vanilla with a little cocoa for good measure. It is dense and soft with a moist and velvety crumb.

Red velvet cake is much more than vanilla cake tinted red. The "mystery flavour" is a sweet marriage of buttermilk and vanilla with a little cocoa for good measure. The cake is dense and soft with a moist and velvety crumb. The absolute best part about red velvet cake is the cream cheese frosting. Slathered on thick, cream cheese frosting is delicately sweet and undeniably creamy.

To make the best red velvet cake, you should use cake flour. It is much lighter than all-purpose and the perfect base for a light, soft-crumbed cake texture. You will thank yourself for the recommendation after you taste how incredibly soft this cake is. It's the texture you find at professional bakeries.

Unsweetened cocoa powder is also key. Two tablespoons is plenty for a little cocoa flavour without overpowering the vanilla and butter flavours.

You should use both butter and oil. Moist texture, soft and cakey texture, and buttery flavour are achieved by using both. Moisture and softness are achieved with oil, and butter brings flavour.

Buttermilk is also key. It is tangy, creamy, and makes baked goods extremely moist. You can’t make delicious red velvet cake without it! Additionally, buttermilk helps activate the baking soda to leaven the cake.

Red velvet cake wouldn’t be red without food colouring. You can use gel food colouring because the colour is concentrated, so you need less of it. For natural colouring, use beet powder. If you don’t want to use food colouring, leave it out! The cake will have the same flavour and be a lovely shade of cocoa.

Cream cheese frosting is the perfect pairing for red velvet cake. It is sweet, delicious, and marries with the cake perfectly.

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

Carrot cake is a versatile option that can be tailored to your taste. The cake itself is perfectly spiced and incredibly moist, with a rich texture. You can choose to add nuts or pineapple to the batter, or keep it simple and let the carrot flavour shine through.

The key to a moist carrot cake is using oil instead of butter. Oil keeps the cake deliciously moist, and Greek yoghurt or sour cream adds to this perfect texture. When it comes to the carrots, it's best to grate them yourself using the small holes on a box grater so that they melt into the batter.

For the frosting, a traditional cream cheese frosting is a perfect complement to the spiced carrot cake. This frosting is sturdy, pipe-able, and can be dyed to fit your wedding colour scheme. It's important to use full-fat brick-style cream cheese and unsalted butter for the best results. You can also add cornstarch to make the frosting thicker without making it sweeter.

When it comes to designing your cake, you can get creative! Carrot cakes are often decorated with cake strips to give them a unique look. You can also add a light sprinkling of walnuts on top for added texture and flavour.

So, if you're looking for a wedding cake that's both classic and delicious, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is an excellent choice. It's a crowd-pleaser that will leave your guests wanting more.

Frequently asked questions