Traditionally wedding cakes were all made of fruit and covered with marzipan and classic white royal icing, which was then decorated with lots of elaborate decoration. Nowadays however, wedding cakes generally are a lot simpler in design and iced with smooth sugar paste icing, or rolled fondant as it’s known in the US. Sugar paste icing is extremely easy to work with and makes a perfect platform for all kinds of decorations.
Appliqué and Piping
Appliqué and simple piped decorations are two of the most popular techniques used to add detail to a wedding cake. The design can be as basic or as intricate as you like. These techniques also work well with sugar flowers or fresh flowers, especially if the design is simplistic and understated.
Sugar Flowers
Sugar flowers are extremely traditional and are still very popular on wedding cakes, although they are now a lot more contemporary looking and simplified without so many wires.
Roses are still the most popular flower seen on wedding cakes, but cakes covered in blossoms of various types, sizes and colours are also popular. These decorations are all made from flower paste, a material which you can roll extremely thin and can hold its shape once moulded.
Brush Embroidery
Brush embroidery is another technique used to decorate a wedding cake. This is created by simply drawing an outline with royal icing and using a damp brush to pull the icing inwards, resulting in an interesting finish and texture on the smooth icing.
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Embossing
By embossing various tools into the soft icing you can also achieve a really interesting design on the cake. For example, you can create simple designs to match ribbed stationery by pressing a ruler into the sugar paste once iced. You can use flowers and other cutters in the same way to make a really pretty effect on the cake.
Stencilling
Stencilling is a fairly new technique and gives a really modern and interesting feel. It’s possible to achieve complex and intricate designs easily using this simple technique, which is more cost-effective than hand-piped and handcrafted sugar decorations.
Buttercream Coated Cakes
Cakes coated and finished in buttercream are ideal if you are not so keen on smooth sweet fondant icing. Usually the icing is applied with a palette knife and scraper to give an almost rustic finish. You can also pipe patterns on the cake in buttercream using various shaped piping tips such as scrolls, basket weave and rosettes. Cakes decorated this way are usually then embellished with fresh flowers or small sugar flowers.
Guest post by Zoe Clark of The Cake Parlour
Images from…
Appliqué and Piping, Sugar Flowers, Embroidery and Stencilled Icing: The Cake Parlour
Embossed Icing: The Abigail Bloom Cake Company
Buttercream Icing: Cake by French Made, Picture from Paola De Paola Photography
