– by Sarah Kirkpatrick
A wedding cake is the centrepiece of all centrepieces. It stands tall, or wide, or delicate, but always magnificent on its own table for all to marvel. It catches the eye of children and adults alike and serves as a pillar of dreams for all in attendance.
Image supplied by: Cake Sensations
A wedding cake does not just appear. It is not simply bought at a store, put in a box and carried to a venue. A wedding cake, that is to be marvelled at, and contribute to the overall beauty of a night celebrating true love, must be masterfully crafted and delivered. Sure, some people have a second cousin twice removed that used to bake cupcakes as a child and has now offered to do the same for you… but in the grand scheme and the overall picture, will you be able to tell the difference?
Image supplied by: Cake Sensations
Cake Sensations, a Calgary company specializing in wedding cakes and the winner of multiple design awards, understand that the stages involved in making a cake far exceed baking and serving. Owner Judy Crowe recommends that brides order their wedding cakes 9-15 months in advance (depending on the month of the wedding – August being the busiest).
The first step in creating a wedding cake is for the bride to book a consultation with a cake designer. Think of a wedding cake as a commissioned piece of art. When a bride comes into Cake Sensations she usually has a vision of what her dream cake looks like, and it is up to Judy Crowe and her team to make that vision a reality. If a bride does not have a vision of her own, Judy figures out her interests, style, and preferences, and works with the bride to create a look that suits those.
Once the dream has gotten everyone excited the team at Cake Sensations gets to work creating custom moulds, flowers, embellishments, and all of the details that will make this cake unique. A structure is then built so ensure the entire cake is properly supported.
Image supplied by: Cake Sensations
Throughout the process Judy and her team work closely with the bride’s wedding planners and venue to ensure that everything will fit and complement each other. And this is all before the cake has even been baked, decorate, and assembled!
But a wedding cake isn’t just eye candy; it needs to please the palates of all of your friends and family, and especially you. This is where cake tasting comes in. During cake tasting, Cake Sensations provides 10 samples for the bride and her group to taste. While they are happy to cater to specific preferences Judy finds that even brides set on a particular flavour will usually leave with at least three favourites. Luckily for the bride, Cake Sensations offers the option of using a different flavour for each tier of cake! I don’t know about you, but that seems like a wonderful reason to go big.
Image by: Alan Maudie Photography
And while it is the inside that counts, sometimes the outside is pretty tasty too. With an almost unlimited selection of frosting and icing flavours brides can really create a cake that will make their taste buds tingle. The most popular of these tingling flavours is the classic white chocolate buttercream, with raspberry (using fresh raspberries) also high on the list. Cream cheese icing is often inquired about, but because of its requirement to be refrigerated Cake Sensations offers a delicious cream cheese flavoured alternative. Is your mouth watering yet?
So now is the actual cake baking, decorating, and assembling part. See how much effort goes into these amazing pieces of art? In fact, Judy once made a birthday cake where the sugar flowers alone took a month to create. And she couldn’t have been happier.
Image by: Alan Maudie Photography
The designers at Cake Sensations love to build cakes that surprise people; not only in scale, but in craft. Cakes that truly take your breath away. “We like to incorporate a lot of bling in several different ways, and love doing spectacular flower arrangements, both sugar and real” says Judy.
Image supplied by: Cake Sensations
Whether that means hand sculpting a 5-tier classic, vanilla, white, circular cake with flowers and pearls or modern, key lime, purple, cupcakes with wrappers, Cake Sensations will bring a tear to your eye. Don’t believe us? Take a look through the rest of their portfolio and just try to walk away without bigger eyes and a watering mouth.
