By Grace Salter
The choice of a wedding cake symbolizes more than just a sweet treat – it embodies a couple’s unique journey and style. Wedding cakes have gone beyond traditional boundaries, becoming canvases for creativity and expression, and reflections of the couple’s personality and backstory.
Serving as the centerpiece of most receptions, wedding cakes add to the visual appeal and encourage memories and emotions, making them an integral part of the celebration. And for that reason, Jstyle Weddings asked local cake design teams to share the stories behind some of their most creative, delicious wedding cakes.
Photo courtesy of Wild Flour Bakery.
WILD FLOUR BAKERY
Wild Flour Bakery based in Rocky River has been working with clients to create personalized, unique confectionaries since 1994. It aims to create homemade desserts that enkindle comfort and memories, the team at Wild Flour explains.
They had the opportunity to create a cake for a couple who had roots in Norway and wanted to pay respect to their culture. The bakers understood the importance of encapsulating their clients’ culture and personal roots in their cake, and worked as a team to make it special, they explain via email.
“While we weren’t able to make a kransekake, we took inspiration from the traditional Norwegian wedding cake to design this cake,” Wild Flour bakers say. Kransekake is a traditional wreath-style cake made with at least 18 cookie rings. “We were really thrilled with how this cake turned out. It is always nerve-wracking to be taking elements of different cultures, we always want to be respectful and make sure we do it correctly.”
The Wild Flour cake was three tiers and carefully decorated with flowers, fruit and leaves –
elements often seen in Norwegian celebration cakes.
The team at Wild Flour say they could tell how much it meant to the bride and groom to have their heritage reflected in their wedding. The cake showcased their culture and backstory, making it a memory that would last forever.
Wild Flour’s favorite part of creating cakes for their clients is learning and being given the opportunity to make something new and unique, they explain.
“We had the opportunity to learn about kransekakes, and through the couple, we got to learn some other Norwegian traditions,” they say.
Photo courtesy of Cleveland Vegan.
CLEVELAND VEGAN
Everybody deserves a wedding cake that not only matches their aesthetic vision, but also their dietary needs and values.
Cleveland Vegan in Lakewood offers catering, cafe and bakery items for all occasions through organic and locally sourced vegan ingredients since 2012. The bakery works closely with clients to provide a personalized experience and has an extensive portfolio of wedding cakes that cater to the couples’ desires, says Mandy Drahos, front of house manager at Cleveland Vegan.
She has a specific cake in mind when it comes to beauty and individuality. Drahos says the client requested this cake for their wedding day and had a specific design in mind – one that would accommodate their dietary needs and values without sacrificing the vision they had for it aesthetically.
Creating vegan wedding cakes that are just as visually appealing and delicious as traditional cakes – which often include dairy products and eggs, which are not vegan – is what Cleveland Vegan specializes in.
And, the cake was exactly what they envisioned, Drahos says – three tiers with icing simulating flower petals and elegantly decorated slivers of gold wrapping around the cake.
“This cake looked absolutely breathtaking and made their wedding day even sweeter than it already was,” Drahos recalls.
The bride and groom wanted to step away from typical wedding cakes and anticipated a more creative, trendy design. Drahos says the team was excited about creating a cake that went beyond traditional boundaries.
“The best part about making this cake was the opportunity to decorate in a style that’s fun, creative and different,” Drahos says.