Catering and Cakes

sophisticated palate

Live, Love, Eat!
- Wolfgang Puck

Dresses and flowers aren’t the only high-fashion element of today’s weddings. The entire reception dinner—including cocktails and hors d’oeuvres—has become a creative, artistic way to express the couple’s sophisticated palate and the caterer’s expertise and innovation. Classic entrées like caviar and smoked salmon will always have a place at the wedding table, and now caterers also are making room for tuna and lobster, spot prawns and fresh, locally-grown organic foods. Flavourings such as lemongrass and cilantro, as well as distinct tastes of grilled and wood-fired entrées are also contemporary, cutting-edge elements of the wedding dinner.

For your public role as a host, you want to give your guests a memorable meal that will set the stage for your reception. Making up typically a full quarter of your wedding budget, the design and theme you and your caterer create for the wedding dinner is all about how much you put into it. In your first meeting, before you discuss menu specifics, gauge how much his or her style and their work blends with your vision. To help them visualize your dreams, bring photographs and printouts from books, magazines and websites, cherished recipes, ideas from favourite restaurants, and likes and dislikes from weddings you’ve attended. Be as specific as you can about your theme or vision, and as up front as possible about your budget in order to make the most of both your and your caterer’s time.

sublime and unusual

One of the first discussions you’ll have will be about the meal presentation, and there are several options to consider. The traditional seated meal includes several served courses and is usually preceded by a cocktail hour, while buffets allow the guest to browse and choose from an assortment of dishes. Catering staff typically oversees the buffet, providing service as needed, and you can opt for a served first course to get guests seated and ready for the initial reception activities, like the toasts and first dances. Food stations are an increasingly popular option, and can be an enticing, visual experience for your guests. Several food areas are offered, with chefs creating mouth-watering masterpieces at each: think fresh pasta and wood-fired pizza at one station, roasted vegetables with grilled flatbread at another. A cocktail reception features butler-passed hors d’oeuvres and encourages guests to mingle.

When choosing a meal presentation, keep both your budget and the site of your reception in mind. Seated meals generally carry the highest service costs. If you’re having a garden wedding, buffet or cocktail service are ideal choices for their versatility, but a ballroom is the perfect place for the more formal seated meal. After you’ve drawn the initial sketches of the evening with your caterer, it’s finally time to fill in the broad strokes of vivid colour: the menu. Caterers have truly transformed the wedding menu into culinary art, and as much attention is given to presentation as it is to taste.

Cakes and favours

To me, every bride is a princess. To her parents, she is a queen. That’s why everybody gets a cake worthy of royalty.
Sylvia Weinstock

having your cake

The wedding cake, to this day, remains the penultimate symbol of the wedding celebration. In ancient times, however, the wedding cake custom symbolized fertility! Wheat was baked into a cake and then broken over the bride’s head. The crumbs were collected by the guests to ensure good fortune for the newlyweds. Fortunately, this tradition continues today only in the form of a beautiful reception centerpiece. Wedding cakes are now the piece-de-résistance, regaining the stature of an actual dessert, and the crowning touch to the end of a wonderful meal. With that in mind, you are limited only by your imagination and sweet tooth.

and eating it, too

Wedding cakes no longer have to mean white or marble cake with white frosting and a figurine of a couple on top, though if you choose this theme for your wedding, there are a myriad of couple wedding toppers from funky to fabulous. Pastry chefs recognize the sophisticated palates of modern couples and provide rich, flavourful cakes that are as beautiful to look at as they are enjoyable to eat. Décor and ornamentation on the outside, made with butter cream and fondant frostings, are an alternative to the traditional cake. Chocolate cheesecake delights the eyes while sophisticated fillings such as hazelnut and fresh raspberries please the palate. From dainty, hand-painted sugar orchids, roses and pansies, to delicate lace icings echoing the motifs in your bridal gown, formal contemporary cakes with black monograms on white icing to an over-the-top giant cupcake with neon icing surrounded by individual cupcakes for your guests to sample, there are cakes so beautiful and delightful, it almost seems a shame to cut them.

Your first step in creating your grand finale to your wedding is to find an excellent pastry chef or bakery at least eight to ten months beforehand. The cost is quoted at a per person/per serving rate. Prices will generally range from $2.50 to $15.00 per serving, depending on your choice of ingredients and complexity of design. Remember that the wedding cake should be considered a gourmet dessert all on its own; it may be the most expensive dessert you’ve ever ordered, but it’s also the centerpiece of the meal and reception and second only to the wedding dress in visual impact.

In your meeting with the pastry chef, you should discuss where the wedding is being held, number of guests, and the time of delivery to the reception. Experienced pastry chefs should ask you about colours, themes, and motifs in the invitations, gowns, and flowers that you may want to bring into the design. Bringing photos of cakes and desserts you like will help, but exact reproductions aren’t always possible.

tiers of joy

An endless choice of flavours and fillings are available; choosing the flavour first will give you a good base. Consider the season, time, and how warm or cool it will be on your wedding day. Some ingredients such as ganache don’t hold up in warmer weather. Particularly suited to an outdoor wedding would be a garden cake using an almond cake base with fresh orange Grand Marnier filling. And, why stick with only one flavour? Each layer of the cake could be a different flavour, ranging from mocha with Kahlua to hazelnut praline crunch!

Fillings are also a fun way to let your sweet tooth make a statement. Cakes usually consist of three or four tiers; that means each tier requires three or four layers of luscious fillings of your choice to hold them together. Adding different fillings for each layer, such as chocolate butter cream, hazelnut and dark chocolate truffle, will give your guests plenty to talk about after the meal! If you want to stick with something familiar and comforting, there’s the always popular carrot cake with cream cheese icing, or even cheesecake, stacked and layered and topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Or, think about meringues!

What’s Hot: Sparklers!

sculptured art

In the decoration of your cake, be prepared to be astonished by the level of artistry pastry chefs can achieve. Cakes can be made to resemble Cinderella’s carriage or wrapped gifts, layers can be stacked or separated by sleek glass pillars. A basket weave texture can be created with a silky French butter cream, incorporating a variety of edible flowers such as pansies and nasturtiums cascading down the sides. Details from the wedding gown or bridal jewellery can often be re-created by the best of pastry chefs; picture the bride’s Cameo jewellery echoed in lovely fondant charms surrounding each layer of the cake.

Another fun element of the wedding dessert is adding favours to the wedding table. A token of appreciation for your guests, favours can be just about anything that’s portable, decorative, and available in large numbers.

select a cake with whimsical colours and design

consider hand dipped truffles as a gift for each guest

a favourable impression

Depending on your wedding theme, these can include sea shells, plantable seeded cards, and sparklers! Fruits and nuts are common, but handmade soaps are also appreciated gifts. Petit fours and cookies make perfect favours; think of cookies decorated with icing or half-dipped in chocolate, made in various wedding-themed shapes and wrapped in a pretty bag. Wrapping favours in ornate boxes can save you time making place cards; simply add printed name tags for each box. Recruit the help of your bridesmaids if you’re handcrafting the favours or packaging them yourself; it makes for a fun get-together before the wedding.

Flowers may not be the only way to create a table centerpiece for each of your guest tables at the reception. Try a different kind of table centerpiece with cakes served by the wait staff; whether it’s a variety of cheesecakes or a three tiered table cake with different flavours. It’s your style and individual taste that will thrill your guests even with individual cakes to be served to each guest. Although these tiny-tiered works of art are more expensive per person than a slice of a larger cake, the effect and surprise is purely spectacular.

Once you’ve made your selections, the pastry chef will set up a tasting and the details of your cake will be finalized in writing. Your contract should describe the specifics of the cake; filling and icing flavours, colours, decorations, cake top, number of servings, delivery date, time, location and setup. Usually a deposit of fifty percent is required and the final count date should be discussed with your pastry chef. Be sure they are given the name and number of a contact person at the reception site. They’ll need to find out exactly when the facility will be available for the cake delivery and general logistics of setting up the cake. Also, make sure a separate table is set aside and decorated at the reception so that your gorgeous cake has an equally gorgeous display.

Prev: Health and Beauty | Next: Music and entertainment