Perfect Wedding Cakes for Every Style!
What kind of wedding cake do you dream of? Simple and chic, modern and contemporary or a traditional tiered wedding cake, a naked cake or a French croquembouche?
We asked some of our most popular wedding cake makers what wedding cake request had been memorable for them and which style is most popular for French Weddings… here’s what they shared with us!
A traditional French wedding cake is a croquembouche, composed of profiteroles piled into a cone and bound with spun sugar. It can be decorated with other confectionery such as sugared almonds, chocolate, and edible flowers. Sometimes it’s covered in macarons or ganache.
And it’s not just for weddings, these beautiful creations can be served at any large banquet or special occasion!
Chloébelle’s Cakes
Over the years I’ve been dubbed the “Naked Cake Lady” in France! We do other cakes but this style of cake has become a specialty at Chloébelle’s Cakes.
Over the 8 years that Chloébelle’s have been making wedding cakes in SW France, I have seen trends come and go but the cake that remains a constant favourite of our couples is the Naked Cake, so much so that around 90% of my clients choose this type of cake. Naked cakes are easily adaptable to clients tastes and styles, over recent years clients have been straying from the traditional stacked sponge cakes with cascading fruits and putting their own stamp on their cakes. We have been asked for pastel buttercream skims, cookies, macarons, fruits and flowers to decorate.
Looking at what our next season’s couples are asking for, the naked cake remains a strong favourite and Chloébelle’s can’t wait to see how this cake continues to evolve.
Gateaux De Mandy
Mandy at Gateaux De Mandy recalls that the first cake she made here in France was for a wedding planner, who was getting married herself and wanted a wacky cake based on Tomorrowland!
I’ve also made wedding cakes for 2 professional pâtissiers (so no pressure!) and have been asked to make a wedding cake based on the theme of Alice in Wonderland. Thankfully they all loved their cakes and have gone on to recommended Gateaux De Mandy to others.
Mandy explains that it’s not always easy in France to make wedding cakes for French people as many are under the impression that English cakes are dry. However, once they come to a tasting session they soon change their minds!
Making a wedding cake is a complex affair! It needs to be carefully planned to ensure that it’s perfect for the wedding day! But, there are always some challenges! I was once asked to make a wedding cake for 150 people just two days before the wedding, and I’ve had couples order a buttercream covered cake for an outdoor summer wedding in SW France (where the temperature can reach almost 40 degrees).
Regardless of the challenges, Mandy loves making wedding cakes and seeing the joy on couples faces as they see their cake makes everything worthwhile!
Cakes in France
2020 has been the strangest year for all of us. All the weddings for Cakes in France have been cancelled or postponed including the one that I was most looking forward to; my own daughters!
The most popular cake for Cakes in France continues to be naked wedding cakes and the one that is most requested is covered with fresh fruit. I love these cakes as everyone is always different from the last. Thankfully, I have a great trusted fruit supplier, which I can collect fresh on the morning! I can never guarantee that what I need will be in stock but I know it will be great! I do now have my favourite suppliers; the old ladies at the local market who sell me their fresh free range eggs and the mill down the road where I can buy my flour in bulk!
I wonder what the trend will be next year? I think the naked cakes will still be around as will the blush colours but maybe some silver and pale greens will be popular too.
I love receiving new enquiries and working with a couple to achieve exactly what they want. The planning can take as long as making the cake but it’s really important that I know my couples and I am clear with what they want. It’s also important that they trust me! It’s lovely when I receive messages and photos after the event…. over the years I’ve stayed in touch with many of my couples so I get to keep up with their news and their growing families! I love making wedding cakes; Cakes in France is just such a great part of my life!