Chicago Wedding Cake, the Secret Joy of Life
by Editorial Staff
When you’re planning a wedding, you want to make sure that everything is the best. Having been a guest at many weddings in my time, I also want the very bestcake. In my opinion, the cake is the most important part of the wedding reception. You can serve bread and water for the appetizers, but I will take my gift back and mentally cross you off my Christmas card list if the cake is sub-par. Friends and family beware.
Surely, I jest. Dessert is one of life’s pleasures and should be enjoyed with the ones you love. An exceptional wedding cake is a work of art and will be remembered by your guests for years on end.
During the medieval era, the cake was actually a loaf of bread cracked over the bride’s head. Thankfully, we’ve come a long way from the good old days. Nowadays, the cake’s design, flavor and texture often reflect the personality and style of the couple. It should also be relatively soft in case someone wants to bring back those ancient traditions.
Creating the Cake
When you’re creating your dream cake with your baker, please remember to ask yourself the million-dollar question: will your guests eat it? I know this sounds like a silly question, but I’ve been to weddings with elaborate cakes that did more harm than good.
I once attended a wedding thrown by a well-meaning couple that served a wedding cake completely covered in black icing. You could tell which guests had cake by the lovely residue left on their grey-smeared teeth. As a result, many guests avoided the cake like the black plague and the couple wasted a great deal of money. Creative, yes. Practical, no.
At another reception, the cake was filled with a fruit and spice combination that was not palatable for most of their guests. This cake achieved the same results as the previously mentioned black concoction.
You can also come up with new and different desserts to add to your wedding. You might want to try different desserts like sorbet, fruit tarts or pies, even cupcakes.
Chicago has a number of excellent bakeries that specialize in weddings and special events. These bakeries will often go to great lengths to create your very own personalized wedding cake.
Here’s a short list of some of our favorite bakeries around town.
Dinkel’s Bakery
Dinkel’s (www.dinkels.com) in Lakeview offers an interesting array of styles, shapes and flavors for your cake.
Bittersweet
The pastry chefs at Bittersweet Pastry Shop (www.bittersweetpastry.com) create cakes that are too pretty to eat but too wonderful to resist. Go for a tasting with your fiance’. You will not be disappointed.
Ferrara Pan Bakery
A picture of a mammoth wedding cake greets you in the doorway of Ferrara Pan Bakery (www.ferrarabakery.com), located in Chicago’s Little Italy neighborhood. Although known for their popular candies, their strawberry shortcake torte is a great addition to any wedding. It also has fruit, for your health-conscious guests.
Swedish Bakery
If you’re of Swedish ancestry, or wish you were, visit the Swedish Bakery in Andersonville (www.swedishbakery.com). One taste of their marzipan cakes and you’ll be glad you made the trip.
As the tradition of the wedding cake evolved from being a simple loaf of bread to a tower of icing and sugar, you can also change tradition and make something more memorable for everyone involved. Good bakers will help you design something very special that you and your family and friends will enjoy.
Ali’s Cake Spots
Here are a few additions to Robyn’s list.
Alison
Cafe Selmarie
Their cakes are sinfully decadent with a rich and complex flavor in every morsel. They take dessert to a whole new level. (www.cafeselmarie.com)
Vosges Haute Chocolate
They recently added cakes to their menu of chocolate truffles, which are out of this world. (www.vosgeschocolate.com)
House of Fine Chocolates
They created our own wedding cake. Marvelous, simply marvelous. We had a chocolate cake with ganache frosting and banana & fudge filling. Our guests still wax poetic about that cake. (www.houseoffinechocolates.com)
Copyright 2004 Wedding Chicago, inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.