I asked
my friend and baking blogger bakingirl for advice on this one. I am as metro as
the next bloke, but even I know where my skills lie.
As with lots of wedding traditions it seems the cake no longer has to be a three or four tier white square fruitcake iced & covered in marzipan with sugarpaste flowers and roman tower legs. Just as you can have fish and chips for your wedding banquet you can have a cake you want and not that tradition dictates.
With the explosion of baking and making your own over the last few years it really is true that anything goes. From the Great British Bake off to cupcake vending machines (yes really) the option to be as traditional or modern means your cake won't be left forlornly unloved at the end of the reception. What hasn't disappeared though is actually having a cake or cakes. The cutting of the cake is one tradition I am glad has stuck around.
From individual cupcakes for each guest to a cake, which you could get made by a friend if you want to save money or a cake of cheese it really is down to you, your taste and your budget. Even Kate & Wills broke with tradition and had different flavour layers, with William choosing a kind of Tiffin bar he had as a child.
From Peggy Porschen to the Hummingbird bakery to the royal baker herself Fiona Cairnes there is a lot of inspiration. Why not start a little scrapbook of ideas, or a look on Pinterest? Ideally you need a cake that won't melt in summer and will last a few days if there is any left over.
With cupcakes you can have your initials on the cakes or the date of your wedding. If you like a bit of tradition you could still have a tiered cake but each layer could be different. A layer of red velvet, a layer of cheesecake, a layer of macaroons or, like a wedding I went to last year. An artistic pile of donuts. Which went down an absolute storm!