Tips for selecting the perfect wedding cake and baker

A little flour...sugar...eggs, simple enough right? For those of us who are challenged in the baking department, these are the trappings of a culinary nightmare! I’ll be the first to admit it, mastering the science of baking has eluded me in my personal life. While I love to cook and am by no means a shrinking violet around the kitchen, there is something about baking that has always freaked me out. 

As a child, I watched my share of fearless kitchen queens carefully assemble their arsenal of equipment. They would level out their measuring cups and spoons with great precision and sift and stir a myriad of their finest ingredients together. But no matter how confident they seemed, they never REALLY knew what would happen once those ingredients were placed inside of that mysterious “box.” A little too much time in the oven and voila, you’ve got a dry cake! Not enough time in the oven? Tada! You’ve got the “sunken place” in the middle of your cake. I have literally heard every excuse, whether it’s mixing the ingredients in the wrong order, over-mixing the batter, closing the oven door too sharply, or even letting the cake cool in a location that is too drafty—all possible culprits of a cake-catastrophe. And to all of this I say, I quit! 

It only took me a few lop-sided, unevenly iced (yet yummy) creations in my day to realize that cake baking was best left to the professionals. In this blog post, I hope to clear up a lot of common misconceptions about the wedding cake industry and provide some “sweet” solutions on how to find the best wedding baker for you.

This Isn’t Your Everyday Cake/Cupcake

Cake Expectations

While a cake can be used to celebrate everything from a preschooler’s birthday to your co-worker’s retirement, a WEDDING cake has to be so much more than that. A wedding cake is the highly regarded ‘debutante’ to the other ‘commoners’ in the dessert world. Wedding cakes are not just cut and served, they are observed. Their presence is announced and presented as it is oohed and ahhed over. Although my description may have a flair for the dramatic, to sum it up...your wedding cake is kind of a big deal.

A wedding cake is expected to be a lot of things. Not only must it be the perfect mix of mouthwatering decadence and unparalleled beauty, but it must also be structurally sound, portable, easy to assemble, and climate resistant. It must be able to “strike a pose” and hold it for up to three hours or more without a speck of frosting out of place. Your wedding cake will be the beautiful masterpiece that not only stops guests in their tracks, but becomes the epicenter of the reception selfie—desired by all and often serving as the only real reason why your guests chose to stick around past the entree course. No pressure right?!

Unlike Any Other Cake You’ve Ever Ordered 

From a coordinator’s perspective, with so much significance placed on the wedding cake, I find that it is often a HUGE source of confusion for many brides and grooms. Reason being, because cake evokes the spirit of fun and celebration, many couples are not equipped to handle the many questions and decisions resulting from a visit to their local baker. After all, it’s cake, how hard could it be right?

I’ve personally noticed that there is often a disconnect between (1) the simplicity of the cakes/cupcakes that you often buy from your local grocery store or wholesale chain, (2) the inspiration photos that you pull from the internet, (3) the products and services that your local professional wedding baker provides, and lastly (4) your actual cake budget and service expectations. To sum it up, I find that a lot of couples are overwhelmed with having to make  so many decisions and are unprepared to hear how much their wildest dreams will actually cost in frosting! 

Why You Need a Professional’s Help

Because the average person doesn’t typically purchase a $1000 dessert on a daily basis, cake shopping is definitely the time when you want to call in for backup. The first place you should start is with a professional wedding planner. Second only to wedding bakers themselves, wedding planners know the ins-and-outs of wedding cake terminology and standard industry practices. Without a wedding planner, you are more likely to (1) exceed your budget, (2) have a negative customer service experience, and/or (3) inadvertently request products and services that you didn’t intend to.

A professional wedding planner’s job is to take all of your event specifics and design ideas into account and come up with a plan for ordering your cake. This plan will result in you ordering the perfect cake that is within your budget, with a wedding baker/bakery that you love, and in the flavors and design that you’ll adore.

Window Shopping

Look for the Price Lists

Let’s be honest, price is usually a substantial factor when purchasing most goods or services for your wedding—and your wedding cake is no exception. Start your research by making a list of companies that you are interested in. But before you call anyone, make an appointment, fill out an online inquiry form, and/or send an email or text message; quickly click through each prospective baker’s website and look for their price lists. If possible, try to keep this part of the process “virtual” for as long as you can. Keep in mind that once you reach out to a vendor they will respond to you whether you are ready for them or not. FYI, most bakers are (or should be) very forthcoming about listing their “per slice” prices. If a company doesn’t list their pricing, no worries, just save those for last and come back to them later, if necessary.

A Tale of Two Bakers

I generally like to think of wedding bakers as being separated into two different categories based primarily on their price points: (1) Standard/market-priced bakers and (2) Bargain-priced bakers. Within a local market, bakers who fall within the standard/market price category will typically all charge about the same per slice fee, but a $1-3 per slice cost variation among vendors is not uncommon. Bargain or economy bakers on the other hand will typically beat the standard/market-priced baker fees by about $200 or more; however, they are typically cutting expenses in other unseen areas.

Deciding between these two types of general bakers is honestly just a matter of “what I need and am willing to pay for” vs “what I can do without for the price.” Which one works best for you? Take a look at the video below to help you decide.

Understanding Per Slice/Number of Servings vs Number of Guests

What is a per slice price? First things first, when understanding how cakes are priced, we must talk about servings vs your anticipated number of guests. Most bakers charge at a “per slice” or an “estimated number of servings” rate. For example, if you have a guest count of 150, but your desired cake design will produce 180 servings, you will be charged for 180 servings. The servings or slices are not based on your guest count, they are based on the number of tiers and pan sizes required to recreate the cake design that you want. 

In general, this means that the larger the cake (or the more people you can feed with the cake) the more expensive the cake will be. However, once you begin adding on custom design features such as metallics/foils, fondant, stenciling, airbrushing, beading, sculpting, and other specialty techniques, the pricing will increase from the original per slice rate. 

How a Wedding Coordinator Can Help

From a coordinator’s perspective, I always want to make sure that not only is my client’s time respected, but that the wedding professionals’ time and efforts are also being considered. The bottom line, my goals are to minimize misunderstandings, provide clarity, and reduce the number of post-consult revisions for our baker “friendors.”

So what do these goals look like for an Aisle Runners client? It means that we equip our clients with all the necessary info needed, BEFORE contact is ever made with a bakery, in what we call our Cake Tasting Packet.

Here’s what’s included in our basic Cake Tasting Packet:

• Spending budget for your cake(s)

• Venue details and layouts

• The number of guests/servings needed

• Your overall color palette

• A list of questions for the baker

• Photos of cakes that you like

Once you’re equipped with all the info that you need, you’re ready for the next step—cake tastings.

Cake Tastings

The foundation of every good wedding cake purchase is the cake tasting. A cake tasting is an appointment (either in-person or virtually in our post-Covid era) where couples are able to sample multiple cake flavor combinations and receive a design and price based on their ideas. Luckily, the cake tasting may be the only wedding planning activity that you won’t have to drag your fiance to without them kicking and screaming! It is a fun, festive experience with what seems like more cake than you could ever ask for. 

FYI, upon leaving your cake tasting consultation, you should be provided with the following details:

1. The number of servings available from the design

2. The flavors included

3. The shape, color, size, and even the texture and patterns of the cake

4. The price for such a design

Tips for a Successful Cake Tasting

As sweet as this part of the wedding planning process is, a cake tasting should never be viewed as a frivolous, trivial experience. Cake tastings are serious business, especially for the professionals who are giving their all to you. Here are a few helpful tips for planning a successful cake tasting:

1| Review the baker’s website first

As mentioned before, a baker’s website may tell you everything you need to know before stepping foot into their shop. Price estimates, flavor selections, dietary restriction options, and even their gallery of cakes will let you know if you’re on the right track to finding your perfect match. If the pricing exceeds your budget, none of their flavors tickle your fancy, or if you just don’t like the general aesthetic of their work, move on. There is no need to waste their time or yours.

2| Schedule an appointment 

Once you find suitable vendors that interest you, either give the shop a call to schedule a tasting and/or book a consultation online. You should NEVER just drop into a bakery for an impromptu cake tasting. Keep in mind that bakers don’t necessarily keep fresh cake samples of all of their flavors on hand at all times, especially their seasonal flavors. Additionally, without an appointment, you may not have the full attention of the baker during high traffic/peak times, when they are taking care of other customers. Allow the baker to provide you with the full luxury experience by letting  them prepare for your arrival. Let them know beforehand which flavors you are interested in sampling, if you have any special dietary requirements, what your budget limits are, and who (and how many people) they should expect at the tasting.

3| Come prepared

Inspiration photos are a huge help, so don’t forget to bring magazines, printed photos, and saved Pinterest images of designs that you like. This is probably the only time that I will say this, but don’t rely so heavily on technology for these types of visits. Internet download speeds slow down and sometimes wifi service just stops working, so always have a backup plan to be able to communicate with your baker during this highly visual vendor meeting. 

Don’t forget to bring along a pen and paper as well to take notes. More than likely, you will be tasting an unusual number of flavor combinations and it is highly unlikely that you will remember what your favorites were once you leave. On a related note, whatever you do, don’t go to a tasting on a full stomach! Leave room for the dozens of flavor combinations that you will be asked to sample during your visit.

If you’re comfortable, come prepared to book. On occasion, some vendors may offer special deals for clients who book on the spot with a deposit or full payment.

Lastly, know the basic terminology that the bakers will be using during the tasting. Educate yourself on things like fondant, frosting, fillings, pan sizes, and more. HINT: Keep reading this post!

Knowing When You’re Ready for a Cake Tasting

To recap, preparation is key to ensuring a successful cake tasting. If you are thinking about scheduling a cake tasting and do not at least know or have a budget, tentative guest count, tentative wedding date(s), venue, and/or general design ideas, STOP NOW AND RESCHEDULE YOUR CAKE TASTING FOR A LATER DATE!

You should never walk into a cake tasting unprepared, especially when it comes to pricing. Pricing tends to be the biggest area of contention between couples and wedding bakers. Think of it this way, a baker can always create any design that you like, but they can’t (and shouldn’t) be asked to lower the price that they charge for your design. When you schedule a cake tasting, it is assumed that you have a general awareness of the business’ reputation and their price points ahead of time. 

Ask An Expert

While I’ve provided the basics, I thought that it may be beneficial if I enlisted the help of a true industry professional. In April of 2009, Tammy Allen opened up the bakery Wedding Cakes by Tammy Allen with a desire to achieve two things—create stunningly beautiful cakes and create stunningly beautiful cakes that are also moist, delicious, and rich in flavor. 

In her professional baking career that spans more than a decade, Tammy estimates that she has created more than 5,600 wedding cakes. Tammy’s work has been seen in magazines such as Essence, MunaLuchi, B-Collective, and Weddings In Houston, while she’s also been spotlighted on Click 2 Houston, Fox 26 News, and in the Houston Chronicle. She has a decade-long relationship with The Knot, receiving the “2021 The Knot Hall of Fame Award” and has been named “The Knot Best of Weddings” three times. Tammy has been affiliated with Wedding Wire for more than 11 years and has been given the “Wedding Wire Couple’s Choice Award” nine times. Additionally, she has also been a long-term exhibitor with the Bridal Extravaganza Show, winning both “Best in Show” and “Best Cakes” awards three times each. Wedding Cakes by Tammy Allen also has Preferred Vendor status at most 5-star event facilities in Houston, TX.

While her clientele includes everyone from doctors, teachers, graduate students, NFL and NBA athletes, Grammy-nominated musicians, to everyone in between, Tammy prides herself in providing the best possible customer service to people from all different walks of life.

Below you will find Q&A sections in which Tammy has been kind enough to share her cake baking expertise and experiences.

DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS

Q: What does a regular work week look like at Wedding Cakes by Tammy Allen?

A: On average, we bake over 75 cakes per week, with about 90% of our sales being bridal cakes, 5% being groom’s cakes, and the remaining 5% for other events. Throughout the week, we are also making our fresh, to-go tasting “Sweet Cake Boxes” for potential clients... or for people who just really love our cakes! Another huge portion of our work week is spent shopping for the freshest, high-quality ingredients for our cakes. This is really important to us and is definitely a non-negotiable item for our business model. 

We also make sure that we focus our attention on providing excellent customer service to both our present and future clients with an average of about 500 client tastings a year. In between creating beautifully, delicious cakes and meeting with clients, we also attend about 8-10 bridal shows, expos, and open houses annually.

Q: How many weddings can you do per weekend?

A: We’re very fortunate to have a kitchen that allows us to have a very high production capacity; however, we still like to limit the number of weddings that we book per weekend to a maximum of ten. When scheduling events, we want to make sure that we dedicate the appropriate amount of time needed for each of our designs, cutting no corners and exceeding all expectations. Taking design complexity into account along with delivery locations, we just believe that limiting our events to ten per weekend is the best way to be consistent with our food quality, design excellence, and safe delivery standards.

MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES AND UNIQUE DESIGNS

Q: What has been the most exciting cake design that you have ever created?

A: By far, my most memorable design was a scaled replica of the Texas A&M Kyle Field Stadium complete with over 102,733 individual seats. We viewed videos to get the look down and asked a lot of questions, but we were able to create something beautiful (and delicious) for our clients.

I’ve also enjoyed creating suspension cakes or cakes that look like they are mounted in mid-air as they hang from the ceiling. Those are fun to design, we just have to adjust the dimensions and weight of the cake accordingly based upon the weight capacities of the pulleys. 

Q: What has been the best compliment that you have ever received from a client?

A: Many couples have told me that not only was the cake beautiful, but that the taste was amazing. And that is my ultimate goal. It’s such a compliment when clients follow-up and tell you that their cake was so much more than they ever imagined and that we’ve exceeded their expectations.

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Q: What are some of your favorite products that you like to bake and design with?

A: I especially like creating gum paste flowers and working with edible metallics and stencils. I also love working with buttercream frosting.

Although I often work with buttercream frosting, I also love working with a fondant product called Satin Ice. Satin Ice is great because it allows our cakes to “hold up” well with the Houston humidity— it’s really great! I can also airbrush or hand paint designs on both buttercream and fondant cakes.

ALL IMAGES FROM THE WEDDING CAKES BY TAMMY ALLEN WEBSITE

Q: What kinds of cake shapes do you make available to your clients?

A: We have a wide variety of sizes of basic cake pans in round, square, and hexagonal shapes; however, we can also create sculpted cakes or cakes that are carved into irregular shapes to recreate a 2D or 3D design. Pretty much we can create anything that you can dream up!

ALL IMAGES FROM THE WEDDING CAKES BY TAMMY ALLEN WEBSITE

“THE BREAKDOWN”

Before we continue on with the rest of our Q&A sections with Tammy, I wanted to address a baking mystery as old as time itself—what’s the difference between frosting, icing, and filling? For some reason, the whole frosting, icing, and filling dilemma confuses a lot of couples, so I’ve provided a little diagram to help. 

Q: What’s the difference between frosting and fondant? 

A: While frosting has a matte, opaque look that, when done correctly, can be smoothed out to a perfect satin finish, a fondant cake is the ultimate in a smooth, almost “Play-doh-like” shell finish. Fondant cakes, however, usually require more effort and therefore typically result in more expensive cake designs.

Q: What’s the difference between frosting and icing? How are each typically used?

A: Frosting is typically thick and fluffy and has a matte finish while icing is typically thinner, can be “drizzled” and has a glossy, liquid finish. Frosting requires more ingredients than icing and is richer in taste. I either use frosting or fondant for my wedding cakes and use icing (glaze) on my pound cakes, bundt cakes, and cookies.

Q: What is filling? Where is it used on a cake?

A: Filling is any thick mixture that is used in between the layers of a cake. Fillings come in a multitude of textures and can be a mousse, curd, or jam. Even frosting can be used as a filling.

Q: What is the difference between a cake layer and a cake tier?

A: A cake layer describes cakes of the same size (diameter) and shape that are stacked on top of each other and held together by fillings to form a tier. Cake tiers are stacked upon other tiers of differing sizes (and sometimes shapes). FYI, a multi-tiered cake must have different sized tiers.

FLAVORS

Q: What cake flavors do you offer?

A: We offer over a dozen different cake flavors to suit all of our clients’ palates. Here are a few:

Traditional Flavors

Vanilla, Butter, Chocolate Latte, Marble, Red Velvet, and our Signature Wedding Cake flavor

Fruit Flavors

Lemon Zest Creme, Orange Creamsicle, Strawberry Champagne, and Texas Melon

Nutty, Spiced, and Seasonal Flavors

Carrot, German Chocolate, Italian Cream, and Sock It 2 Me

Liqueur-Infused Flavors

Almond Amaretto, Butter Gran Marnier, and Chocolate Henny 

Q: What cake filling flavors do you offer?

A: Our wide variety of filling flavors are created to be paired with our delicious cake flavors to create multiple flavor combinations depending on what our client wants. These are a few flavors that we offer:

Traditional Flavors

Buttercream, Cream Cheese, Vanilla Creme, White Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Buttercream, and Chocolate Ganache

Fruit Flavors

Lemon Berry, Lemon Curd, Orange Creme, Pineapple Creme, Strawberry Lemonade, Strawberry Champagne, Raspberry, and Raspberry Mousse

Nutty, Spiced, and Seasonal Flavors

Nutella, Caramel Coconut Pecan, and German Chocolate

Liqueur-Infused Flavors

Amaretto Creme and (Chocolate) Hennessy Creme

Q: What are your most popular cake and filling flavor combinations?

A: (1) Vanilla cake with Raspberry filling, (2) Almond Amaretto cake with Pineapple Creme filling, (3) Butter Gran Marnier cake with White Chocolate Mousse filling, (4) Texas Melon Cake with Cream Cheese filling, (5) Butter cake with Strawberry Lemonade filling, (6) Chocolate cake with Chocolate Henny filling, and our (7) Signature Wedding Cake cake flavor with Cream Cheese filling are a few of our client favs. 

A WEDDING BAKER’S INSIGHT

Q: What would you like customers to know about your pricing?

A: I’d like for them to know that they are paying for more than just a cake, they are paying for an entire experience! 

Customers should be aware that they are paying for baking services within a commercial bakery. 

From a food safety standpoint, clients can be confident that we (1) are following all state and locally established food prep guidelines for a brick and mortar storefront, (2) have a Food Manager’s Certification, (3) receive monthly Grease Trap Inspections, and (4) receive annual customary Health Department Inspections.

Additionally, in order for my clients to have the best possible experience, they should note that my pricing covers the cost of additional staffers needed for things like seamless cake deliveries and excellent customer service.

Q: How should couples prepare for a cake tasting?

A: Having some sort of idea of what type of design they’d like is incredibly helpful. Of course we can create a beautiful design with our clients during the tasting, but having a starting point is always great. Pictures of cake styles that they like and/or Pinterest images are also very useful. Additionally, couples should always have an idea of what types of cake flavors they like, the estimated number of guests, and a general budget for how much they’d like to spend on the cake.

"PANDEMIC PROOF" SWEET CAKE BOX TO-GO TASTING KIT

Q: What’s your best advice for couples considering a cake tasting?

A: Do your research first and know your local market. Get an idea of what other local bakeries are charging for similar products, ingredients, designs, and labor. 

Let’s face it, wedding cakes are not cheap. Oftentimes, if someone is not prepared for that reality, because they are either (1) unaware, (2) unwilling to pay, (3) have an unrealistic budget, and/or (4) are trying to haggle with vendors on pricing, the cake tasting is not going to be a positive experience. So many times, confusion related to pricing will ultimately lead to distrust in the client-vendor relationship. I believe that once a level of trust is maintained between the customer and the baker, we can really get to work on creating a beautiful, delicious cake!

Final Thoughts from Aisle Runners

Hopefully this blog post has provided you with enough insight to prepare you for your upcoming cake tasting. The major takeaways? Be prepared, familiarize yourself with basic terms and practices, and look for a baker who matches all of your needs.

Still have a few unanswered questions? We’d love to help you get started!

Special thanks to the crew at Wedding Cakes by Tammy Allen and to Victoria Garcia Studios for all of the great images from our fun, frosting-filled day!

Please be sure to reach out to Tammy Allen at Wedding Cakes by Tammy Allen for her full list of flavors, services, and products which also include: dessert tables and desserts for bridal showers, baby showers, graduations, anniversaries, corporate events, and more.