How Sweet It Is

The other night I was sitting at home, kid in bed, boyfriend at hockey, and I turned on the TV (I do this rarely if I am alone) hoping for an episode of Rich Bride Poor Bride, but to my pleasant surprise I discovered a new show called Cake Boss. Fantastic. Not even a word of a lie, cake is my favorite food, which is kind of evil, I wish I could say it was cucumber and egg white scramble, but no, sweet delicious cake. Over the past year I have changed my eating habits to be a lot more healthy, the one thing that will never be banned from my life is cake.

Over the past ten years, the dynamics of a wedding have been completely changed. Now it is all about the colours, the decor, theme, favors, special effects, flowers...and CAKE! It's almost like a competition, to have a wedding, not necessarily bigger, better, more expensive, but something different from the rest. Unique. The need to stand out from all the other weddings your guests have attended.

I am a bit of a Martha Stewart, in the way that I can cook, bake and craft like a mad woman when I am in the right mood. I have made cupcakes for several occasions, and have a few weddings that are coming up that I will be baking for. I just do not see the need to spend $2.50 a cupcake for something I can make for maybe a dollar. I love the cupcake tiers at weddings that have sprung up in recent years. I think that they are a fun and whimsical way of integrating the cake into the reception. I especially enjoy when the couple orders a small cake to top the tier, as I do like the wedding classics such as the cake cutting. Cupcakes are a great way to go as people will actually eat them, they are portable, and there is no need to sit with a fork and plate. I find weddings that serve cupcakes have less waste than a giant cake.

Now, do not get me wrong, I love a good cake (big surprise!) I just like them to be a little bit different. I am not a fan of the three tier white cake with nothing to make it stand out. There is so much choice out there now, and an endless amount of inspiration out there. I don't believe on spending a fortune on the cake, I think there are so many ways around this. Almost everyone knows a baker and with some direction, this baker family member or friend can create a cake that everyone will rave about. Call me boring but I also am not a fan of "creative" fillings. I like chocolate, vanilla, confetti, banana and maybe cherry cake. Please do not try and feed me wedding cake, that is disguised in a delicious icing coating but filled with orange cake and fig jam. Blech! Keep it simple for the cake portion, then everyone is happy and the cake gets eaten.

Some of my creations:

Now, off to make a cucumber-egg white scramble...