Photo courtesy of Wisner Photography
Cake tastings are one of the most popular parts of wedding planning. Because, really, how can you go wrong? Cake! Lots of cake! But there’s an art to selecting the right cake and cake fillings that will give your guests options without going overboard. If you have more than 100 guests, I usually like to do 3 flavors of cake – one vanilla/plain(ish), one more chocolatey, and one more seasonal (fruit or spice, for example). Of course, you should get whatever cake and cake fillings you like, but this seems to be a blend that works universally well!
Photo courtesy of f8 Studio
Cake by Haute Sweets Patisserie
Wedding cake is a pretty serious topic for wedding planners. You have your cake connoisseurs, who can speak intelligently about texture and air bubbles and density. And then there’s the people like me, who grab the frosting and go to town. Don’t get me wrong, cake is an excellent frosting delivery mechanism. It’s just I prefer the intense sugar rush of a great cake filling or frosting. As such, I get pretty excited about the idea of choosing a filling. Here are a few of my favorites, and the cake flavors they marry with well!
Photo courtesy of Simple Moments Photography
Cake Fillings and Cakes
Every bakery is going to have their own spin on cake fillings and cake flavors. But here are a few tried and true options!
The Basics
- Vanilla buttercream – classic, simple, goes with everything
- Cream cheese – a little more rich, tends to go well with big flavors like red velvet, spice, strawberry, or chocolate
- Swiss meringue – a very buttery version of buttercream, not as sweet as your typical frosting or filling
- Chocolate buttercream – a good choice for a medium level of chocolate
- Chocolate ganache – professional chocoholics will hug you
The Fruits
Fruit fillings might be a fruity buttercream or they might be more akin to a jelly. The more fruit you can see, the deeper the taste!
- Raspberry – love this with a lemon cake in the summer! Also very popular with your white cakes (vanilla, almond, grand marnier, etc.).
- Lemon – tart and fresh, especially if you go British and get a lemon curd
- Strawberry – fresh, but not as intense as raspberry. Goes great with a champagne cake.
Photo courtesy of Leslie Spurlock Photography
The Sugars
Bring on all the sweetness, baby!
- Salted caramel – perfect for a chocolate cake without the chocolate overload
- Cookies and cream – my personal favorite!
The Milds
- Peanut butter – goes great with chocolate for you Reese’s fans, or you can mix it up and put it with an unexpected flavor like stout or spice cake!
- Cappuccino – surprisingly versatile
- Lavender (or other floral) – great with lightly flavored cakes
Photo courtesy of Absolute Photography
Cake by The Cake Guys
Level Up
Make everyone at your wedding jealous of your cake prowess by doing multiple cake fillings in one piece of cake. That’s right. Multiple cake fillings. “But Brooke,” I hear you saying, “that’s just crazy talk!” It’s not, actually. Most bakers tort their cakes when making a large wedding cake. Torting is when you have multiple layers of cake and filling in the same slice, like so.
Photo courtesy of Kartsie Photography
If you’ve got multiple layers of filling then you can do… oh, so many things.
The Basic Combos
- Reese’s: Chocolate cake, chocolate buttercream, and peanut butter buttercream
- Oreo: Chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream and cookies and cream buttercream
The Expert Combos
- Sacher Torte: Chocolate cake, chocolate ganache, and raspberry preserves filling
- Strawberry Lemonade: Strawberry cake with lemon buttercream and lemon curd (or vice versa!)
- Flat White: White almond cake, cappuccino buttercream, and salted caramel buttercream
- Autumn Extravaganza: Spice cake with cream cheese filling and pumpkin buttercream
Have you done your cake tasting yet – we can help with that! Email us. Tell us your favorite cake filling, or post a photo of your cake below! For more information and history on wedding cakes click HERE.
