Calling All Cake Decorators, I Need Your Opinion!!
Decorating By heathercarnold Updated 6 Sep 2006 , 12:59pm by Mac
I am writing a report for school and have decided to write about cakes and how the traditional look it becoming not so traditional. For those that have been doing cakes for a long time, what would you say has changed the most about the industry? Colors, shapes, flavors, prices, ect... Any opinions would be much appreciated!! Thanks
I really see cake decorating as getting back to the basics- simplicity. When I was first getting into decorating, cakes were equivalent in size but covered with flowers, drapes, swags, bridges, anything and everything you could think of. Now it seems that clean lines, simple yet elagant designs, and exotic flavors have taken the place of the "bufant" of previous years.
I have Wilton books going back to the 70's and it's fun to flip thru and see the different trends. When I was a kid, (ok I'll tell ya .... I'm 47) all wedding cakes were white cake with white icing. I dont' know when it started but wedding cakes started coming into color with the cake iced in colored icing with white decorations. In the late 70's/early 80's the traditional 3 tiered cake whether pillared or cake-on-cake began to grow to include fountains and stairs (my best friend had the first wedding cake in our area with a fountain and she was married in '7
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In the 80's, it was the era of extravegance and everything got bigger: Big houses, big cars, big hair and big cakes. Most of my cakes were on top of fountains with 4 stairs built into the design. A few of them were stretched out to take up an entire 8ft table (see photo of one on my website).
If you follow the history of the Wilton books, you will see bright, (what I call "circus") colors come into play. A lot of the Wilton books show wedding cakes decorated in lots of pinks and oranges. I think they look terribly gaudy and I'm thankful none of my brides ever selected a pattern like that!
I rarely saw a cake decorated with fresh or silk flowers back then. All the decorations on a wedding cake were either made from icing or they were plastic add-ons, like wedding bells, doves and cherubs. These add-ons are generally considered "cheesy" to today's brides. Any flowers added to a wedding cake were small arrangements tucked in between the columns that separated the tiers, not actually the cake decorations like they are today.
Wedding cakes were the centerpiece of the reception when I was growing up. The bride and groom cutting the cake was a major part of the reception ceremony. It was a big production and a well anticipated part of the event. Most weddings I attended were strictly cake and punch, so the cake WAS the reception! It wasn't until I was in my mid to late 20's that I saw more and more buffets at weddings (of course, it could be that I only knew cheap folks who didn't want to lay out money for food at a wedding reception, and as I grew older I began hanging out with a higher class of people! hahahaha!) 
As a guest at a number of "yuppie" weddings in the 80's and 90's, the cake began to take a seat in the corner of the room. I remember attending a couple of weddings and I had to actually look for the cake! The cake cutting was done almost in secret ..... you only knew it was taking place if you happened to have a seat close to the back wall! You knew cake was available when you saw guests carrying a plate of it back to the table. Very obscure. Very out of the way. Almost like an afterthought.
Today, I see a return to the "simplicity is elegant" design with more cake-on-cake designs that are accented with live or silk florals. Plain and simple. Fewer fountains, tho' they are still in demand. Grooms cakes have made a big comeback from what I can see. Mostly a Southern tradition, they have migrated north and have been seen more and more frequently at weddings.
Oh... and most of my couples tell me they are not keeping with the tradition of saving the top tier for their first anniversary. Some are just giving the top tier to a parent, some plan to eat it when they return from their honeymoon and I think the most popular answer I get is they will eat it on their one month anniversary. (This would be a good survey question! I think I'll add it to my website and see what happens!)
Oh #2 .... as I talk to brides and grooms, most are unaware that the sharing of the piece of wedding cake is traditionally the first "meal" shared by the bridal couple. That's why I encourage my couples to do the cake cutting ceremony right away and THEN open the buffet to their guests. One, it gets the photo's out of the way so the couple can enjoy the reception without having to worry about "where do I need to be next?" and two, it's traditionally the FIRST MEAL THEY SHARE as man and wife.
This is a great question and I for one am looking forward to hearing others' impressions on the evolution of the wedding cakes! Come on, folks! I'm anxious to hear what you've observed and to see how evolutions have differed across the country.
I honestly havent been baking for long at all but if I can add my two cents, I think the whole cupcake/decorated cake hipster phenomena is something to be explored. I mean, nowadays I think its kind of cool to have cakes and cupcakes that remind you of your youth...albeit in shapes that are kind of reminiscent of 80s and 90s characters and ironic icons and stuff that is just kind of funny and unexpected (in relation to cake). You know? Like I brought just this random sneaker shape to a party and it was this huge hit, cause it wasnt the usual roses and swags cake (no offense to those who make them...I know my skills pale in comparison!!!) but it's something that younger people can find cool and amusing and it seems a lot more informal. Anyway. Just a thought!
All of those dust covered character pans!! I used them so much, and now they sit. Also the star tipped cake. That was the norm. Pillars, plastic bells and cherubs!! Don't leave out fontains. And when they began tinting the water in the fountain!!!! Well, who would have thought. I agree, much more simplicity now and less over the top fluff.
i think there's a definite trend away from the plastic decorations and the porcelain toppers to everything being made out of sugar and being edible on a cake. if you get the show ACE of Cakes on the food network in your area, watch that for some input to your paper. also, if you can go to an antique mall or half price bookstore/garage sale and see if there's any older cake decorating magazines (for like a quarter) and pick them up just to compare. i think the "cake that doesn't look like cake" is really popular right now. fondant is big in some areas, but not so big here. good luck
I just wanted to mention cupcake cakes....and cupcake trees, etc for weddings rather than a big wedding cake.
also I just wanted to say that indydebi's post was very interesting to read. THanks for the post 
I am one of those people who researches subjects that I am interested in.
I can only express an opinion, but what I would write about, were I doing this paper, is not the evolution of cake decorating, but the RE-volution of it.
Poured and rolled fondant, royal icing, ganache, and gumpaste (formerly known as Sugarplate) have literally been around for centuries, and it is only in the past 10-15 years that they have found a spot in US cake decorating. They have never stopped being used in Europe, South Africa, and Australia.
What has brought this revolution (as in coming full circle - everything old is new again) of cake decorating is the bridging of communication gaps with other parts of the World through flight, television, satellites, and finally, the Internet.
We share ideas, techniques, and recipes every day with people who live on the other side of the planet. This communication gave us fusion food techniques have brought new experiences to our palate, and the same is happening with cake decorating. Here in the US, it isn't just buttercream anymore.
Just my opinion.
Theresa
What has brought this revolution (as in coming full circle - everything old is new again) of cake decorating is the bridging of communication gaps with other parts of the World through flight, television, satellites, and finally, the Internet.
Theresa
I totally agree with this statement! As a matter of fact, I've had conversations with my brides on how things like the internet and the Food Channel (oh! THERE'S a great influence on the changes in weddings!) have allowed "local" brides to get better ideas of what's available. Before these were available, all a bride had to go on was whatever cousin Suzy did at her wedding last summer! If no one you knew did something different, then odds were good that you would be doing the same 'ole thing that everyone else was doing. BORRRRRRRRR-INNNNNNNG!!!!!
P.S. I dont' know how I did it but in my original post above, the little icon guy is supposed to be a 78! (best friend got married in 1978. )
I'm going with flavours lol I mean growing up in the 60's and 70's I never heard of cheese cake or Ganache covered cakes or white choc pudding in the cake mix.And as for fillings well you either got whatever was the icing on the outside of the cake or you got some sort of jam. Even the store bought cakes (which I only drooled over in the shop windows) were basically choc or vanilla.As well I think there is a trend coming back towards made from scratch I dont know maybe it's because I grew up poor there having been 11 children lol but we just had your basic cake.
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