Hey ya'll,

So I have a wedding cake client set for a couple of weeks from now and in my conversations with her she is perfectly lovely, good communication skills etc....However, she describes herself as a 'foodie' and is European (French by birth)...so she was explaining that the American cakes and frostings she has had while here in the States have been too sweet and she doesn't want that for the wedding.

She said she wants all natural, from scratch--which poses no issue since that is all I do but also wants no shortnening or oils in the cake or the frosting...butter only...but doesnt like buttercream frosting and nothing too sweet. Her words are "I want it to look lovely but taste amazing." She likes plain, more of a pound cake flavor, but the groom likes chocolate...and it needs to feed about 125.

I was thinking of doing a quartre quarts type cake, but have NO idea about the frosting or tiering for this kind of cake or how to incooporate the chocolate...should I go with powder sugar dusting in a pretty pattern???? HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks
Amy

My first thought was a very traditional croquembouche (filled with chocolate pastry cream for the groom, maybe?) or something like the series of amazing Euro-inspired wedding cakes that Martha Stewart published in her Weddings magazine about 10 years ago?

They are all listed on her website including recipes/techniques, but these are the ones that came to mind.....

...and a pic of the French croquembouche done with the traditional caramelized sugar. The groom would love this with the profiteroles dipped in chocolate instead, that's an option!

Here's a link to Martha's explanation of the Parisian cakes:

http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/portal/site/ww/menuitem.d9cc37f780ffa93df8aeef105173a0a0/?vgnextoid=80a216646fa43110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default

Sorry I can't help you, but I just have to say it. That first cake antonia74 posted as an example actually kinda scares me! I don't know what it is, but just something about it just really freaks me out. I'm sure it tastes great and some may love it, but it's not my cup of tea.

I think you can still use buttercream (and definitely fondant) but go with an I or SMBC instead of regular American BC that is much sweeter. If you are doing a sampling give her both chiffon and pound cake and either one can be done in white or chocolate (or anything else for that matter). I would suggest different flavors in different tiers if her and hubby have different favorites.

We , here in Turkey, always try to use the French style -not so sweet as American cakes and no buttercream if available. We use a special type of whipped cream frosting (also known as creme chantilly ) but it is more softer than buttercream so if you did not try it before stay away from it in my opinion.

I would recommend white cake or mud cakes filled with ganache and covered with fondant.. I think she will be o.k. with fondant or creme chantilly instead of buttercream.

Thank you!!!! You're ideas are super helpful...and

WOW Those pictures are great...I have been doing some research and the simple cake with nuts vs. frosting for the decorative 'finish' seems to be common for European cakes...

I am doing a tasting with her...and I think giving her some feel as where I am in terms of taste will help us on our way.

She is absolutely delightful and I really want to get this right. How do you handle brides that bring in pictures? I've never been asked to 'copy' a picture, but some folks bring in 'ideas' and I was thinking of asking her to do that--so I can see what she is thinking for the look of the cake...

Can you believe I actually broke out my mother's old Julia Child's "Art of French Cooking"--she gave it to me years ago and it actually had some terrific ideas...now if I could only get Julia's accent down right!!! hee hee hee Has anyone ever made any of the recipes from the cake section? (I am cautious as I did make a pear tart from the book once and it took me 2 days to make...crazy delicious of course--it's Julia--but was VERY involved!! )