First-Class Wedding Cakes

Trends
Written by
Megan McCarty Liz Hummer

There are two things that get you through the most stressful moments of wedding planning (okay, besides your sweetie): thoughts of your oh-so-relaxing, oh-so-romantic honeymoon. And cake. Dreams of cake. Drawing on the adventurous spirit of globe-trotting Oregon couples, we asked five local bakers to create delicious, modern wedding cakes that journey beyond kitsch to reflect the true beauty of the place.

PARIS (above) Chic and cosmopolitan—that’s how Allison Keheller of AK Cake Design in Southwest Portland sees the city of l’amour. An intricate black-and-white fondant pattern recalls Paris’ art nouveau Metro signs, and textured sugar flowers are reminiscent of Coco Chanel’s favorite camellias. The three tiers are trimmed with satin ribbon, and inside you’ll find equally as rich chocolate butter cake with ganache and white chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. $925, serves 80

SOUTHWEST (above) The warm sunsets and sun-baked earth of Mexico and the American Southwest inspired the bakers at Helen Bernhard Bakery in Northeast Portland to create vibrant hand-painted royal icing tiles to line this three-tiered square cake covered in French cream icing. We can only imagine the chocolate chiffon cake with raspberry filling is much tastier than clay. $915, serves approx. 280

GREECE (above) Jutta Bach of Southwest Portland’s La Joconde crafted eight individually shaped cakes into one towering structure, bringing to mind the crisp white hillside homes on the Greek island of Santorini. A blue-and-white pearl pattern and bright blue hydrangea topper also draw on the oceanside architecture. Choose from four flavors throughout: chocolate almond cake with passion fruit mousse, white cake with lemon mousse and lavender pears, white cake with white chocolate butter cream and strawberries, and French red velvet cake with cream cheese mousse. $800, serves 100

THAILAND (above) A lush, tropical jungle of banana leaves and orchids erupts from Sweet Life Patisserie’s three-tier cake, transporting us to the exotic landscape of Southeast Asia. Eugene-based designer Qlara Wollack covered the three tiers in white chocolate buttercream and then wrapped the coconut cake—layered with white chocolate ginger mousse, coconut custard and lime-scented whipped cream—in fondant styled after woven palms. $330, serves 60

VANCOUVER (above) Evoking the snowy climes to our north, Jocelyn Barda of Northeast Portland’s Bakery Bar used hand-colored fondant to create a silhouetted winter wonderland dusted with silver luster. The playful three-dimensional cut-outs bring the cool tones to life, while the chocolate devil’s food cake, espresso mousse filling and vanilla French buttercream should keep all your guests warm and content. $290, serves 36


Get more from Oregon Bride! Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.