For the past few years, wedding cupcakes have been big business. They’re festive, and everyone can just grab one, obviating the need for someone to stand there cutting cake all night. It’s a practical idea that makes a lot of people smile.

Well, recently another trend has popped up that’s just a little more elaborate, but still does away with that endless cake cutting: the individual wedding cake.

As you can see above, they’re tiny versions of a larger wedding cake. Typically there will be one full tier for the happy couple to cut and serve among the wedding party, while the waiters serve individual small cakes to individual guests.

Even though it reduces the cake cutting fees, this is still more expensive than cupcakes since each cake is more elaborately decorated and a little bit bigger than a cupcake, more often than not.

Is it for everyone? No. I don’t think there’s much of anything that’s for everyone. All the same, I’m coming down on the side of LOVE for this one. They look charming, and there’s something delightfully indulgent about the concept of eating an entire cake by yourself… even a very tiny one.

What about all of you?

(illustration via Bride’s)

I’m not a terribly sparkly kind of woman. I could have had a diamond – or any gemstone – engagement ring. I chose a sterling silver frog. I could have had any kind of embellishment on my wedding gown. I chose handmade silk lace. I could have worn any jewelry on my wedding day. Again, all silver without gems.

In general I’ve ignored nearly every style trend that sparkles for the better part of fifty years now, and I doubt seriously that I’m going to change on that. Glitter just isn’t me.

And yet I found myself intrigued by that sparkly purple sequined cake shown above. Why? Because the sequins are edible.

I’ve hated the cake jewelry trend of the past few seasons in large part because I firmly believe that nothing inedible should go on a cake. But if the sequins are edible… well, that’s kind of interesting.

Of course, a fully sequined purple cake isn’t for everybody. It’s nice to see on other sites that it’s more than possible to use the sequins subtly, as well:

… as demonstrated by this charmingly understated sequined cake posted at Cake Central.

The best news of all? I’ve found instructions for making your own edible sequins if you want to give them a go in your own kitchen, or at least get a better idea of what they might taste like before you instruct your baker to do the ultimate sparkly Vegas-themed cake for your reception. This handy tutorial at Confessions of a Scratch Baker should give you plenty of information to decide if this is an idea for you.

Me? I’m still not a sparkly woman… but I am a crafty one and an avid baker. Who knows? I may just have to give this a try sometime.

2012 is just around the corner, and that means that the experts are lining up to tell us what’s hot and what’s not for the coming year. I’ve browsed a few of these lists. Some of them contradict one another, but after looking over dozens of guesses, I’m seeing some pretty clear clues to what’s coming in the next few months. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

Dessert tables are expected to continue to be a big deal in weddings. Variety is the spice of life, and a wonderful way to end a reception meal.

A further wrinkle on this trend that’s on the rise for parties that last late into the night is a second spread of snacks offered to guests on their way out. Doughnuts, cookies, sliders, coffee and cocoa… this is the chance to offer up a tasty final gift to your guests.
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It’s a well-known fact that I love cake. I love baking, I love to eat baked items. It’s as simple as that.

Funnily enough, when Mr. Twistie and I got married, we didn’t have a cake. We had individual fruit tarts in half a dozen flavors. I had been thinking of a cake, but then I discovered that Mr. Twistie wasn’t much of a cake fan. Why make him eat something he dislikes for dessert at his own wedding? He was the one who came up with tarts, and they were a great idea.

Still, there are times when I dream of the wedding cake I would have liked to have had. It would have featured chocolate, with layers of hazelnut and coffee flavors, too. As for the frosting? Probably a cinnamon buttercream. Maybe some raspberry filling.

What? Those are some of my favorite desserty flavors, and I would have wanted them. And while fondant make a particularly smooth and pretty cake that lasts well, it just doesn’t taste as good to me as a good old-fashioned buttercream.

So what about you? What would your dream cake look/taste like? What flavors do you want? Or would you rather have something other than cake?

I’m curious, so tell me all about it!

Have you ever wondered how to figure out how many people that cake you just made will serve at a wedding? Turns out the good folks at Wilton have a handy guide to help you out.

Oh, and if your cake isn’t going to be either round or square, don’t panic! They include equally handy guides for tiers shaped like hearts, flowers, ovals, and paisley, too.

If you’re the one baking your own cake (or you’re giving the job to someone close to you who is a great baker but hasn’t done this level of work before), you can also find great tips on the site for how to construct, decorate, display, and even transport this all-important confectionary creation to your reception site.

There is a section of recipes, but I have to say they didn’t impress me much. Frankly, I would look elsewhere.

But if you need to find a speciality pan, pastry bags and decorating tips, or display items to get you going, Wilton is a great place to start.

Did you know that I made my mom’s wedding cake? Well I did. And though it most definitely looked like a homemade wedding cake I was pretty proud of it. When it came time to choose a wedding cake topper, I was stumped. My mom and her then girlfriend now wife are extremely classy people so popping two plastic brides on their cake and calling it a day was not going to cut the mustard. Oh, did I mention that I was also their wedding planner? Eventually, since theirs was going to be a semi-formal backyard affair with lots of fun little rustic touches, I settled on custom spoon garden markers from Monkeys Always Look.

(I am still waiting for copies of my mom's wedding photos, hint hint!)

Turned out, they were just right for a backyard semi-formal faux rustic wedding that was only attended by 10 people and involved a dinner reception at a restaurant in Salem, MA in October. With cake first, of course. And the brides loved them – I’d been almost hoping to score one as a keepsake for me, but there were two spoons and two brides so what can you do, right?

Also from Monkeys Always Look!

And another, from Etsy seller jessicaNdesigns

There is definitely no shortage of people stamping spoons out there, and since the spoons are usually thrifted or vintage or found silverware, you’re going to spend a lot less on a wedding cake topper made of spoons than you will on most other cake toppers. Are you having a semi-formal faux rustic backyard wedding? Would spoons work for you, do you think?

As Patrick Stewart might say: "I can see EVERYTHING"

I’d say this week’s LOVE/HATE is pretty self-explanatory. What we have here is a wedding cake that’s naked, i.e., not wearing any frosting on the outside. Naked wedding cake runs the risk of looking messy-messy, but I think this one’s a winner. Personally, I’d hate to see this catch on, because frosting is my favorite part of the wedding cake, but a naked wedding cake would be cute at a casual or glamorustic wedding.

What do you think? Would you ever let your wedding cake go naked?