Choosing the right cake is truly a matter of taste

Any way you slice it, the wedding cake makes a statement.

From tiers of white frosted rounds to stacks of chocolate squares, the cake is really a matter of taste. When it comes to the confection, frilly cake toppers and bridges are out, and creative fantasy is in.

"People like the cake to look elegant instead of overdone," says Robert Fenoglietto of Fenoglietto's Wedding Cakes in Lower Burrell. Fenoglietto, who runs the shop with wife, Leanne, says he has had an increase in requests for original cakes that incorporate the bridal couple's ethnic ideas and personal preferences.

"The fantasy castle cake is popular," Fenoglietto says, describing the cake as stacked rounds, painted with edible sugars, that lead up to a pointed castle cake top. Other popular cake trends include fresh flowers and gum paste. Some choose ganache, a mixture of heavy cream and chocolate, poured over the cake to give a smooth, porcelain-like finish.

While fantasy cakes are gaining in popularity, couples visiting Tiffany Cakes in the South Hills shop are still requesting traditional tiered and stacked cakes with cascading sugar flowers.

"It's still traditional with a few new things thrown in," Tiffany Cakes owner Lynne Sweeney says. "Pretty never goes out of style, so we are still asked to adorn the cakes with sugar orchids and lilies, and a sort of free form with roses and a lot of ribbons."

White cake is still the top choice for batter, says Sweeney, who runs the shop with her mother, Gerry Recktenwald, although other batters are available. Fenoglietto has made everything from banana nut cakes to carrot cakes, but agrees white batter prevails.

Fillings such as red raspberry, cherry nut and hazelnut also are popular choices among couples. The fillings offer a surprise element in an otherwise white iced white cake.

Individual table cakes serving as centerpieces are becoming a trend more and more couples are going for, Fenoglietto says. He's been asked on several occasions to prepare an array of smaller cakes rather than one large creation.

"When you think about buying a centerpiece for each table, take it one step further and have a miniature wedding cake at each table instead," Fenoglietto says.

Brides and grooms desiring to go above and beyond elaborate can find confection perfection with Jan Kish of Worthington, Ohio, who turns layers of cake and decorating bags of icing into breathtaking pieces of edible architecture in her shop, La Petite Fleur. Kish designed a Limoges Box cake for NBC's "Today" wedding program last year.

The cake, fashioned after a limoges box from Paris, was five oval-shaped stacked cakes. Each cake was covered first with buttercream icing and then topped with pale blue rolled fondant. A white leaf design was applied with a brush embroidery technique. The top cake was adorned with flowers, which were hand molded from sugar, and 24-karat gold leaf was applied to each cake to give it the jewelry box look. Kish's Web site at www.jankishlapetitefleur.com offers even more creative designs.

Cupcake cakes, a Kish speciality as well, are gaining in popularity locally. Cupcakes are arranged in a traditional wedding cake pattern that builds to a small round cake on top, which the couple can preserve for the first anniversary.

"They like the idea of it being nice and neat, a little decorated individual cake thing with toasted almonds and shaved chocolate," he says. "Each guest gets their own little treat."

In Style Wedding offers these tips for buying the perfect cake: