Bettersweet Bakery Interview: Creative Wedding Cakes

Acuity had the opportunity to team up with bakery owner Jen Stephanie to learn more about upcoming bakery trends for spring. Jen, who is a cake decorator by trade, co-owns Bettersweet Bakery with her husband, Curt, who runs the baking end of the business. Their custom-order bakery, located in Plymouth, Wisconsin, just celebrated an incredible 12 years of business in that community.

1. What overall trends are you seeing this spring? What colors, textures, and flavors are popular?

Trends in the wedding world, especially regarding dessert, are often slower to emerge than, for example, in the fashion world. I would suggest recent trends are showing more personalized dessert tables that include a small cutting cake and a beautiful display of other desserts. This sweet table approach could be an assortment of the couple's favorite cookies, a few gourmet cupcake options, small fruit tarts, or even an assortment of artisan chocolate. Many couples are looking to incorporate local options and, of course, good taste. Cakes will always be in style, but decorations have tended to be simpler and more natural, which allows for beauty and taste. 

2. What trends are going out of style?

There are definitely fewer cupcake weddings than there were three to four years ago, but I think dessert weddings are taking their place. Couples love to personalize their sweet offerings and, honestly, who doesn’t enjoy variety? Within the last ten years, traditional cakes have moved from color matching—for example, ribbon around the base of each tier to match the theme colors of the wedding—to more texture or simple colors in the frosting itself or additions such as fresh flowers.

3. I have seen some nontraditional cakes, like donut cakes, circulating on the Internet. Are you seeing any nontraditional wedding cakes?

Certainly. I’ve worked with clients who have requested cakes made from Oreo cookies, chocolate eclairs, brownies, chocolate chip cookies—the list goes on. These alternative cakes often become the focal point on a sweets table offering more than one type of dessert. As couples continue to become more involved in the personalization of food for their weddings, from appetizers to specialty cocktails, I believe we will continue to see a blend of nontraditional offerings and traditional wedding cake.

4. What has been your most popular order this year?

That is actually a really hard question to answer. Since everything we do is custom, we do not have a list of offerings from which couples choose. When I meet with a bride and groom, we start from the ground up and design the entire wedding dessert based on the rest of their day and what is going to make sense for what they already have planned. In all honesty, each wedding is unique and personal. I don’t enjoy doing the same thing twice. In addition, no one wants their cake to be a copy of someone else’s creation.

5. Are couples requesting anything to adorn their cakes, such as cake toppers or flowers?

Many couples are opting to have a simpler approach to their cake decorations. If there are flowers on the rest of the cake, those will often adorn the top as well. Cake toppers are often monogram letters or a cute phrase, such as “Always and Forever,” “Mr. and Mrs.,” or “Love.” Occasionally, couples order personalized toppers, such as a bobblehead of the couple or a silhouette cutout of the bride, groom, and a loved pet. 

6. What is the craziest wedding cake design you have made?

The jury is still out on that question! I haven’t created too many cakes that I would consider crazy, but a very difficult design does come to mind. About eight years ago, I was asked to create a cake in which each tier was covered in hand-rolled sheets of white chocolate. While it was challenging, it was also beautiful and unique, and my heart still goes out to the soul who had to cut it!