Your
guide to what all those wedding cake terms
really mean!
'American
Style' No
pillars are used. Each tier sits directly
on top of the other. Normally the tiers decrease
in size. See example to the right.
'Brush
Embroidery' A technique
used in icing to create a textured, realistic
appearance for the sides of a cake.
'Cappuccino
Cake' Three different
favours in layers creating one tier. Layers
consist of white chocolate cake on the top,
coffee cake and dark chocolate mud on the
bottom.
'Centred'
Different
sized cakes are positioned on top of each
other. See example to the right.
'Chococcino
Cake' Three different
favours in layers creating one tier. Layers
consist of white chocolate cake on the top
, milk chocolate cake and dark chocolate mud
on the bottom.
'Double
Tiers' Where two
tiers of the same size are decorated in such
a way as to create one “high”
tier.
'Extension
Work' Royal icing
is piped in layers to create a "swag" effect
around the cakes and then icing is finely
piped to create a lattice effect.
'Filler
Flowers' Small iced
flowers are used to complement larger style
of blooms and soften the overall design.
'Ganache' A confection
of cream and melted chocolate used as a filling
between different layers in a tier.
'Lace Work' Piped royal icing is used to create
small pieces of "lace" which are attached
to the sides of the cake to create a very
delicate effect. See example to the right.
'Off
Set' Where tiers
may be placed at an angle or off centre to
the other tiers. "Cascade Rose and Butterflies"
is an example. See example to the right.
'Pillars' These support
and elevate the different tiers in a more
traditional style of design.
'Quilting' A technical
design creating the effect of quilting over
and around a cake as on the bottom tier of
"Peach and Ivory". See example to the right.
'Rolled
Fondant' Sugar confection,
normally used in Australia, to cover wedding
cakes and create a soft, rounded edge to the
completed design.
'Royal
Icing' Confection
of egg white and icing sugar. Used for piping
work or in some instances to completely cover
a cake. See example to the right.
'Stack
Cake' As per the
"American’ style, but each tier is the
same size. See example to the right.
'Stands' Usually made
of Perspex and allow the different tiers to
be positioned in any way to complement the
overall design rather than directly above
each other. See example to the right.
'Swag
Effect' A design,
normally around the sides of the cake, representing
a drape of fabric in icing. See example to
the right.
'Tiers' A completed
cake which forms part of the total design.
This can be one flavour or divided into layers
as with the Cappuccino of Chococcino cakes.
'Wrap
Around' A style of
stack cake around which the icing is wrapped
to create a soft "material drape" effect.
See example to the right.
