By Michelle Anderson
Cake Decorating Expert
Cake trends come and go with the seasons, months and years. Sometimes
these trends come back into fashion but often what is popular in the
past simply stays there as techniques or available ingredients and tools
get more advanced. As little as ten years ago pre-made fondant and gum paste was
either completely unavailable, too expensive to consider or really bad
quality. Now you can pretty much get anything you need at the local
craft or kitchen store. Cake decorating styles have changed a great deal
over the last 20 years and it is interesting to see the progression and
growth in this industry.
Cake versus Decorations: Cakes used to be quite simple because the actual cake
was the star of the show not the decorations on the outside. Taste was
the key and it was usually easy to identify flavors such as chocolate,
French vanilla or strawberry in a simple butter cream and cake. Now we
have glazes, curds, cream, confits, washes as well as an assortment of
icing types.
We see mango, peppermint, pomegranate, carrot,
pumpkin, lime, peanut butter, apple, and caramel in the cakes found
today. As well as a combination of several in one cake or more than one
cake flavor in an assortment of cakes. Basically if you can dream it;
the taste can be done.
Different Shapes: Back in
the day, there were round cakes and if you wanted to be really daring,
square cakes. Now cakes can be hexagons, hearts, rectangles, a mixture
of shapes and even sculpted into realistic objects such as shoes,
purses, cars, and full scenes. Wedding themes make ocean cakes, snow
covered hills, scattered fall leaves or even fishing brides and grooms
popular. The days of cake tiers separated demurely by plastic fluted
columns topped with sedate plastic figures are basically gone. Basically
anything goes with today's cakes and variety is almost expected by the
guests.
Centerpiece Cakes, Cake Pops, and Cupcakes:
This is a trend that was not around 20 years ago and cake pops were
definitely not on the radar. Cupcakes were not elegant enough for a
serious occasion like a wedding and were more likely to be found at bake
sales and children's birthday parties. Cupcakes
have gained popularity because they can be anything required by a theme
or event; elegant, whimsical and simply gorgeous. They make multiple
flavors easy and can be topped by flowers, cut outs and pretty swirls of
icing that reflect the color scheme of the event. Centerpiece cakes are
equally pretty and can be cut to serve individually as the dessert at
the table it graces. Towering cupcake stands and pedestals designed for
centerpiece creations make serving and presenting these delectable cake
creations effortless.
Color, Color, Color: People
have always used bold vibrant colors in their cake design but the
products used to create these shades has definitely changed over the
years. Getting true red in icing used to mean a finished product that
had a nasty chemical taste which tended to take away from the enjoyment
of the cake. Older food coloring used to mean unhealthy ingredients and a
disturbing link to hyperactivity which made many cake designers opt out
of using them. The food colors used today can be made from organic
natural dyes created from vegetables and fruits. This gives people the
choice and creates cakes that reflect the trend towards "green".
Synthetic dyes are still on the market but many harmful ingredients have
been phased out over the years as well.
Trends in cake design
have definitely evolved over the years but one trend that seems to be
gaining popularity is a hearkening back to days in the past. Antique
crystal cake pedestals, designs that reflect Grandma's lace veil and
cakes featuring vintage jewelry replicated in sugar are popping up all
over. This seems to show that many things are possible but embracing
what was beautiful and historical is never out of fashion.
source: about.com
