Wedding Gazette

Let Them Eat Custom Made Cake

By Jennifer Baumann

Gone are the days of wedding cake that has to sacrifice taste for beauty. Pastry chef Lori Ann Blethen of Wildflowers explains how her custom-made confections absolutely take the cake in both departments.

In a recent interview with Wedding Gazette, Lori Ann Blethen of Wildflowers by Lori, who was trained at the French Culinary Institute School of Pastry Arts by the likes of master pastry arts chef Jacques Torres, explains how she took the humble art of wedding cake baking to new and inspired heights as a confectionary artist.

Wedding Gazette (WG):

What exactly is a confectionary artist?

Lori Ann Blethen (LAB):

Confectionary artistry, which originated in England and Australia, has been popular for the last 150 years. A confectionary artist is a pastry chef trained to sculpt and decorate with sugar. A few people have perfected this confectionary art and each has own approach toward design. Mine happens to be the garden style, which is a free-flowing lavishly decorated cake with the use of flowers as they appear to grow from a garden.

WG:

Why not just use real flowers to decorate pastries and wedding cakes?

LAB:

This is one of the reasons confectionary artistry is important. Numerous species of flowers are inherently poisonous and so have no business being placed on foods as decorations. Also, many flowers come from countries where they use poisonous pesticides. For this reason, it's really not a good idea for a bride to decide to leave the cake decorating up to her florist. Besides, there's something fascinating about flowers rendered in sugar that look absolutely real.

WG:

So tell us about how you go about decorating a wedding cake with flowers.

LAB:

I'll go into my own garden or study different species of flowers elsewhere and use them as my template in order to recreate them in sugar. I especially love to recreate the many varieties of roses, but also tulips, lilies, daffodils, lilies just about any possible flower. I like to think my work differs from others in that I take a great deal of time in capturing the subtle beauty and nuances of a particular flower.

WG:

You mention that your sugar rendered flowers look absolutely real. How real?

LAB:

I've been told by people that my sugar flowers look too real to be sugar. They've even accused me of coating real flowers with sugar! And when I tell them actually to hold a flower, break it open, and look inside, they gasp. The flowers I create are edible treats. I love watching a wedding guest marveling over the fact that she is holding in her hand a tea rose that looks perfectly real but still can be eaten.

WG:

You say your cakes taste as good as they look. How do you do it when most everyone knows that wedding cakes are notorious for tasting like cardboard?

LAB:

I know what you mean. As a wedding guest myself, I grew so tired of tasteless, dry wedding cakes. When I became a pastry chef, I spent a great deal of time perfecting recipes specifically suited for wedding cakes. I developed my cakes to maintain moisture, perfect texture, and a proper flavor balance and this is case with all my fillings as well.

WG:

This sounds wonderful, but don't most wedding cake bakeries do this sort of thing?

LAB:

Not really. Unlike many in my profession, I decided when I started that I didn't want to be a shopkeeper who baked and sold everything. I wanted to be a pastry chef who specialized in unique custom designed wedding cakes. I work in a private studio setting. My clients come to me from across the nation. I can ship my cakes or do a personal delivery and set up, which is a very nice touch for the bride.

WG:

I've taken a look at your creations, and some are truly amazing, not the typical wedding cake at all.

LAB:

I make basket cakes that actually look like woven baskets with handles made from sugar. The baskets are filled to capacity with confectionary flowers that reflect the season. My favorite is the summer roses basket. I can also create cakes that look like flowerpots, which will contain perhaps just a cluster of lily of the valley. Brides like to place the smaller version of this cake on the reception tables. They're perfect for garden weddings.

WG:

I think most brides would love their cake to be this unique, but how economical is it for a bride on a tight budget to order a custom-make cake?

LAB:

It's true that this kind of cake is upscale, but it can be economical in the long run not just in dollars and cents but also in what a bride is getting for her reception as far as quality and quantity goes. Often a wedding cake is served for show and as a token. In this case, the bride typically provides an extra dessert table for guests with sweets that are palatable. This costs. My cake is good enough to be the only dessert served.

WG:

Well, I guess brides really can let them eat cake!