How a Groom’s Cake Can Enhance Your Brooklake Wedding

“What’s a groom’s cake, and do we need one at our wedding?”

In all fairness, no one needs a groom’s cake at their wedding, but most likely once they learn about it nearly everyone wants one. A tradition in the American South for generations, groom’s cakes are quite popular at weddings hosted in venues around the New York Metro area as well — including Brooklake in northern New Jersey. Wedding cake and groom’s cake designs range from elegantly minimalist, to traditionally elaborate, and everything in-between. Cakes can be the visual showpiece of your reception, as couples and bakers collaborate on tantalizing flavors and eye-popping creativity to coordinate with the main wedding theme. A show-stopping groom’s cake becomes a wonderful conversation starter for curious wedding party members and guests.

Forward-thinking brides and grooms have embraced trends in baking entertainment and confectionary arts to create unique personal touches in their wedding receptions. With the same spirit they select gloriously lavish, customized Viennese dessert hours, wedding couples innovate groom’s cakes with new and exciting flavors, amazing edible artwork and unusual formats.

Can you imagine any of these unconventional groom’s “cake” ideas at your wedding?

• Tiers of sugary, spiked jelly doughnuts,
• An edible fondant photo mural made up of pull-apart cinnamon buns,
• Stacked, savory cheddar and chive scones draped with slices of crisped bacon,
• An array of whiskey-infused chocolate cake pops decorated in mini dresses and tuxes,
• A golden waffle layer cake, filled with Nutella or peanut butter, drizzled with chocolate and adorned with chopped fresh fruit,
• A pizza pyramid arrangement of thin-crust slices featuring a variety of his favorite toppings.

Now imagine your groomsmen indulging in that special “cake” while savoring your selected wedding wine, or enjoying it with a pint of the groom’s favorite beer or paired with your Brooklake signature cocktail.

“The dinner was excellent with a lot of options to choose from. We also did the Viennese table, which was not a table… it was a ROOM. It was absolutely outrageous and amazing. People are still telling us they could not believe how awesome the food was, and that there was so much they barely got to every station.” — Christina on Facebook

Celebrate the Groom’s Personality: Draw Inspiration from Real Life

The groom’s cake is a storytelling opportunity many contemporary couples don’t want to miss. Serving a separate cake of his liking and in his style, is a very delectable and thoughtful way to celebrate the groom’s individuality and interests with his friends and family at the wedding reception. So how do you find an idea for the perfect groom’s cake motif?

Decorations and scenery can showcase his professions and passions, hobbies and sports, his alma mater’s mascot, collectible cars and favorite travel destinations. Humorous memories, even his beloved quirks, can be a lovable design, too. Is the groom known for:

• Using duct tape for every repair around the house? Have fun with metallic silver fondant!
• Always being a few minutes late? Sculpt an alarm clock!
• Eating odd topping combinations on his pizza? Go ahead… tastebud challenge!
• Being unlucky at poker?
• A Harry Potter owl obsession?
• Always spilling popcorn or chips when cheering his team?

…You get it now… you can take it from here!

The “second cake” grows up

Culinary historians believe the groom’s cake tradition began as the “second cake” in Victorian England, with the oldest recipe found so far dated 1897. In that era, brides were known for managing most of the wedding planning, and two cakes were served at many celebrations – one for the guests, a second for the groomsmen and eventually, a third for the bridesmaids. These extra cakes offered a different flavor choice than the main wedding cake for guests, too. Early colonists brought the second cake to America where it really took root in the South.

Second and third cakes are still a welcome – and cherished – component of today’s weddings, sometimes served at the rehearsal dinner or in the bridal suite while the parties are getting ready. Even as grooms take on more planning and decision-making in their weddings today, including designing the main cake, partners often surprise each other with highly stylized, smaller non-traditional cakes that make a personal statement. With freedom to veer off the central wedding theme, couples have a blast designing a groom’s cake that is fun and expressive.

Not Your Grandfather’s Fruitcake

Victorian brides offered groom’s cakes as a more masculine alternative to the usual flour layer cakes and “frilly” decorations. Initially, they favored groom’s cakes with heartier recipes featuring darker colored, more robust ingredients and an understated, modest appearance. Dense fruit cakes soaked in liquor quickly became an easy favorite, but soon gave way to carrot cake and red velvet. And as flavors changed, designs evolved too.

Now innovation is the new normal. On any given weeknight, Americans can watch talented bakers, chocolate, fondant and sugar artists, marzipan sculptors, food coloring painters and more specialists create edible sculptural masterpieces that compete in televised baking contests. Modern wedding couples are drawing inspiration from these highly skilled artisans who, in just three hours or so, whip up delightful cakes and sculpt them into mouth-watering dioramas and intricate, scaled-down scenes of the real world. Brides and grooms then explore their wildest imagination as they use these techniques to translate their stories from memory to an unforgettable groom’s cake.

Contact Your Brooklake Event Specialist Today

For impeccable service planning your Brooklake dream wedding, look no further than your dedicated event specialist and our team of attendants, all renown for attention to every creative and logistical detail — whether anticipated or not — ensuring perfection on your most memorable day.