WEDDING CAKE

Since I love cake, picking out the cake for my wedding was most exciting and delicious. George and I tried one bakery first that we loved the designs but had never heard of the place. I know you are thinking why would you try a place that you have never heard of, well I was willing to try any cake especially since it got good reviews on Yelp and the price was right. 

When we got to the tasting, I was so disappointed that we were not tasting a slice of layered cake but we tasted a cupcake which does not have the same consistency or taste as traditional wedding cake. I won't name the place publicly since I do not think that is nice but I realized that I had to scramble fast to find another cake. I began my search with the index of New York magazines wedding guide. Based on the price alone I only had 2 options in Manhattan which were Soutine and Ceci Cela. 

I was so committed to finding delicious cake that I was willing to shlep through a snow storm across town to Soutine which is on the upper west side. When we got there, we were greeted by the owner Madge who offered us a platter of different cakes and a hot drink. All of the cakes were so moist and delicious that we had a hard time deciding but what made the choice a bit easier was the fact that both George and I do not care too much for chocolate but we love fruit flavors. We decided to have 2 different flavors. The bottom tier was white cake moistened with lemon syrup then layered with lemon curd and fresh raspberries. The middle and top tier were white cake moistened with orange syrup then layered with pastry cream and fresh strawberries and blueberries. 

Most people would think that one cake was enough but not me, I also opted for a grooms cake and to have cake as the dessert choice on the menu. It sounds like cake overkill but really the reason was simple. I thought because the wedding cake was light and fruity that we had to have an option for the chocolate lovers so we chose black forest cake. Although the concept of a grooms cake is an American Southern tradition (think Steel Magnolias), I wanted to have one for George because he is originally from Kiev and they just happen to make a famous cake called the Kiev cake. Kiev cake is very popular in the former Soviet Union and in Brooklyn NY where there are many Russians who enjoy the cake. In fact we bought the Kiev cake from the Kiev bakery in Brooklyn. The cake is made of layers of meringue, nuts, and cream.

The results were mixed on which cake was better Bride vs. Groom but not by sides of the wedding party but by personal tastes. For me personally I thought my light fruity cake was the best but I still enjoyed eating Kiev cake along with my cake for the solid week after the wedding.

As for the tradition of saving the top tier of the wedding cake in the freezer for 1 year until the wedding anniversary, we decided against it because we feel our freezer is not big enough and that when our anniversary comes around we will get the same exact cake and eat it fresh.