Cake

The issue of endless options in event planning is, well, endless. There are so many different topics I could focus on, so rather than try to touch several lightly, I am going to focus on one – cake.

I don’t think I’m that old, however, I clearly remember going to birthday parties as a child, and the celebratory norm was the over-iced, stale bakery sheet cake. The sight of frosting flowers still make me cringe. Flavor options were typically vanilla or chocolate. Occasionally, one sheet cake was split in half by flavors and even rarer was the marbled blend of the two flavors. The decision-making process was pretty simple.

Now, especially with the influx in gourmet bakeries and cupcake shops, cake flavor options have exploded into endless delicious concoctions. The numerous taste temptations guarantee those indulging in dessert will find something that satisfies their palate, but as an event host or planner, how do you (after ample sampling) narrow down your options to select a flavor or flavors that will appeal to the greatest number of people?

I like the idea of red velvet cake. It is a bold color, has an elegant name and is visually stunning in application. The taste of red velvet cake leaves me with something to be desired. I have tried over and over to acquire a taste for the luxurious sounding treat, but I just can’t do it. The vaguely named flavor leaves an equally vague taste in my mouth. I finally broke down and looked up exactly what the flavor of red velvet is, and I realized why my taste buds felt like there was something lacking – there is. Rather than one discerning flavor, red velvet usually is a blend of cocoa, buttermilk, coloring and standard cake ingredients which, to me explains why it is, for lack of a better word, ambiguous.

I admit that I like desserts with very strong flavors. If I am going to indulge, I need to feel the guilt (and pounds) in every bite. My dislike of red velvet cake leaves me in the minority. According to the article “8 Most Popular Wedding Cake Flavors of 2014” by bridebox.com, it is the no. 1 cake flavor of 2014 making it a very safe choice for your event.

What are the remaining 7 safe options?
2. chocolate
3. white chocolate with raspberry
4. lemon
5. vanilla
6. coconut and lime
7. pink champagne
8. carrot

Hopefully this list helps alleviate a bit of your stress in narrowing down your flavor options. Oh, and by the way, you’ve only just started the decision-making process for your cake. You still need to determine the type of frosting, flavor of frosting, decorations, whether or not you will have a filler between each layer, what kind of filler, what size cake, what shape cake, etc. That stale bakery sheet cake is starting to look pretty good isn’t it?