Do You . . . Take This Cake?

Let them eat cake? Sounds easy--except when it comes to wedding cakes.

It’s a buyer’s market out there, and the choices are overwhelming. It’s not unusual to be faced with seven cakes, 15 fillings and six toppings. And don’t forget decoration: pulled sugar, royal icing curlicues, perhaps a basket weave pattern, fresh fruit and/or flowers.

To experience what a comparison-shopping wedding couple can expect, we went through the process of selecting, sampling and ordering wedding cakes from 13 bakeries around Southern California. More than once we yearned for the simpler days of fewer choices. But sorry, the plain old white wedding cake with Crisco frosting retired with “The Honeymooners” and the figurine groom with licorice hair.

The good news: Pastry chefs will jump through hoops to deliver a dream cake. The tough part: You have to be decisive.

“It’s an emotional time. The cake is a source of angst,” says one baker from Long Beach. “Everyone’s nervous and the mother usually gets in the bride’s way.”

But angst can be minimized by knowing what’s involved and what’s expected.

Wedding cakes must be ordered at least one month before the wedding. But the sooner, the better: Bakeries are busy all year long.

Every baker worth his vanilla extract insists on a consultation. But phone ahead; drop-in visitors are not welcome because the meeting can take up to an hour.

Come prepared. Know your favorite flavor--and what you loathe--in cake, filling and topping. Visuals, such as magazine photos and snapshots from your cousin’s wedding, help. So do nitty-gritty details such as the motif of the wedding, the type of food served, the color scheme of the gowns, and the flowers, table decoration and ornamentation. Determine whether the wedding cake will be the only dessert or an addition to a dessert buffet.

Once you’ve agreed on the type of cake, most bakers will arrange a sampling on another day. Samplings are done several ways. Most bakeries make you a sample cake to take home, usually a single 4- or 6-inch layer that’s frosted and filled but not decorated. Most charge about $8 for the sample but some are gratis. Instead of a sample cake, Zov Karamardian encourages clients to taste a variety of small pastries she stocks daily at Zov’s Bistro and Bakery in Tustin.

Jeff Jacobson, of Amy’s Pastry in Montebello, sets up a component tasting for prospective clients: plain cupcakes served with containers of fillings and toppings. The client frosts, fills and slathers pieces of cake until the right combination is found. Sometimes, a sample cake is ordered. To create a distinctive decoration, Jacobson uses special graphics software to design something that can be copied for the cake.

The price depends on the type of cake, the size and the baker. In The Times’ sampling of 13 bakeries, prices ranged from $1.50 to $8 per slice. Variables include whether fresh fruit or alcohol is used, the number of servings, the type of batter and filling, and the complexity of decoration.

Once the type of cake is agreed on, an order is filled out. It includes details such as the date of the wedding, the location and time, personal contacts, assembly instructions and any extra costs, such as tier plates and pillar rentals. Once the client signs the order, a 50% deposit is required. The balance is due seven days before the wedding.

What’s trendy right now? Most bakers mentioned simplicity and intense flavors.

“People don’t want the traditional wedding cake anymore,” says Mary Aqleh of Perfectly Sweet in Eagle Rock. “They want a fine dessert.” Her Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cake is considered her signature wedding cake.

Some specific trends:

* Anything in white chocolate or combination of chocolate and white chocolate.

* Fresh fruit fillings and fresh fruit decoration.

* Fresh flowers on the cake that repeat the types of flowers used in the table centerpiece or bride’s bouquet.

* Keeping cake flavors down to two, instead of multi-flavored cakes.

Yvan Valentin divides his clients at Sweet Temptations in Los Angeles into three categories: the woman who has a photo of the dream cake, the customer who likes a specific flavor and the client completely open to suggestions.

“For this last type I suggest something safe, such as chocolate cake with white chocolate frosting and chocolate shavings,” says Valentin, the former pastry chef at L’Orangerie. “Go for simplicity. The couple’s favorite flavor might not work for 200 guests.”

“Shopping for the cake is an education,” stresses Tita Hug-Dening of Emil’s Swiss Pastry in Los Angeles. “Consider the budget, the number of guests, the day, the time and the location. Think about factors such as where the reception will be. A club or restaurant, being a commercial facility, has more equipment than a home. But there’s more time pressure in terms of assembling the cake.”

Hug-Dening says one detail often overlooked is how the cake will photograph: “Sounds dumb, but there’s nothing worse than a couple towering over a tiny cake. It’s a matter of proportion. You can manipulate the size of the layers to compensate or adjust the height of the table. Always think about framing the cake for the camera lens.”

Joyce Maynor, owner of Fantasy Frostings in Whittier, advises the betrothed to be reasonable. “Cakes are personal,” she says. “But sometimes the couple’s dream cake won’t work because of technical considerations, logistics, time or temperature.”

In terms of budgets, she says the client has to taste cakes to relate to the price. “For most couples, the cake is the last thing they think of and they don’t want to spend too much money,” she says.

Sometimes, the baker becomes a therapist. “Getting a wedding cake is a Rorschach test. Couples learn all sorts of things about each other,” says Alan Katz, owner of Rosebud Cakes in Beverly Hills. “Sometimes, things can get tense.”

Humor helps, he adds. His bakery specializes in wedding cakes that reflect the couple’s interests: a cake with a bowling theme including a ball and pins. One couple ordered a dream house, a copy of an actual Victorian home along the Pasadena Freeway. And one screenwriter got a cake in the shape of a personal computer.