Luxury Wedding Cake Trends for 2023
We are delighted to have the UK-based, world-renowned and highly respected cake expert Elizabeth Solaru of Elizabeth's Cake Emporium, give us her thoughts on luxury wedding cakes for 2023.
From small things iced to big and bold beauties, these are the luxury wedding cake designs to expect for 2023.
"A great luxury wedding cake starts from the inside out. Now more than ever, we will be paying attention to cake flavours that delight the palate but also boost our immunity", says Elizabeth Solaru.
Attention has shifted to our need for nutrient-dense foods including immunity boosters and creative cake makers are increasingly finding ways to infuse these into their cakes. For example, blueberries, the king of antioxidants are loaded with anthocyanins and various other plant compounds, some of which can cross the blood-brain barrier and exert protective effects on our brains.
Increasingly super fruit and vegetable powders, such as Baobab, Beetroot and Moringa are finding their way into the patisserie world.
But cake flavors are not just limited to what's good for us though. At Elizabeth's Cake Emporium, cake staples such as vanilla or chocolate cakes can have delicious fillings such as cookie dough, Oreos, Lotus Biscoff, pretzels, and even doughnuts.
Also, unusual fruit fillings such as calamansi (citrus), kumquat and Japanese ones, such as yuzu and sakura (cherry blossom) are particular favorites among GenZ couples.
With this in mind here are the top luxury wedding cake trends Elizabeth predicts for 2023:
Grand Wedding Cakes
We are absolutely delighted to say that grand wedding cakes are back! These towering, gravity-defying confections provide a focal point at many weddings, delighting the senses and the palate. These grand wedding cakes are often presented on custom-built cake stands and/or cake tables and are decorated with the most incredible sugar flowers and bespoke edible embellishments.
White Luxury Wedding Cakes
A classic white wedding cake never goes out of style and will endure in all wedding imagery. Although a white cake can sometimes look flat in photographs the beauty of it is that it can be the perfect black canvas for texture. The addition of ruffles, sugar flowers, wafer paper, intricate piping, fresh flowers and even gold leaf will provide lovely detailing that will make a cake pop.
Gold Wedding Cakes
Edible gold in different forms has been used on wedding cakes for a number of years and has been an enduring metallic. Gold's lustrous appeal is the fact that as a metallic, it comes in a variety of hues ranging from yellow gold to rose gold and it makes for a distinct and cool base cake color. Gold can be paired with incredible handmade sugar flowers or embellishments in any color, from pale pastels to dark jewel tones.
Colourful Jewel Tone Wedding Cakes
Increasingly we are seeing some couples opt for the richly saturated hues of jewel-tone wedding cakes because they want their wedding cake to stand out. Taking their inspiration from gems like emeralds, sapphires and rubies this trend suits couples who are not afraid to express their love for color.
Textural Wedding Cakes
Texture is very important when it comes to wedding cakes as it provides interesting decorative detail and the opportunity to customise a cake to suit a couple's wedding theme. It's also an opportunity for a cake artist to show off their skill and expertise and work with different media. The past few years have seen the rise of wafer paper, an edible starch-based paper that is suitable for vegans. It is also gluten-free and free from most allergens. This paper can be manipulated into the most incredible shapes including ruffles, bows, geometric patterns and even flowers.
Pantone-Inspired Wedding Cakes
Every year the world-famous Pantone Institute announce their color of the year. This color is then used by fashion, graphic and interior designers, and proves popular with consumers. Not surprisingly this then influences wedding colors chosen by couples and wedding designers.
Pearl Wedding Cakes
The popularity of the pearl, the queen of gems, as a trend in cake design and its popularity in wedding and contemporary fashion does not seem to be waning. The Spring and Summer 2023 Jewelry Trend Report by Vogue Magazine has reported this gem still being used a lot on the catwalk by designers such as Chanel, Simone Rocha and Valentino. In the cake world, edible pearls as decorations have a great deal of versatility and can be used as adornments in both traditional and modern wedding cakes.
Unusually Shaped Wedding Cakes
Wedding cakes don't have to be just round or square. Some couples prefer to toss the rule book out of the window and opt for unusually shaped wedding cakes. At Elizabeth's Cake Emporium, one of our most popular and most copied wedding cakes have been our pillow wedding cakes.
These cakes create such a buzz and completely vow many wedding guests who marvel at how we make the cakes stay upright.
Floating Wedding Cakes
Floating wedding cakes are popular with couples as it's a way of providing endless design possibilities. Floating cake spacers enable the addition of height to wedding cakes and can be decorated in numerous ways to give the illusion that the cake is floating. With its gravity-defying properties, a floating element in a cake design adds just the right touch of illusion. Moreover, it is a great alternative to adding more tiers if there are time or budget constraints.
Small Things Iced and Wedding Favors
In a change of direction, some couples are opting for mini cakes, small things iced and wedding favors as treats for their guests instead of wedding cake. Individually plated treats such as cakesicles, macarons, handmade chocolates, mini donuts and decorated wedding cookies and biscuits can serve as a cool dessert option. The advantage of these treats is that they can also be sent to other guests who could not attend the ceremony as a token of love and appreciation.
So there you have it. 2023 is set to be the year where we will see grander and more opulent luxury wedding cakes. Now that we have returned to normalcy, we can expect an explosion of creativity from many cake artists around the world.
Visit Elizabeth's Instagram page and her website for more beautiful cake designs and she can be contacted at +447958069116 to discuss any ideas you might have for your wedding cake.
