PRINTTop That
Sweet delights for your special day
Vivian Esparza
Janette Pohlman, owner and designer for Create-a-Cake, inserts supports before placing the final tier on a wedding cake at her shop in Wooldridge.
June 24, 2009 | 12:00 p.m. CST
- Pohlman’s Create-a-Cake
- (660.839.2231)
- pohlmanscakes.com
STRENGTHS: Janette Pohlman has been making all types of cakes for 40 years and now specializes strictly in custom-made wedding cakes. She has branched out from making traditional cakes to creating cakes in different shapes such as a tiger, armadillo, haunted house, cow, helicopter and bulldozer. When an order was placed for a tiger cake, Pohlman assumed it was for a groom’s cake and was shocked when it was the bride’s cake.
Pohlman shows handmade edible bottles for a beer cooler groom’s cake. She has been in ...
MOST ARTFUL CAKE: One of the most interesting wedding cakes Pohlman has constructed was a cake in the shape of a chicken. When the couple came in and requested the cake, she asked if they were chicken farmers. Surprisingly, they were not. They were just having a Best Little Whore House in Texas themed wedding. She also just received an order for a cake of Truman the Tiger holding a jayhawk in his mouth.
MOST POPULAR CAKE: Pohlman has seen the cake trend going gourmet, and Chambord (raspberry liqueur) has become a popular flavor request. About 75 percent of the cake orders she gets include the smooth fondant icing that gives the cake a sleek porcelain look.
- Hy-Vee
- (447.0133)
- hy-vee.com
STRENGTHS: Cake decorator Mandi Rogers says that, in addition to decorations such as ribbons and swirls, one of Hy-Vee’s major strengths is the ability to fill orders that have been put in last minute, so they don’t have to turn customers away. “We’ve had people come in Wednesday before the wedding Saturday, and we’ve been able to complete the order,” Rogers says.
MOST ARTFUL CAKE: Rogers was surprised when she had a request for a more outlandish wedding cake. “A couple got married in Las Vegas and on the cake for their reception, they wanted hearts, spades, a deck of cards and, on top, they made the ‘Welcome to Las Vegas sign,’” she says. Instead of the greeting, the couples’ names and the date were written on the sign.
MOST POPULAR CAKE: The “classic” cakes that are favorites at Hy-Vee are white, chocolate and marble flavored. Hy-Vee also has many requests for strawberry, lemon, carrot and red velvet. Typically, the icing paired with these cakes is butter cream.
- Uprise Bakery
- (256.2265)
STRENGTHS: For wedding cakes, Uprise Bakery offers a more traditional two-tier cake with additional sheet cakes, all made from scratch. “Our focus is on delicious cake using all the best ingredients,” says Jill Pautler, head pastry baker. “What we don’t do is piped flowers with bright colors. We have more of a natural approach.”
MOST ARTFUL CAKE: Pautler’s most memorable cake actually required assembly in another state. “I made my brother’s groom cake,” Pautler says. “Because he got married in Montana, I baked the cake here in Columbia, took it on the plane with me and then finshed it at the chalet where he got married.”
MOST POPULAR CAKE: Pautler says that the most popular flavor is chocolate cake with mocha butter-cream icing. Other favorites are non-traditional flavors such as lemon, strawberry and orange. “We also do a lot of carrot ginger cakes with cream cheese frosting,” Pautler says. “That type of cake looks traditional but is different on the inside.”
- Cakes with the Personal Touch by Edith Hall
- (696.2505)
- cakeswiththepersonaltouch.blogspot.com
STRENGTHS: Edith Hall’s biggest strength is that her business focuses strictly on wedding cakes. Her cakes have been known to sport hand-made, edible flowers and shapes like football helmets. Hall is also particularly skilled with butter-cream icing. “I can get butter cream to look thin and smooth like fondant, so you can have the thin look with a great taste and without the cost of fondant,” she says.
MOST ARTFUL CAKE: The most outstanding cake Hall has ever made was for a wedding with approximately 500 guests. “Last October I made a cake that was over six feet tall, not including the cake stands,” Hall says. “I used a ladder to decorate it. My husband and I had to deliver it together.”
MOST POPULAR CAKE: French vanilla has become a popular flavor for Hall’s creations, and she has started filling more orders for cakes with fruit filling. Chocolate and traditional white with white icing remain in high demand as well.
- The Upper Crust
- (874.4044)
- theuppercrust.biz
STRENGTHS: Cake designer Melissa Robinson says one of Upper Crust’s strengths is design. “Most cakes we end up doing are standard decoration: scrollwork, dots, using a design or pattern,” Robinson says. “Ribbon is really popular for the cakes but keeping it very simple and elegant seems to be the trend. People aren’t afraid to use color, though; I have a lot that either use ribbon or scrolling in the same color.”
MOST ARTFUL CAKE: “The theme for the wedding was kind of a beach theme and all their decorations showed that,” Robinson says. “They were getting married right on the water, and the cake really resembled that. It was decorated with a cute starfish topper, shells and sand. It was a really appropriate cake that was really pretty with all their decorations.”
MOST POPULAR CAKE: Upper Crust’s most requested cakes are three- or four-tier. And vanilla and chocolate are still in high demand at their venue because customers are worried about guests with allergies.
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