Welcome to the seventh post in The Casual Gourmet’s series of tips for newly engaged brides. You can view all the tips (once published) here or learn more about the author, Olive Chase (THE Cape Cod wedding expert) here. Check back often for more tips!

Tradition, of course, calls for a wedding cake. However, during the past few seasons we saw many brides request cupcakes instead of a traditional wedding cake. Lately we have seen this trend fizzle out as more and more brides are moving away from the cupcake tiers and opting for a beautiful traditional wedding cake with a variety of fillings and flavors.

We have also seen a growing request for items such as pies. Another popular trend are dessert bars such as ice cream sundae bars, cupcake bars and even s’mores bars where guests can come up and make their own s’mores to order. This past summer we even did a fun Crème Brule Station. 

Most people will stick with your traditional layered wedding cake but don’t be afraid to try something different, particularly if you have a dessert you and your soon to be spouse love!

Its a Gingerbread Lighthouse!

Here at the Casual Gourmet we are gearing up for Christmas. While Christmas orders are keeping the phones busy in the office, the bakers have been keeping busy by preparing our beautiful gingerbread houses. This year Marcy and Barbara are building a new gingerbread house for Heritage Museums & Gardens. Below you will find step by step pictures and the process behind the Gingerbread Lighthouse.

The Gingerbread Dough was mixed and then Rolled out into thick slabs.

the walls and the basic structure of the lighthouse were cut out of the dough

all the pieces were then laid out to bake

once the pieces came out of the oven, Marcy began to decorate them with Royal Icing

the roof for the structure was cut out of gum paste with a cookie cutter

 the pieces were then layered together to form the roof

 the entire gingerbread house sat on cookie base

 Rice Krispy Treats were used to give it a 3D look to the water and the rocks on which the Lighthouse sat on

The lighthouse was then filled on the inside by the same rice krispy treats to give it a more sturdy base

icing was spread all over the base to give the effect of snow

Whats a Lighthouse without a Lightkeeper? a smaller house next to the Lighthouse for the keeper was built.

Barbara puts the finishing touches on their beautiful work of art

and Voila the final product!

The Lighthouse was taken to Heritage Museum and Gardens to be displayed during their Gardens AGLOW  exhibit. The Lighthouse was also featured in the Cape Cod Times.

The weather was perfect, the location was stunning and all the details were just so cute that we wanted to share a few of our favorite moments with you. Guests arrived by bus and pre ceremony had refreshments of iced tea and lemonade created with the family’s special recipe. Weathered shingles on the wide porch held the escort cards -each with a picture to remind them of their dinner choice. Lattice hung on the side of the house with a pictorial history of Ashleigh and John’s relationship.

Fabulous Rental Home on Lower Cape

A perfect setting for a perfect moment!

Placecards hanging on weathered shingles

After a touching ceremony, overlooking the bay -featuring vows written by the bride and groom,  guests were invited to a separate part of the yard to enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, featuring miniature “lobstah” rolls and a raw bar with shrimp and local oysters.  The passing platters were created by Ashleigh, with help from her Dad, who also created all of the various chalkboards that were seen around the property. The signature drink was a pomegranate Cape Codder passed in a mason jar.

Personal Touch!

After cocktail hour, guests were invited into a beautiful Sperry Tent to enjoy a plated dinner with a choice of Georges Bank Scallops, Roasted Tenderloin of Beef or our fabulous Risotto Cakes! The slightly country Cape Cod theme was carried over in the tent with multiple vases of wildflowers artfully created by Flowers by Fancy, natural garden chairs and guest tables were covered with khaki colored linens and chocolate brown napkins provided by Rentals Unlimited. After dinner the guests danced the night away to terrific music  crafted by one of their good friends.  Dessert consisted of our own yummy cupcakes done Betty Crocker Style in three flavors and an incredible assortment of homemade cookies contributed by the bride’s friends and family.

Dinner Tent

Dessert table featuring homemade cookies & Casual Gourmet Cupcakes

We would like to thank Ashleigh & John for allowing  us be such a big part of their special day!  We wish them many years of happiness!

A young girl came in last week looking for a birthday cake. Not just any birthday cake though, she wanted a gaint cupcake! Take a look:

Perhaps cup cakes are more your style? (Photo by Bello Photography)

One of the latest trends in the Wedding business has been to ditch the traditional wedding cake and go with cupcakes instead!

Why Cupcakes?

Cupcakes might seem like an odd choice for  a wedding but they offer a number of advantages to a typical three tiered wedding cake.

First, they are easy to serve. No messy pile of icing and cake after a hot summer day to cut up and dish out.

Second, cupcakes can come in as many flavors and styles as you want. Sure you can get creative with a wedding cake but with cupcakes, you could have a unique ‘cake’ for each guest!

Finally, they are different and adorable! Cupcakes can add that little edgy spunk to your wedding to really make it stand out from the rest.

What about ‘cutting the cake’?

When breaking from tradition, sometimes a part of that tradition can get lost. Fortunately, this is not one of those times! Many couples will have cupcakes on a three tiered rack but instead of cup cakes on the top, they will have an actually cake topper for the traditional ‘cutting of the cake.’

For instance, take a look at the cup cakes from Grace and Silas’ wedding this past weekend. Instead of going with a traditional wedding cake, Grace and Silas decided to go with four levels of red velvet cupcakes topped with a butter creme icing. And on top of all that, a traditional wedding cake top so they could still cut the cake!

Other couples have skipped the cake topper completely and just fed each other a cupcake! Either way, cupcakes add a unique twist to any wedding.

Need more? Check out some of the links below to see what others have to say about cupcakes for weddings:

• Wedding & Shower Cupcakes
• Martha Stewart’s Wedding Cupcake Photo Gallery
• Wedding Cupcakes Instead of Cake