‘Too pretty to eat’ are words to live by when designing a cake. Whether tasked to create a multi-tiered confection for a bride and groom or a fanciful treat for a milestone birthday, pastry chefs know aesthetics are just as important as taste. With piping bags in hand, these pastry chefs share how they incorporate current decorating trends into their cake designs. 

Layers of Complexity
Tiered cakes may be a tall order for some pastry chefs, but for Mellisa Root, who heads up the pastry department at Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va.—and is presenting at the 2023 Chef to Chef Conference—it’s an opportunity to share a taste of something she relishes.

Mellisa Root, Executive Pastry Chef of Farmington Country Club, (left) has been awing members with cakes for the past year and a half, demonstrating her breadth of experience.

“I love a beautifully glazed entremet cake,” she says. “Whenever I have a chef’s choice cake, I treat the membership to French-inspired entremets rather than a classic American-style stacked cake.” 

Root has been awing Farmington’s members with cakes for the past year and a half, demonstrating her breadth of experience. Her work draws upon her implementation of specialty cake programs in luxury hotels, resorts, casinos and privately held shops, in addition to her consultancies with private clubs and wedding cake shops. Her varied background has prepared her well for the diverse requests that come from brides-to-be. 

“Our wedding cake portfolio here at Farmington is as diverse as the brides themselves,” she says. Her creations run the gamut, from avant-garde to traditional, with cakes resplendent in gum paste floral, and those lightly decked with fresh florals and buttercream. 

This season, Root is working with brides looking to forego traditional white cake in favor of vivid hues of pink, blue and metallic gold. Fulfilling these requests can prove challenging at times, given Charlottesville’s climate. 

“We are implementing more controlled, humidity-free air conditioning into the shop,” she notes. “I try to be mindful of the season the bride is getting married when I discuss the appropriate cake options with her.”

Once Virginia’s temperatures cool in the later months, Root looks forward to reintroducing her spice cake, a popular choice for September-through-December brides. “It partners beautifully with a cream cheese frosting or a milk chocolate ganache for a more indulgent serving,” she says. 

Inspirational Icing
After being promoted to Pastry Chef this past April, Andi Gardner was eager to put her talents to work at Egypt Valley Country Club in Ada, Mich., where she has built her cake-decorating portfolio and can concentrate on wedding cakes.

Egypt Valley CC Pastry Chef Andi Gardner says ideas for new cake-decorating concepts often come from social media.

When crafting a confectionary wonder for a bride’s special day, Gardner abides by the ‘less is more’ rule as a nod to more minimalist wedding cakes. 

“There is a larger emphasis on the fresh florals and greenery that gives the cake an earthy, natural look,” she explains. 

Following this trend, members often request cakes designed with pastels, browns and neutral tones. 

Gardner is hoping to expand her cake color palette by incorporating terra cotta. “I continue to see it in weddings, often paired with jade green, beige and taupe,” she adds. 

Gardner’s ideas for new decorating concepts often come from the Internet, where she scours social media for designs that mirror her visions. She relies on Instagram—devoting an account entirely to cakes and pastries—and Pinterest to peek at artistic examples. 

“No matter the idea, someone did something similar, and you can feed off their creativity,” she says. 

With the holiday season quickly approaching, Gardner’s attention will shift from weddings to family-focused celebrations that end with a sweet treat. She expects fresh flowers to take a back seat to other alternatives. 

“I’m hoping to get a range of fake flowers to use on a simple cake that just needs a little something to make a statement piece,” she says. 

Gardner plans to create more themed cakes for birthdays in the colder months as the wedding season cools. She has fun coming up with over-the-top design concepts and cites a recent example when she was asked to make a cake for a young boy who loved SpongeBob SquarePants. 

“I was given no other details than that, so I took it to another level,” she says. 

The result was a multilayered, colorful cake that paid homage to the character. “I [tend to] keep it pretty simple, but when I do get a little crazy, the member is usually very pleased,” says Gardner. “That’s what I must remember: When decorating with creative freedom, most people are impressed and delighted.” 

Berry Delicious
A mile down the road from the ocean, where sea breezes rustle the surrounding greenery, a hint of fresh strawberries is in the air. The scent intermingles with a fresh-from-the-oven berry buttercream cake, a member favorite at Westhampton (N.Y.) Country Club (WCC), where Pastry Chef Jennifer Arma has prepared the summertime classic.

Jennifer Arma, Pastry Chef of Westhampton (N.Y.) Country Club, prefers bold colors to pair with simplistic styling.

“I get many requests for my strawberry cake,” she says of the simply decorated white cake outfitted with fresh and dried berries and some club florist-supplied greenery. 

“What sets this cake apart is that it’s made with both strawberry reduction and freeze-dried strawberry powder,” she says. The latter enhances the flavor and complements the buttercream. 

Such insight about knowing what works—and what doesn’t—in cake design is the result of a career that began at a custom cake shop, where Arma learned design basics. Before joining WCC two years ago, she served as a lead baker at the fabled Hamptons institution Loaves & Fishes and relied upon her upbringing instead of formal training. 

“No culinary school for me—just passion for sweets and making memories for others like the ones I so cherish of baking—and eating—with my grandmothers,” she says.

At WCC, where the season runs from April through the end of October, Arma designs wedding cakes that depart from traditional trends. 

Instead of larger cakes, small cutting cakes share the spotlight with a dessert table or a plated dessert of three individual items: a trend she believes will persist. 

When designing her cakes, Arma prefers bold colors to pair with simplistic styling. As of late, she’s working on adding organic, edible flowers that are pressed into the buttercream. 

“You can incorporate painting and buttercream or go with all dried flowers; the greenery adds so much depth,” she adds. 

To accomplish her goal, Arma often arrives early before the kitchen becomes too busy or sets up shop on the lower level. 

“It takes some time to get all my tools down there, but it is well worth the peace you want when finishing what is usually a week-long, painstaking process,” she says.

Before WCC’s season ends and Arma turns her attention to cake orders for private catering events, she will concentrate on the annual Oktoberfest, for which she’ll prepare a classic dessert to make the occasion. 

“We’ll be offering a traditional black forest cake with dark-chocolate-dipped cherries,” she says. “They will be covered in shaved chocolate and bursting at the seams with rich whipped cream.