Dessert Elegance

By McKenna Corson

After devouring plates of savory food at a wedding reception, it’s only natural for guests and the couple to develop a sweet tooth. There are many ways to celebrate with dessert, but for those yawning at the sight of tiered, plain white wedding cakes, there are new, creative takes that still provide that delectable edge. Pros from Lucy’s Sweet Surrender in Shaker Heights, Luna Bakery & Cafe in Cleveland Heights and Moreland Hills, and Unger’s Kosher Bakery and Food Shop in Cleveland Heights offer tips on the latest trends in wedding confections, from cake flavors to edible decorations, to even subbing in different treats for wedding cakes.

Lucy’s Sweet Surrender

Picking your wedding cake’s flavor can be difficult. That’s why Michael Feigenbaum, the owner and pastry chef at Lucy’s Sweet Surrender, encourages couples to have many cakes of varying flavors.

“I love the idea of the buffet of cakes because it gives me a chance to do some different things,” Feigenbaum says. “You can have a really nice selection of different things to eat instead of being stuck with a white buttercream cake.”

A cake buffet also allows guests with special dietary needs, like those allergic to nuts or who are vegan, to enjoy the sweet spread with a cake catering to them.

For couples who want dessert diversity but also envision a cake perfect for those classic photos of icing playfully smeared on their noses, Feigenbaum offers a solution: pair the cake buffet or other unique sweets with one small, traditional wedding cake for the couple to pose with. Using some photo magic with angles and depth of field, the wedding photographer can make the small cake look feast-worthy.

“The photographer could take a picture of you feeding each other this traditional cake, and yet you’ve got this other dessert coming out to people,” he says. “You can have both sides: the unique, unexpected dessert and the wedding cake effect.”

Above: A variety of cake avors created at Lucy’s Sweet Surrender. Below: A bu et of cakes featuring di erent avors made at Lucy’s Sweet Surrender. | Photos / Lucy’s Sweet Surrender

Unger’s

Malka Rosenberg, owner of Unger’s, says she’s seeing more and more couples opt for simpler wedding cakes instead of multi-tiered, heavily adorned cakes.

“The layers are higher and simpler, and most of the time the decoration is done with fresh flowers, not with icing,” Rosenberg says. “It’s much more of a clean look, more delicate and fancy.”

Rosenberg suggests couples try a wedding cake with two or three layers that extend higher up instead of the more traditional, four- or five-layer cake that stay closer to the cake’s base.

When it comes to trending flavors, Rosenberg says lemon and mousse flavors, like chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, are very popular today. Unger’s does either individual mousse cups or mousse cakes.

“Lemon and mousse are more trendy than brownies or more traditional stuff,” Rosenberg says. “I think people like that more.”

Left: A long yet simple buttercream frosted cake topped with silver frosted owers made at Unger’s Kosher Bakery and Food Shop. Right: A buttercream frosted wedding cake, adorned with frosted owers, created at Unger’s. | Photos / Unger’s

Above: A wedding cake with lined texture and fresh greenery made at Luna Bakery & Cafe. Left: A wedding cake featuring simple icing and fresh owers made at Luna Bakery & Cafe. | Photos / Brynn Keefe

Luna Bakery

Annalisa Mahon and Brynn Keefe, cake designers/decorators at Luna Bakery, say they see a recent callback to “elegant simplicity” when it comes to wedding cakes. Texture is Luna Bakery’s most popular customization option, as cakes can be decorated to fit events and overall wedding vibes by using the same fresh florals from the wedding.

“After 2020, people were just so happy to be finally getting married after having to postpone that they just wanted a beautiful wedding cake that tasted great,” Mahon and Keefe explain in an email interview.

For desserts beyond the wedding cake, Mahon and Keefe offer the idea of using packaged custom sugar cookies as a place setting or takeaway gift.

“It’s a fun way to feature a monogram, inside joke, hashtag or include a beloved pet into the wedding,” Mahon and Keefe say.