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hatisthefirstthingtheweddingguestsno-ticewhentheyentertheballroom,otherthansome reallybaddancing?Theweddingcake!Whatisthelastthingtheywilltaste?

The wedding cake! Why then is this glorious creationanafterthought?Cutting corners on themaineventisarecipe(punintended)fordisaster!

The Grand Finale (Or The Icing On The Cake So To Speak)

The best way to make sure that your wedding and event

cakes are special every time is to employ your own pas-

try chef. It just makes sense to use the talents of a wed-

ding cake specialist or small custom bakery. If the cake

is crummy (pun intended) the guests won’t tell anyone,

they will tell EVERYONE! If the cake is delish, the attend-

ees will stuff their faces with seconds and thirds and hate

themselves in the morning. Having been in a variety of

pastry chef positions over a span of 30 years, I have many

keen insights and helpful tips. It all began with a single

wedding cake for a friend in California, followed by a job

in a French Bakery, owned by a Japanese company with a

Spanish speaking mentor! Lorenzo, showed me everything

he knew about baking and decorating cakes. The rest is

history.

Should you hire your own specialist? Maybe and maybe not.

your team. Priceless!

style

Here are some of the good, the bad and the ugly so you can decide for

yourself. Let’s begin with…

The Good • Team Member: A trusted and talented person on

your tea

• Handcrafted: Your product. Made with love.

• Consistent: Same baker. Same great recipes and

• Attention to Details: Clients LOVE specialists.

• Increased Sales: An all inclusive package means

the bride and groom won’t have to worry about the cake.

You’ve already done that for them.

The person you are considering doesn’t have to be a

culinary arts graduate, although it wouldn’t hurt.

Someone who has attended years in the “School of Hard

Knocks” is a perfect candidate too. But there are certain

qualities to look for either way.

• Passion: Wedding cakes, backup cakes and

pastries galore require devotion.

• Experience: Especially in high quality baking

and decorating.

• Easygoing: For those times when the wedding

cake falls off the back of the delivery truck.

• Presentable: Neat and communicates well.

Which brings us to: Let your clients know that they can

speak to the cake specialist. This can be a plus for the

pastry chef and the client.

The Bad and the Ugly• Personality or ego conflicts: The man with the tallest hat

rules. This fact became painfully obvious when the angry

head chef, was flinging chafing dishes like a frisbee at my

co-worker. It was then that I decided to seek employment

elsewhere.

• Salary: A specialist may cost more.

• Space Needed: Actually pastry chefs don’t take up much

room at all. Find a useable corner or spot in the basement.

Been there, done that.

• Equipment Needed: Large mixer with a couple of bowls,

oven, cake pans, work table, refrigerator and room for the

Grand Finale in the walk in freezer.

the next best thingFind a high quality custom bakery or home based

business that you trust. Order the cakes weekly and have them

delivered.

This is precisely how I work as a specialist. When my

services are needed I deliver cakes to Hathaway/Young in

Millerton, New York. Executive chef Bruce Young tasted

my cakes during a friend’s birthday party. His previous

thought of what a cake could taste like was shattered with

each and every delicious bite. In other words, he liked it.

Pete Hathaway and Bruce Young don’t cut corners, which

guarantees success. Their clientele are like rabid pit bulls

in the pursuit of quality.

Cont inue on next page>>

W

C ou r t esy of P hot o E x pres s ions

32 | FOOD & BEVERAGE MAGAZINE

Website: www.wedding-cakes-for-you.com/YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/WeddingCakesForYouFacebook: www.facebook.com/wedding.cakes.for.you/

The Next, Next Best ThingSend your brides and grooms to a talented and trusted outside

source, someone whom you know makes amazing cakes. Your cli-

ents will love the fact that you are connected to talented local

pastry chefs.

more tipsHire help for your pastry chef during the busy season, or they

will burn out like a tiny asteroid.

Train the waiters to be a teeny bit more careful when carrying

wedding cakes. A wedding cake is actually priceless; it cannot

be duplicated. When a waiter slings the cake over his shoulder

single handedly, it can cause heart stoppage to its creator.

Bottom line is...treat the wedding cake as you would any Grand

Finale! Pack it with a punch. Make it awesome!

So what came after that first apprenticeship at the French bak-ery you wonder?

I moved on to supplying the areas finest with yummy wedding

cakes and pastries. Next in line was a pastry chef position for a

lovely place called The Candlewood Inn, owned by entrepreneurs

John Royce and Thomas Montague. The esteemed La Chateau in

South Salem, New York is their most recent addition to an exist-

ing array of successful venues. With six in total, I would say these

guys are doing something VERY right.

My Grand Finale Happily running a small custom cake business accompanied by

a website, YouTube Channel and a book about... you guessed it,

Wedding Cakes. All created to help others with whatever their

cake dreams may be.

P hot o By Joh n Mu n no Wedd i ngs a nd E vent s P hot og r aphy

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PASTRY CHEF OF THE MONTH