Pretty or Tastes Good?

[snarlingcoyote]

Okay, so I love watching the cake shows and the Sunday non-cakewrecks at cakewrecks.com are beautiful.

But my favorite bakery does NOT make those kinds of cakes. They make cakes that taste simply amazing. (I'm pretty sure I just gained a pound thinking about their lemon doubache.) Even their fanciest wedding cakes would be disdained as "amateurish" by the fancy cakemakers on the shows.

Since when has how pretty a cake looks trumped how it actually tastes? It just strikes me as. . .I dunno. . .odd.

 

[krcit]

I don't want to tell you how I first read that lemon doubache

 

[Aimeedyan]

Why can't they be both? *shrugs*

 

[babycakes01]

I would take pretty over tastes good- I would like the look in pictures rather than actually remembering how it tasted. Maybe I'm a goofball- but we've been married 10 years and I can't remember how it tasted; but it sure looks awesome in the pics!

 

[kidzmom3]

my cake looked amazing and tasted AMAZING! The bakery was even a winner on the today show. Cakes for Occasions in Danvers MA.

 

[diznygirl]

I don't want to tell you how I first read that lemon doubache

I saw the same thing you did.


I think cakes can be both pretty and tasty. I like to think my wedding cake was both.

 

[C.Ann]

I don't see why they can't be both - if you have a very creative baker..

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I have to admit that I have a long-standing grudge against fondant.

Even marshmallow fondant.

Give me buttercream frosting, handmade that morning, full of crisco and butter and every other bad thing. I don't care that it doesn't shape and mold the way that fondant does. I want that wonderful sugary taste!

(Uhm. . .maybe I might have mentioned that I and several of my co-workers like to buy frosting from a favored bakery, grab spoons and chow down. . .and that one co-worker spent MONTHS perfecting her frosting recipe. Not for moldability or any of that. No, it was completely about how it tasted. She tried out so many different frosting recipes until she got THE ONE.)

 

[LuvOrlando]

So you mean some people actually eat the cake part? I always thought the only purpose cake serves is to hold up the frosting.

 

[momof1princess]

apparently, my local bakery has ceased to care whether their creations look good. i ordered cupcakes last month for DD's birthday and the icing was just smeared on them. i could've done a better job with a can of betty crocker and a butter knife. i was expecting swirls of frosting done with a tip and beautiful sprinkles-what i got was a smear job with a glob of dime store sprinkles. i was shocked and disappointed and the owner was lucky it was saturday and she wasn't there-i know her personally and i would've told her what i thought. i won't order from her again, and she's made my daughter's birthday cakes/cupcakes all DD's life.
sorry, i'm just venting.
my wedding cake only cost $60 and it looked AND tasted good. it was made by a friend of my mom's who had retired from cake decorating.
i love to watch the cake shows on tv-the challenges, cake boss, ace of cakes, etc. i don't think there's a place within 200 miles of here that does those types of cakes. i wish i could do it, i'd LOVE to be a cake artist, but i have carpal tunnel in both hands. my cakes would look and taste good.

 

[Planogirl]

Actually, our local Kroger store of all places is sometimes fairly creative. Nothing like the Ace of Cakes of course but they do come up with some nice things.

I don't see why a cake can't be both pretty and good tasting.

 

[eliza61]

I honestly don't remember how my wedding cake tasted but it's been 23 years. LOL I do know it was very pretty. I'm an amatuer baker so I'd probably worry more about how the cake tasted than how it looked. Of course when you think about it, what's the first thing that catches your eye at a bakery? How things look.

I'll vote for it can be both.

 

[mickeymedic]

I have to admit that I have a long-standing grudge against fondant.

Even marshmallow fondant.

Give me buttercream frosting, handmade that morning, full of crisco and butter and every other bad thing. I don't care that it doesn't shape and mold the way that fondant does. I want that wonderful sugary taste!

(Uhm. . .maybe I might have mentioned that I and several of my co-workers like to buy frosting from a favored bakery, grab spoons and chow down. . .and that one co-worker spent MONTHS perfecting her frosting recipe. Not for moldability or any of that. No, it was completely about how it tasted. She tried out so many different frosting recipes until she got THE ONE.)

Would your co-worker be willing to share her recipe with the rest of us buttercream frosting fanatics?

 

[Philagoofy]

Customers on these shows say how delicious the cakes are, so they can be creative, beautiful, interesting & taste good.

What I think about is all the people and all of the handling they do creating, molding, sculpting each cake by hand(s).

 

[anniemae]

I was thinking this the other day when I caught an episode of Ace of Cakes. When you see what they make, they are more like "works of art" than cakes it seems! Half the time, the cakes are held together with pvc piping, wires, styrofoam or cardbord cutouts. I always think they MUST just bring a sheet cake to the events for people to eat and the "show piece" cake is just for the eyes. I don't know what fondant is or if it is edible, but it does not look yummy. Sure it makes the cake beautiful and clean, but how does it taste?

I also watch the cake competitions on food network and those cakes seem totally unedible, more like art.

 

[Mom-to-2-Princesses]

I don't know what fondant is or if it is edible, but it does not look yummy. Sure it makes the cake beautiful and clean, but how does it taste?

Like edible play-doh! I took a cake decorating class in fondant and was told the best thing to do was peel the fondant off to eat the cake. I just couldn't picture making cake for my guests that they weren't suppose to eat totally??

 

[Jennasis]

My wedding cake was stunning (very simple) and it tasted like Heaven! So you can have both.

I don't get those big creations they do on Ace of Cakes and such where basically the only edible thing is the fpndant on top.

 

[princess momma]

Cake has got to taste good!

I actually don't like the really fancy, fondant covered monstrosities. I think a simple shape with buttercream and some fresh flowers is beautiful.

 

[EthansMom]

Like edible play-doh! I took a cake decorating class in fondant and was told the best thing to do was peel the fondant off to eat the cake. I just couldn't picture making cake for my guests that they weren't suppose to eat totally??

I wanted (and got) whipped frosting for my wedding cake. But while at the tasting, the baker had a sample of cake with fondant leftover from the tasting before me so I tried it. Yuck!

I would rather have my cake taste wonderful and look good than have a mediocre taste and look stunning.

IMO, too many people more concerned than how things "look" than anything else... and that's not just with weddings.

 

[Ember]

Cake should taste good first, then look good. I am a cake lover so any wedding report includes what the cake tasted like. "Great wedding, pretty dress, awful cake."

That said, it is possible to have a beautiful cake that tastes amazing. My Disney wedding cake was amazingly yummy! There's also a bakery here that does fancy cakes that are wonderful!

This was my birthday cake, pretty AND tasty!