Taste As Good As They Look Wedding Cakes

June 26, 2003 -- Wedding cakes first appeared in the age of Queen Victoria and they're still in vogue, with the celebratory confections creating a $2 billion a year industry.

Good Morning America's Food Editor Sara Moulton went in search of some of the trendiest and tastiest pieces of cake available to today's brides and grooms.

Making a wedding cake is a long, precarious project.

"The individual tiers are baked and cut into layers so the cake can be cooled before the icing begins," Moulton said. "Sometimes, each layer is brushed with liqueur or syrup, and a creamy filling is added. The layers are stacked into tiers, the tiers are assembled into a single cake, and the whole caked is iced and decorated."

A great-looking cake is one thing, but an often tougher task is making one that tastes delicious, too.

"Because of the long decorating process it is an art to have both a great tasting and fantastic looking cake," Moulton said. She took a look at both the inside and outside of wedding cakes produced at smaller, less well-known bakeries.

Here they are:

Crazy in Love, by Francois Payard of Payard Patisserie and Bistro in New York.

This cake is true elegance with a modern shape and color. Its layers are rectangular and the sugar work is minimalist, it's not stuffy. Inside, alternating tiers of chocolate and white cake both share a common filling of delicious fresh raspberry filling and butter cream. Moulton says it is the best filling she has ever had. Payard Patisserie and Bistro, 1032 Lexington Ave, New York, N.Y., 212-717-5252. (payard.com)

Presents by Susan Morgan of Elegant Cheese Cakes of California.

A wedding cake is not always white. Color is in and it can be the best part. Everything on the Presents cake is edible. The outside is made of a soft but resilient, tootsie roll-like chocolate dough, which was in this case made out of white chocolate. Inside it is cheesecake. Some said it couldn't be done, but Susan Morgan was able to figure out how to balance everything out. The cake consists of mocha, coffee and vanilla cheesecake on a butter cookie crust. Morgan also makes a small bride and groom cake for the couple to eat on their anniversary. Elegant Cheesecakes, 103-2 Harvard Ave., Half Moon Bay, Calif. 94019, 650-728-2248. (elegantcheesecakes.com)

Daisy Cake by Cheryl Kleinman of Cheryl Kleinman Cakes:

Flowers are back in and the outside of the cake is covered in sugar flower work, each one done by hand. Inside is a great coconut cake with key lime buttercream. This cake stays very traditional in color scheme, but adds texture and a sense of fun with its design.The pleats cake here is in the hottest color this year, green. Cheryl Kleinman Cakes, 448 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y., 718-237-2271

Chocolate Curls by Ellen Baumwoll of Bijoux Doux.

These chocolate curls are just outstanding, and they are perfect for a bride who wants to be very different and make a statement. Nothing about this cake is traditional. Its dark chocolate goes well with the banana cake inside, but it can also be done in white chocolate. Many brides are straying from traditional flavors, so anything goes from carrot cake to banana cake. Bijoux Doux, 304 Mulberry St, New York, N.Y., 212-226-0948, (bijouxdoux.com)

And Something Blue by Gail Watson of Gail Watson Custom Cakes.

The irregular stripes on this cake give a sense of whimsy and the difference in texture with the fantastic sugar flower work adds softness. Inside we have a wonderful almond cake with lemon filling. Gail Watson Custom Cakes, 335 W. 38th Street, New York, N.Y., 212-967-9167(gailwatsoncake.com)