Making an anniversary cake is no childs play, it involves a lot of skill and precision. While baking one of these cakes, one has to focus equally on the taste and the appearance. Lately, anniversary cake bakers have become quite adventurous and have come up with 5-6 tiered cakes and photo cakes and what not. So, if you are planning to bake one of these cakes yourself, the bar has been raised pretty high for you already.
How to start
The simplest way to go about it is to take it one step at a time. The first decision you will have to make is about the size and shape of the cake. The size will depend on the number of cake servings you expect out of a single cake while the shape depends on your personal preference. Having said that, a round shaped cake is easier to work with than a square shaped one. The next crucial decision is regarding the flavor of the cake. While zeroing in on the desired flavor, make sure that it is a commonly liked flavor like vanilla or chocolate. A wedding cake is not the best of places to experiment with eccentric flavors.
Decoration
Once you have these basics right, you can shift your focus to decoration ideas. One would argue that an anniversary cake is more about its external beauty than its actual taste. Hence, the decoration bit is crucial in the case of such cakes. The kind of decoration can depend on a lot of factors like the occasion (whether it a wedding or an anniversary), the preference of the customers, the level of detailing required etc. It is important to have a mental vision of the cake before you actually start baking it. For example, if you want to have a multi-tiered cake, you must modify the size of the different tiers accordingly.
When it comes to cake decoration, some styles remain timelessly elegant, like using icing flowers and ribbons. If you are looking for more contemporary ideas, you could go for carvings along the side of the cake or pre-made icing bells or rings. You can also incorporate the date of the wedding or the number of years since the wedding in the cake, especially if its a milestone anniversary. In fact, you could design the whole cake in the shape of a particular number. There is nothing better than an anniversary cake with a personal touch. Getting a photo imprinted on the cake is a great way of adding this personal touch. Alternatively, the personal touch could be in the form of a message or an image.
At the end of the day, its not merely about baking a beautiful cake, its also about baking a meaningful cake. Similarly, the right kind of decoration is not only pretty to look at, it is meant to stir some deep emotions. So, if you are looking for cake decoration ideas, try to balance elegance and beauty with sentiment and emotion.
Tiana Walters is a home cook that blogs about her cooking. She also does freelance work, and writes about recipes, cooking, baking, wedding cakes, and all the latest trends in food.