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The Associated Press

Chef Jean-Louis Lagalle describes the first wedding cake he ever made as less than perfect.

“It was a nine-tier wedding cake, and it was too tall,” he remembers. “It actually swayed. That was a very stressful day in my life as a pastry chef.”

That was almost 20 years ago. Today, many wedding cakes later, chef Lagalle is an award-winning authority on creating special-occasion cakes, who shares his expertise with his students at Johnson & Wales University’s College of Culinary Arts.

Lagalle, who was born and trained in France, has worked as a pastry chef at some of the finest resorts and hotels in the nation.

“The wedding cake can make or break the bride’s big day,” Lagalle tells his students, as he shows them how to create elegant cakes covered with tinted buttercream roses.

“Accidents can happen. I will never forget the cake I made for a wedding at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco. The table leg gave way, and the cake danced across the dance floor at the reception.”

The first step a pastry chef must take in creating a wedding cake is to meet with the bride and the bride’s mother, who usually come armed with wedding-cake books, bridal magazines and photos of cakes they admire.

Lagalle says they often mix and match elements to come up with their own unique cake. Other brides simply want to have the same style of cake that was served at their mother’s wedding.

“Sometimes the bride doesn’t know what she wants,” Lagalle tells his class. “With few exceptions, whatever she wants is what you try to deliver.”

Often, brides want their cakes to match the color of their bridesmaids’ dresses. That’s a charming idea with pastel color schemes — but a bad choice if the bridal party is dressed in black or navy blue.

Pastry chefs must always keep in mind that the top layer of the wedding cake is usually carefully wrapped and stored in the newlyweds’ freezer for a year, then thawed and enjoyed on the couple’s first anniversary. “This is supposed to be for good luck,” Lagalle explains to students.

The size of a wedding cake is determined by the number of guests and the shape of the cake. Square cakes can feed more people than round cakes. For example, a 14-inch round cake will serve 75 to 80, while a 14-inch square cake will serve 80 to 100.

In recent years, a trend at wedding receptions was to have small, individual cakes served to every guest at the wedding reception. More recently, Lagalle reports, the trend has been to have a medium-size wedding cake served to every table at the reception. The cake is sliced into 8 or 10 portions and served with coffee and tea.

Many brides choose to have a large, intricate “fake” cake on display, with sheet pans of frosted cake in the kitchen for easy cutting and serving. Lagalle says it’s wise to use these inedible dummy cakes, made of plastic foam, when water fountains or heavy decorations are part of the wedding-cake design.

One advantage, at least for the pastry chef, is that the display cake can be made well in advance. The disadvantage, for the bride, is the extra cost.

According to Lagalle, wedding cakes can cost from $1.25 to $9 per serving, depending on the local area, the reputation of the pastry chef, the degree of the work involved, and the fillings, flavors and cake hardware used.

One cake he created for a society wedding with 350 guests in Scottsdale, Ariz., had a price tag of $13.50 per person, for a total of $4,725.

“The reception was held at a five-diamond, four-star resort, and the cake — made with Grand Marnier liqueur and fresh strawberries — had to be perfect,” he explains.

One word of warning from Lagalle to brides planning outdoor weddings during the warm summer months: It’s best to avoid buttercream frosting which is soft at 80 degrees, and will actually melt at 89 degrees. Other types of frosting should be used, he advises.

In addition to the traditional wedding cake, more and more couples are asking for a groom’s cake to be on display and served at their wedding reception. Lagalle says these groom’s cakes are generally a one-tier chocolate cake, often decorated with a sports theme.

Here is a recipe for a chocolate truffle cake that would be perfect for the groom’s cake at a small summer wedding.

Chocolate Truffle Cake

Mousse:
1 pound milk chocolate
5 ounces vegetable oil
2-1/2 cups heavy cream
1 prepared chocolate cake, round, about 9-inch diameter, sliced into1/8-inch-thick layers (see note)
Chocolate shavings, for optional garnish

Melt the milk chocolate in a double boiler and stir in the oil. Whip the heavy cream to medium-soft peaks and fold into the melted chocolate. Use this mousse as a filling, evenly distributed between the layers of the chocolate cake.

Line a cake ring or springform pan with plastic wrap to prevent cake from sticking. Place a layer of cake on the bottom of the cake ring. Cover with a layer of mousse. Continue this process, ending with a layer of chocolate cake on top. Place in the freezer. Once the cake has set up (about 2 to 3 hours), remove from the freezer. Invert the cake ring or release the springform pan. Remove the plastic wrap. Coat with chocolate ganache.

Note: Use either a favorite chocolate cake recipe or a bought chocolate cake. Cake textures vary: If you are unable to slice your cake into layers as thin as1/8-inch, the slices may be as much as 1/4-inch thick.

Chocolate Ganache
2-1/2 cups heavy cream
2-1/4 cups dark chocolate, chopped very fine

Place the cream in a saucepan and scald. Add the chopped chocolate to the scalded cream. Stir until smooth. Glaze the frozen cake with this ganache. While still moist, coat the sides of the cake all around with chocolate shavings, if desired.

Makes 8 servings.

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