From gorgeous, gravity-defying "brushstroke" cakes, to hand-painted watercolor masterpieces, galaxies (yes!) and gold EVERYTHING, 2018 is delivering some of coolest, most beautiful cake trends we've seen! All you need to recreate these modern wedding cake designs is some creativity, some basic techniques, and a few of our essential ingredients.
It definitely seems 2018 will be one of the most innovative and romantic years for wedding cakes - and cakes in general. While last year we saw the rise of the whimsical unicorn cake and the pretty but messy drip cake, this year the trend is definitely leaning towards a more elegant vibe.
Marble (Marbled) Cakes
The gorgeous marbled effect is one of the trends we love the most - it's modern, it's minimal, and it can have endless color variations that take it from whimsical (purple/pink/aquas), to super-modern and industrial with greys, blacks and deep violet hues. The look is achieved by tinting the fondant or sugar paste icing with food coloring (there are several techniques for this).
Above: stone cold marble look - and succulent details.
Hand-painted Cakes
This is one of the loveliest cake trends we've seen in years, and one of the reasons is you can really see the "hand" of the cake maker at work, as well as the creativity of the bride and groom and their romantic (or whimsical or country or floral) sensitivities. You literally need a blank canvas (read: perfectly smooth fondant icing), and a very artistic heart. Flowers and birds decorated into the cake what we'll be seeing all year.
Above: gorgeous flowers and birds come to life in a hand-painted cake.
Brushstroke Cakes
This trend seems to defy gravity! Also known as feather or feathered cakes, they're made by shaping baking chocolate over wax paper with a paintbrush using bold strokes to create oversized feathers. Once the chocolate cools and hardens, they're easily place artistically all over the cake - usually at the very top.
Above: chocolate "feathers" created with a brush and chocolate for a brushstroke cake.
Mirror Glaze and Galaxy Details
This blends a bit of the marbled look with that shiny, beautiful gloss that only a mirror glaze can deliver. It's actually one of the easiest looks to achieve, as all you need to do is mix food coloring with the mirror glaze (you can make it yourself or buy it premade). The results is a mirrored look that's so reflective it makes the cake almost too beautiful to eat. Usually topped with out-of-this-world details like planets and stars to mimic a galaxy.
Above: mirror glaze, violet food coloring and some creativity makes for an out of this galaxy look.
Golden Elements
Edible gold is definitely having its moment, and a wedding cake (or birthday or anytime cake!) is a great place to highlight it. A simple, understated cake decorated with edible gold leaf or gold dust is a blend of understated elegance and bold opulence. Add it directly to the fondant for that golden look, or use the gold leaf in any creative way you can think of - little pieces in carefully thought out patterns or gorgeous disarray, or even just an entire cake covered in gold leaf for a bold statement.
Above: strategically placed edible gold gives this cake gilded glam.
Geometric Accents
Whether painted into the fondant or as strategically placed accessories to finish the cake, the geometric motif is a trends that's firmly in place for 2018. Modern, industrial, with a vibe that's both innovative and calls to mind early industrial inventions, this THE trend for modern couples.