Living in a city filled with cloud-skimming masterpieces of brick, mortar and steel, it’s no wonder why so many clients of Ron Ben-Israel Cakes ask for sky-high creations for their special day. As New Yorkers, we are constantly craning our necks to catch a glimpse of the clear blue peeking out in between the office buildings and high-rise apartments. Perhaps being surrounded day and night by all that height has skewed our world view so we think everything tall is the way to go? For some this may be true but for others, it may be a case where one’s eyes are bigger than one’s stomach.
Multi-tiered cakes are truly feats of engineering as the skills required to, at the minimum, ensure that they don’t topple over are similar to those utilized by an architect or a construction crew. Structure and strength of ingredients all make a definitive difference when constructing a large-scale cake. As does a good amount of patience. Not every facility can accommodate the stacking and layering of a taller cake as everyone living in New York City knows that space limitations and ceiling heights are something we all deal with on a regular basis.
Simple questions need to be considered (and answered) when choosing to opt for a tall cake. Can you easily digest the price tag associated with a sky-high cake? Just like in real estate, the more floors a building has, the more it costs to build it. If you only have a certain amount designated for your cake, realize that your “pie-in-the-sky” dreams of a gargantuan cake might be at odds with your wallet. Be realistic and choose a cake height that suits your wedding budget. Can your venue accommodate the height of the cake? Nothing is worse than arriving and realizing that your cake won’t fit through the doorway. Is your baker willing to assemble your cake on-site if necessary and are they licensed and fully insured to do so? While many bakeries can create something larger than life, they also need to be able to commit to getting the cake from point A to point B without a hitch. Do you really need that much cake? At Ron Ben-Israel Cakes, we follow the guideline of designing a cake’s size based on the number of servings it needs to provide. While we certainly have clients that ask for a cake larger than necessary, one must be mindful that triple the amount of servings may be considered to be gluttonous overkill. But if you absolutely have your heart set on a cake larger than your serving needs, we recommend working with a charity, like City Harvest, that would gladly collect any unserved, uncut tiers to feed the city’s homeless. Spread the love, right?
Tall cakes truly evoke a sense of majesty and regal splendor. Anything that you need to take a few paces back from to view in all its glory can elicit “oohs and aahs” from your guests but practicality must also at some point rear its ugly head. Weigh carefully the impact you want your cake to make at your wedding, as well as all of the other logistics involved, and let your baker guide you to the perfect cake that is just right for you.
Cake photos by Ron Ben-Israel Cakes
