Wedding With a View Blog

I always get a kick out of hearing our brides and guests say ‘Wow, this food is amazing!  I’ve never tasted anything like this!’

It’s true…Italian food is world famous for its dazzling variety colours, smells, textures and above all, tastes! 

Don’t get confused, though; more often than not, the ‘Italian’ food served in restaurants abroad has almost nothing to do with the cuisine in Italy. 

Last September, a bride asked me for a ‘traditional Italian cake;’ I suspect that this is the name given to a sponge-type, American-style wedding cake she had tasted and liked in New York. Unfortunately, in Italy there is no such cake! (Trust me; it wasn’t easy to explain this misunderstanding to her).  I would compare this experience to going into a restaurant in Italy and ordering fettuccine Alfredo; the dish is famously Italian the world over, but in Italy it just doesn’t exist.

In reality, the most traditional Italian wedding cake is called mille foglie (a thousand layers), and is made up of layer upon layer of thin pastry with sweet cream in between.  Clearly, the cake normally eaten at Italian weddings are different from the ones found in other countries.

Although the traditional Italian cake may not be exactly what you had in mind, taste is always the first ingredient.  All good Italian pasticceri (pastry chefs) make their cakes to order with fresh pastry, custard cream, fruit and chocolate.  And the results…oh my God!  Heaven does exist.

Many of our partnering caterers offer couples the chance to have a patisseur assemble the cake on site, which can be a wonderful memory for both you and your guests.  Then since you’ve already got him there, why not set him up to make fresh, personalized pastries during the reception?  With all the lovely, fresh ingredients spread out on a table and the master chef working his magic, your guests will hardly be able to stay away.

We also partner with a bakery that does what we call American cakes.  These are made with a fluffy sponge cake base with custard cream, fruit, chocolate and covered with almond pastry or white chocolate frosting.  Unfortunately, most Italian pastry chefs are not able to do such cakes.  Thank goodness I finally found someone who makes them well…you can’t imagine how many trials did!

One piece of seasoned advice: if you’d like an American cake, try to choose your prototype from a photograph of a cake the bakery has already made instead of from a bridal magazine or the surprise might not be happy.