Wedding cakes are a very common item in cultures all around the world, but each culture has developed their own takes on the centrepiece item. While in the UK, there are a large number of different flavours and styles represented in the full gambit of wedding cake options, ultimately the most popular are still variations of sponge cakes. There are vanilla cakes, red velvet cakes, chocolate cakes, Victoria sponges, and many more, but they are still sponge cakes. In this blog, we’ll be exploring the various types of cakes that you can find all around the world that you may be less familiar with.

Bridal cakes are one of the traditions found in China, with their role in weddings believed to go all the way back to 200 AD. These are small cakes that share a very similar texture to sponge cakes, but unlike in the west, these bridal cakes are often delivered along with the wedding invitations as a way to build up anticipation for the big event.

In Korea, the traditional wedding cake is a rice cake. This is actually an item that you can find implemented in a variety of ways. Called a Tteok, these items are used for both savoury and sweet dishes, however the bridal cakes are typically made to be very colourful.

In France, one of the most popular options is not entirely a cake. They tend to use a croquembouche wedding cake in London, which is a type of sweet dish that will remind you of the well profiterole. They differ to a certain extent, as the croquembouche wedding cake in London can be filled with a filling of your choice, and are typically topped off with a syrup to match. They are stacked very high, making quite a majestic experience that always impresses. A croquembouche wedding cake is also quite a convenient item to get instead of a more normal wedding cake, as no cutting of the cake is required. Guests just approach the tower of patisseries and select a few of the little parcels of deliciousness and off they go.

To purchase your own wedding cake is always a process in itself. It requires that you get in touch with an expert cake bakery, as you will need to go through a process to find the right flavour profile, and then agree on a cake design. This is doubly important if you do decide to go with a different cake tradition, such as a croquembouche wedding cake in London. For these ‘foreign’ wedding cake styles, you will need to find a cake baker that has experience in making these different types of wedding cakes, as it is not always a straight forward transition. As most wedding cakes throughout the UK are made with a sponge base, most bakers will have a lot of experience with making these varieties of cakes, and little else with another style, so you should always make sure that you search specifically for the type of cake that you want.