Ahhh yes, the cake.
Have I mentioned that my dad and I are coeliac (no gluten)? Yeah…that makes this whole “cake thing” a bit more interesting.
A lot of people who make cakes aren’t used to making gluten-free ones. It is a difficult mixture to work with, and many times out of 10, it just crumbles into a crumbly mess.
I tried to make gluten-free quiche for The Great Comic Relief Bake Off at work and…it failed. A big ol’ gluten-free mess.
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Gluten free FAIL. I give up. / Personal photo
It would be nice to cut into a slice of my wedding cake that I could actually eat, but the risk in doing that would be that it could just crumble, and that would be a bit…awkward.
So when I looked at people to speak to about making my cake, it was the first thing I asked about. I saw a couple of wedding-cake vendors at a wedding fair, and most of them just said, “Yeah, yeah, we’ll just switch the flour. It’ll be fine.” Um…no. It’s not really that simple.
One girl stood out from the rest, though. Tess of Chatter Cakes had a beautiful stand and when I talked to her about gluten-free options she was very confident. “I just did a gluten-free vegan cake last weekend!” she said, and there was something in the way she presented herself that I knew she knew what she was talking about.
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Chatter Cakes stand / Imge via Facebook
We chatted for a loooooong time (she complimented my hair, which is always a surefire way to make me like someone), and by the time I left I was eager to get together again to discuss the cake.
We emailed back and forth a few times, and Tess suggested a “cake party” for me to try some samples of flavours and icing. So of course I booked her in for the weekend my parents were down. She arrived armed with four different flavours of cake and five different flavours of icing. When she took the cupcakes out for us to sample, my mum commented that we were gluten free. “Oh, these are all gluten free!” she exclaimed. My mum couldn’t believe it. She’d never been able to make gluten-free cupcakes that rose the way those ones did. I could see my dad was excited that he’d be able to eat a decent piece of cake.
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Personal photo
We started off with a vanilla sponge, followed by lemon, strawberry, and chocolate. My mum very clearly loved each and every bite as she kept exclaiming how she’d never enjoyed gluten-free cake before. The icings were equally delicious. Vanilla, chocolate, white chocolate, lemon, and OMG-salted-caramel. Nom.
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Personal photo
Once we’d scoffed our faces we got out the magazines and started looking at styles. I found a number of pretty cakes I liked, but the more we discussed what we wanted the more our ideas changed.
For starters, our wedding cake will be served as dessert with fresh fruit and cream. So although the lemon was my favourite, chocolate seemed more like a dessert cake. Then we began to think about icing. Again, fondant icing would create some beautiful results, but what about flavour? Wouldn’t buttercream be better for a dessert?
Clearly, Tess is very talented at decorating cakes as well as making them taste delicious, as this picture shows.
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Image via Chatter Cakes
Mum was worried that just a standard buttercream cake wouldn’t allow her to be as creative and she wouldn’t have a cake that she could “be proud of” as much as her other creations, but she told my mum not to be silly and that we should get whatever we thought best for our wedding. She did, however, point us toward a picture of a slice of cake with ruffled buttercream icing, and it looked amazing when it was cut and served up. We threw around a lot of questions, and by the end of it we’d come up with another idea.
How about a layer of raspberry sponge cake and a layer of chocolate sponge cake, with vanilla or white chocolate buttercream?
I took a forkful of chocolate, strawberry (as it was the closest we had at the time), and some white chocolate.
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Personal photo
Yes. Just…yes. What a combination. Chocolate—good. Moist fruity sponge—good. Complimentary white chocolate icing—gooooood. I think we were on to a winner.
When Tess left we were beaming. She’d been absolutely brilliant and so attentive to every idea that was flying out of our mouths. She didn’t make us feel stupid when we were talking about things we clearly had no idea about, and she offered great suggestions. All in all, it went perfectly and we were 100% happy.
We had already booked in to see another cake shop the following day. They specialised in gluten-free cakes, and I figured it was worth going to see them as they offered a wedding cake. Their cakes are very nice, but it was clear from the moment we stepped in that they were a cake shop that offered a wedding cake, and they didn’t really do much else in terms of moving away from their standard issue wedding cake. Which was fine—they’re not really in the wedding cake business—but it was good for us to see the difference in the two, and it firmly concreted our feelings that Tess was the girl for the job!
We did have a cheeky cupcake, though. Dad really was in gluten-free heaven this weekend.
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Personal photo
Is anyone else serving up their wedding cake as dessert? How did your cake journey go?
Glad you found an awesome cake vendor! Also on the gluten-free quiche challenge, i’m not gluten free but i once made a quiche with a potato crust and it was awesome. I grated potatoes and onions, mixed with salt and pepper and made a big rosti-style pancake (just slightly larger than my pie plate) in a very large frying pan. flipping it was tricky but i managed to fry it on both sides so it was cooked through and crispy, THEN put it in the pie plate and filled it with quiche-y things. So tasty!
These cakes look delicious! So glad you were able to find a baker to work with your needs.
Okay, FYI, I am still reading your posts in my wannabe-British accent, so when I got to “we still had a cheeky cupcake,” I laughed out loud. I still can’t get over how charming British colloquialisms are! Anyways. That’s awesome you found someone so accommodating, and those cakes look delishhhhhh. I’m hungry now, and it’s, like, 7:30 AM 
Oh I can see how it would be frustrating to find someone who can work with a gluten-free cake but it looks like you nailed it! Awesome! Can’t wait to see what the cake looks like
Yayayyay! We’re planning on doing an assortment of regular and gluten-free cakes from Whole Foods which I am very excited about!
I was really surprised at how few bakers offer gluten free cakes, so Whole Foods grocery ended up being the best option for us. (And cheapest – hooray!)
So happy you found a great baker. Those cakes do look ah-mazing!
I’m not sure what makes a cupcake “cheeky” but that one is pretty cute!
I seem to live in a place where gluten-free is all the rage, and I’m surprised by how wonderful the offerings have gotten over time. My first taste of gluten-free bread was so disappointing I spat it out, but it’s just not the case anymore. Glad you found a good choice!
The trick to non-crumbly gf baked goods is using just enough xanthum gum or gum arabic to help things stick together, and (of course) using the right blend of substitute flours). I’ve been taking a bit of a crash course in this since going wheat-free at the end of November with very positive results.
Your cake flavor decision sounds divine & I’m glad you were able to find a great cake artist to work with.
Yes, we did our wedding cake as desert. It just made the most sense to me.
Oh, and I recently made this gluten-free cake that was really easy to make and super delicious: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/05/chocolate-buckwheat-cake/
Your baker sounds like a gluten free dream come true! She’s very talented too, I can’t wait to see what she makes for your wedding!
Those bites of cake look so scrumptious!! And your photos are awesome!
Thanks for posting about you’re gluten free cake search! My Father, Sister, and Brother all have celiac as well and while we were looking at bakers at a bridal show recently my first question was can you do gluten free. Luckily we found a baker whose sister also has celiac, so she knows exactly what to worry about with contamination. We’re actually brining my sister to the cake tasting!
I’d love to hear more about your hunt for gluten free everything else So happy you found an awesome baker! My Dad also loves it when we find a new gluten free treat for him to try!
Oh, I’m so glad you were able to get a good cake you can eat! I have a really strong gluten allergy, so we’re getting a small GF cake for cutting and gluten-full cupcakes for the guests. It’s nice to read about other solutions to this issue.
Aw yay! I’ve had some pretty awful gluten-free cakes in my day.. just out of taste-testing curiosity.. but these look amazing! Glad you were able to find something that worked perfectly for you
I’m not only gluten-free, but also allergic to eggs, dairy (butter!), and soy (margarine!) as well. Thankfully, there is a shop in Dallas called Unrefined Bakery that does soy-free, gluten-free, vegan cakes. And surprisingly, they’re quite good! We are going to order a small cake for us to cut into from them, and then serve regular wedding cake to our guests.
Try this quiche recipe that is gluten free.
http://joythebaker.com/2012/03/gluten-free-asparagus-quiche/
It’s fantastic! Also, the cakes looks so good!
I love the picture of the cups and the magazines! so pretty!
In my country, wedding cake is always considered dessert. You can have a chocolate table or set the table with one or two special artisan chocolate in each guest setting but cake is dessert
Mine was made of 4 layers of two kinds of dough (chocolate and coconut) and 3 fillings (strawberry mousse, mocha and fudge)… YUM! My mouth just watered…
@christinej: WOW that sounds awesome!!! I will most certainly try that out – thanks!!
@Mrs. Wallaby: I love that you read with a British accent. And considering I am Northern, I probably sounds absolutely nothing like what you are thinking of, which just makes me giggle even more (actually lolling right now).
@samsmartypants: It’s so good that more places are offering GF alternatives. And makes it so much easier to grab food when in a hurry – I’d be lost otherwise!
@jmarvellous: It’s not the cupcake that’s cheeky, it’s us that are cheeky for eating it! Hahaha I never realised how weird that phrase was!!
@thirdtimebride: I use xanthum gum in everything and it really is a miracle! This was pre-made pastry, though. Boo. Apparently I shouldn’t have cooked it blind – so there’s a tip! I wish anyone the best when cooking GF – it’s quite a tough one until you get the hang of it. You sound like you’re doing amazingly well though!
@Mrs. Bracelet: Whaaaaaaaat. Considering I have all those ingredients in my house right this very second, I think I know what I will be doing this weekend. Thank you!
@Red Poppy: Thank you! I have a Canon Powershot S95 and it really does take some good photos! Plus, teacups look gorgeous in everything, right?
@Richelle: Oh wow! People who really know what it’s like to live with it are the best for the job! You’re so lucky you don’t have it. I’m lucky that I grew up with my dad eating GF food so I was used to it, but he was diagnosed with there was so little food available that he still can’t believe it when he finds a good cake! I image your dad is the same!
Miss Jackrabbit, Brighton, UK Age and Occupation: 26, Office Manager Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Songwriter Engagement Date: October 5, 2012 Wedding Date: September 2013 Venue: Fabrica Gallery, Brighton About Me: I honestly thought I'd go all Monica Geller when I started planning our wedding, but in truth, things couldn't have gone much differently. I am working my way through this venture, figuring things out as I go, and adopting a 'Que Sera, Sera,' approach to making decisions. When I'm not organising the biggest day of my life, I can usually be found drinking a glass of wine, crafting up one thing or another, or stopping my cat from head-butting me in the face.
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