In 2022, the average expense of a wedding cake could cost upwards of $540. This doesn’t take into account factors such as inflation, the number of tiers, the ingredients used, or the amount of decoration.
While wedding cakes are traditional and beautiful in their own way, they are no longer the most popular choice for weddings. Modern brides want something that reflects their uniqueness. Luckily, there are plenty of other options available as an alternative to a wedding cake.
Are you interested in finding out more information? In this guide, we’ll examine 10 popular alternatives to wedding cake. Keep reading to discover more on this subject below.
1. Croquembouche Stack
A croquembouche is a delicate and decorative type of French dessert made of stacked cream puff pastry. These filled cream puffs are presented in a pyramid form and could also be decorated with fresh flowers and fruit.
The cream puffs are often coated with caramel which helps them stay together in their standing form. It allows for single servings of cream puffs, and the stacked design is elegant and simple. Croquembouche translates to “crunch in the mouth.”
2. Macaron Tower
Another French dessert, macarons, are cookies made from a meringue of almond flour, egg whites, and sugar. They have a crisp, light, and airy outside with a chewy, moist inside. French macarons can be filled with buttercream, ganache, or jam.
Macarons come in a rainbow of bright and pastel colors, so you can even coordinate them to your wedding theme if you want. Serve them individually or stack them up on a tiered tower.
3. Crepe Cake
A crepe cake is made from numerous thin layers of crepes stacked on top of each other. This light, flaky cake option has become a modern favorite, one of the most preferred alternatives to a wedding cake.
Each crepe’s color is easily customizable to create gorgeous effects when cutting into it. Rainbow patterns and pastels reveal themselves in beautiful thin layers. It may be frosted with whipped cream and topped with fresh fruit and powdered confectioner’s sugar.
4. Cake Pops
Cake pops are customizable to almost any theme and can come in a variety of cake flavors. They are also simple to display in many creative ways. It’s no wonder why cake pops are great alternatives to a wedding cake.
It’s a portable cake on a stick. Guests can hold them like a lollipop and move easily around the reception. Unlike other desserts for weddings, there’s very little waste associated with them since they don’t require utensils, plates, and napkins.
5. Cupcake Stand
Cupcakes are preferable alternatives to a wedding cake. Cupcakes offer versatility with their flavors and designs. Cupcakes are easier on your wedding dessert budget than a full wedding cake, which may go to waste.
You can display cupcakes on tiered stands, much like a wedding cake’s style. This allows for better accessibility, so guests to serve themselves.
Many bakeries now can also make gluten-free versions of cupcakes if you or someone at your wedding has an allergy or intolerance to gluten products.
6. Homemade Pies
Having homemade pies at your wedding offers alternatives to the wedding cake that are tasty and easy as pie. The bride and groom can have larger customized pies that are made to their liking to cut into during the reception.
The guests can then come over to the dessert area to pick out their own mini pies. This offers a wide variety of different pie flavors to choose from in case a particular guest has an allergy to a particular kind.
7. Cookie Cakes
Everyone loves cookies. The bride and groom can have their own heart-shaped and decorated cookie cakes made with whatever types of cookies they like.
The guests can pick from a table of different cookies like Oreos, chocolate chips, peanut butter, snickerdoodles, chocolate chunk, and sugar cookies.
There’s so much variety to offer, so you don’t have to stick with only one. This allows everyone to pick and choose the individual cookie flavors they want.
8. Assorted Donuts
Donuts for weddings are becoming more commonplace as alternatives to a wedding cake. Donuts are sweet, sticky, and delicious desserts for weddings.
Your guests will salivate over the sight of stacks of assorted donuts. A donut wall is also a fun way to display the different types of donuts. Add a coffee and tea bar, and you’ll have a terrific accompaniment
Donut holes make a great favor when presented to your guests on the way out in little pink boxes wrapped with twine.
9. Candy Bar
Setting up a candy bar for the bride and groom who are still young at heart and have a major sweet tooth will have your guests doing a happy dance. Who says candy is only for kids’ birthday parties?
Set up a table with varieties of different candies in decorative glass containers with scoops and tongs. Put out favor bags and let your guests go through the line and fill their own bags of their favorite candies to munch on.
10. Assorted Pastry Bar
If you want pastries at your wedding but can’t decide which desserts for weddings to go with, good news. You can offer a whole buffet of smaller pastry assortments for you and your guests to choose from.
Add flavored mousse in a shot glass, mini cheesecakes, petit fours, eclairs, cannolis, dipped types of cookies, and more. Then everyone can pick out what they want most.
Find Alternatives to Wedding Cake and More at Wedding Details
There are so many wonderful wedding dessert options. This is just a small sampling of some alternatives to a wedding cake. Whatever you decide is ultimately up to you, your partner, and your wedding dessert budget.
Your wedding day is all about your connection to your partner and what represents you best. All of the details go into planning your wedding, that is what makes it special.
Wedding Details is your destination for all of the best wedding trends, news, and advice for your big day.
Check out our other blog posts for more information, like this one on Earth-Centered Wedding Traditions.
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