Batter to Bliss: An inside look at wedding cakes

Making a wedding cake requires lots of collaboration between the baker and the couple getting married.

At SugarBakers Cakes in Catonsville, the staff works closely with clients and couples to ensure that their visions come to life.

Olivia Corfman, one of the company’s cake decorators and a parishioner of St. John the Evangelist in Severna Park, said couples are asked to bring in some inspirational photos to help get an idea of what type of cake they desire.

During the peak season from May to October, SugarBakers makes between 25 to 30 wedding cakes per week. The first step of the process is to have a tasting appointment.

“We invite the couples to sample 11 different wedding cake flavors as well as our buttercream options,” Corfman said. “During this appointment, we start brainstorming different design ideas and try to get a good sense of their personality and what they envision their wedding day will look like. For example, we often place (depictions of) pets on wedding cakes. It may be their dog or cat that is poking their head out from a tier or maybe the figure is standing next to the cake taking a bite.”

According to lore, the wedding cake symbolizes prosperity, good luck and fertility. Bakers use the highest quality ingredients available to ensure a long and happy life together with many children.

SugarBakers Cakes was established in 1996 and is now one of the premiere cake shops catering to the Baltimore­Washington area.

Designer and owner, Jamie Williams, started the business with her husband and business partner when they purchased a small bakery and began producing muffins, cookies and small cakes for city coffee shops.

The company employs about 10 people at its bustling production facility in Catonsville. In addition to wedding cakes, SugarBakers makes seasonal cakes for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and has a retail operation that makes birthday and graduation cakes. The company also supplies desserts to local restaurants.

“We’re a small space but we get a lot out of it,” said Staci Finney, sales and marketing director and manager of the retail store.

The most common challenge when creating wedding cakes is choosing realistic designs. Pinterest can be a cake decorator’s best and worst enemy because sometimes the desired design is just not possible. One of the most challenging cakes SugarBakers constructed recently was in the shape of a castle.

Some of the designs people discover online – made for photoshoots and not using real cake –  are impossible with actual food products.

“We once had a couple request an upside-down four-tiered cake to be placed on a swing,” Corfman said.

Corfman is a local baker who graduated from Mount de Sales Academy in Catonsville in 2019 and received her bachelor’s degree in baking and pastry arts from Johnson and Wales University in Providence, R.I. During her last semester, she studied abroad at Ecole Ducasse in France for three months and earned a French pastry certificate.

She said choosing high-quality ingredients is crucial in how SugarBakers has stayed well-known since it opened 28 years ago.

The most popular signature cake flavor at SugarBakers is amaretto raspberry, which is an almond cake layered with European raspberry preserves and amaretto buttercream. Other popular flavors include the shop’s Smith Island cake with peanut butter cups, a classic red velvet cake with a layer of fudge, and a dulce de leche cake with homemade caramel.

SugarBakers collaborates with wedding planners, florists, or other professionals to integrate the wedding cake into the overall theme and atmosphere of the event.

“Vision boards are very helpful so that we can make sure your cake fits the vibe of your wedding seamlessly,” Corfman said.

Origin story

The wedding cake is said to date back to 1703 when a baker’s apprentice, Thomas Rich, fell in love with the daughter of his employer and asked her to marry him, according to All Things Georgian and multiple other sources. Rich wanted to make an extravagant cake and drew on the design of St. Bride’s Church in London, which was also the inspiration for the traditional tiered cake style.

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