Basketweave: A piping technique that creates a ‘woven basket’ effect with multi-layered vertical and horizontal lines.

Buttercream: A basic, creamy, butter-based icing than can be used to cover the cake, and also as piping and rosettes. It’s also one of the most popular fillings, either plain or in conjunction with different flavors (such as raspberry buttercream).

Cornelli: A piping technique that creates an intricate lace-like pattern.

Dotted Swiss: A piping technique using tiny dots in patterns.

Dowels: Wooden sticks inserted straight down into the cake to secure the integrity of the cake layers and sculpture as one unit. Before serving, the dowels are often removed.

Dragees: As decoration, these are round, edible sugar balls coated with gold or silver.

Fondant: A thick icing made of sugar, corn syrup, and gelatin that is rolled out with a rolling pin and draped over a cake. It is used as a base for decorative details and architectural designs, and fondant may also be used to create iced sculptures and ribbons, etc.

Ganache: A very rich, sweet chocolate, thicker than mousse but less dense than fudge, which is used as icing or filling for wedding cakes and other desserts.

Gum paste: This confection of sugar, cornstarch, and gelatin is used to mold realistic-looking fruits, birds, monograms and flowers to garnish a cake.

Latticework: A type of piping in a criss-cross lattice pattern.

Marzipan: A sweet paste made of ground almonds, sugar, and egg whites, often used to create edible flowers or fruit as cake décor. Marzipan desserts may also be served separately.

Pillars: The dividers used to hold individual cake layers apart. They can be plain column shapes, swans, made of plastic or wood, or even of varying heights per cake layer.

Piping: The design achieved with a pastry bag and decorative metal tip, through which the artist squeezes icing into the desired effect.

Pulled sugar: An accent created by boiling sugar into a consistency where it can be molded into bows, flowers, ribbons, birds, and other effects.

Royal Icing: This icing is made from egg whites and confectionary sugar, and is the perfect consistency for designing intricate latticework, borders, beading, bows, flowers, and beautiful monograms. This is one of the most popular icing choices, since it pipes on moist and dries to a harder finish for a set design when done.

Torte: A dense cake that includes nuts, wheat, dried fruits, sometimes rum, and is not a light and fluffy cake as would occur with baking powder or baking soda. This is a popular choice for groom’s cakes.
Whipped cream: Heavy cream beaten into a thick consistency for spreading as a layer, not for piping.

The Most Common Cake Shapes:
•Round
•Oval
•Square
•Rectangular
•Architectural, such as a pyramid or a Cinderella carriage
•Petaled (like a flower in full bloom)
•Hexagonal (six-sized)
•Octagonal (eight-sided)
•Whimsical – such as tilted layers and rounded cupcake-looking toppings, very artistic and creative
•Heart-shaped
•Monogram-shaped – a big cake in the letter M, for your shared married name, or even sculpted into your monogrammed initials.

The Different Cakes You Need:
•Wedding Cake
•Individual mini-wedding cakes for each guests’ table, if you so choose this style in replacement for a big wedding cake
•Groom’s cake – in his style, reflecting his interest
•Petit fours, the perfect addition to a wedding cake
•Anniversary cake – the top layer that you’ll save for your first anniversary. Some couples are skipping the whole sealing and defrosting thing and just having their cake bakers make a fresh replica for them on their first anniversary.
•Back-stage cake – You display a smaller, intricately designed wedding cake that didn’t cost a fortune, and then when it’s time to cut and serve cake to your guests, the extra needed pieces come from a same-flavored sheet cake kept in the kitchen.
•Croquembouche – A cultural favorite, this is a sculpted pile of cream puffs with a sugar glaze, meant to bestow health and prosperity on you.