Well, it's March and we are coming up on wedding season, so what better time to talk about vegan wedding cakes. When I was planning my wedding I managed to compile an impressive list of vegan bakers (and non-vegan bakers who were willing to bake something vegan). Although I am the only vegan across the families no one seemed to mind the idea of a vegan cake, so there was no need to compromise on this point.
Over the course of about a year we ordered cakes from some of the potential vendors to test out their products, which I highly recommend (birthday? graduation? order a cake!). One vendor, who makes beautiful cakes, did a vegan cake for my shower and unfortunately it was not decorated like the pictures on the website, and worse, it started to melt during the shower. We decided to keep looking.
In the end I went with Cakes by Robert in Thornhill, Ontario (www.cakesbyrobert.com) and this is a vendor that I highly recommend. We went into the bakery, showed a person (I think it was Robert himself) a picture from Google images, and he said he could make it. We went with a traditional vanilla three-tiered cake and a branch design to compliment our centerpieces. The cake image above was the final product, and we couldn't have been happier. It looked beautiful the entire night.
Lessons Learned:
-Round vegan cakes can be more expensive than square if the bakery traditionally makes non-vegan cakes (they may be less experienced with it and therefore there is a greater chance it will take multiple attempts)
-For a long-lasting and professional look, go for fondant
-Don't tell your guests the cake is vegan until after they've eaten it!
-Ask about delivery dates before you sign on the doted line. Not all bakeries offer delivery, and among those that do, they may not be open or performing deliveries the day of your wedding. For an extra fee, some may be willing to accomodate your request.
-Get the agreement in writing. Some wedding vendors will do a deal on a handshake; I always ensured we had our requests in writing, even in the form of an email in which I requested the vendor confirm that their understanding of the agreement was the same as mine.
