Sweet, sweet cake month is here on Polka Dot Bride. We really couldn’t throw a cake month without getting the fundamentals sorted and explained from the get-go. To help us launch cake month, we asked Regnier Cakes to share a comprehensive guide to cake terms- in other words, a cake glossary! Try to get through this blog without licking your lips… it’s not possible. Thank you Regnier Cakes! 

Naked Cake A Layered cake which is cut and filled with a filling with no icing on the outside. They’re normally decorated with fresh flowers and/or fruit. Idea: this cake is constructed so you can see all the yummy goodness inside, so we suggest to have it nice and messy with an oozing filling.

Semi Naked Cake A layered cake which is cut and filled with a filling. The outside is finished with a small amount of icing to give a smooth finish, however it is stripped back to expose the rustic style of the cake. Traditionally finished with fresh flowers and/or berries. Some clients even go one step further and have chocolate or caramel drizzle pouring down the sides.

Drizzle Cake It’s a term used when chocolate or caramel is placed on the outside of a finished iced cake to give a drizzle/dripping effect to the finished product.

Buttercream Icing Buttercream icing is a fluffy butter or shortening based icing, whipped up with icing sugar and vanilla to add another icing option to your cake. It’s not as sweet as other icings, but it’s really delicious. Buttercream icing can be easily coloured and flavoured to suit your wedding theme and colour pallet. Note: this icing is lightweight so it gives you more options on what you can have as a cake underneath.

Buttercream has smooth finish and is finished with a smooth, sharp edge.

Line Design Lines in the buttercream finish which can be vertical, horizontal or diagonal.

Rough Finish A rustic finish to give the look of unfinished or cement/plaster finish.

Ombre A shade of colour going from darker to lighter or lighter to darker through the icing of the cake.

Ganache A chocolate and cream based icing, quite rich in flavour similar to a thick fudge/mousse. It’s harder to colour then buttercream and essences can be added to flavour it. Note: This is a cream and chocolate based icing and is not good for extreme hot weather.

All photos by Regnier Cakes

Fondant A smooth dough like icing made from sugar, glucose and gelatine, which is rolled out and draped over the cake. It gives a smooth finish to the cake and sets semi hard for the ability to attach lots of decorations – metallic foils and lusters*, piping and heavy sugar flowers. Note: because of the weight of this icing, some cakes like sponges are not suitable for the inside of the cake.

*Luster A metallic/pearl finish to a cake that can be done on buttercream or fondant icing to either give a shimmer to a base colour or metallic finish of gold, silver, bronze or rose gold.

Foil A metallic foil made from real gold or silver applied to the icing to give a metal effect to the cake.

Rosette Can be made of fondant or buttercream piped. A piece of icing rolled or piped into a flower rosette, which is attached to the cake tier.

Ruffle A frilled piece of icing in layers around the cake tier to give a ruffle effect. It can be made out of fondant or piped with buttercream.

Marble A mixture of colours blended together in fondant icing to produce a marble finish to a cake. This can be finished with lines of metallic luster to give a sparkle. Colour combinations are endless.

Watercolour An effect of mixing colours together in buttercream icing so they blend together in different shades and tones. Usually finished smooth, however this is becoming a trend with a rough finish.

Mirror Glaze Made from a gelatine base gel which is coloured and poured over the top of a cake to give a shine and mirror finish to the cake. This is also able to be a mixture of different colours in a marble effect to make what is called a ‘galaxy mirror glaze’.

Stencil A pattern finish on the icing in any colour to give a textured effect.

Fencing Rectangle chocolate pieces that overlap around the edge of the cake tier to look like a fence.

Ms Zigzag says: I have learnt a lot from reading this blog! We hope it is a very handy guide for brides and grooms on the hunt for their perfect cake.

About Melina from Regnier Cakes: “As a child I was always a bit cake crazy, helping mum in the kitchen every chance I had. In grade 5 I entered my very first cake competition at my school fete. I selected the piggy cake from the famous Women’s Weekly cake book. To my surprise I won my first competition. After this I had a clear idea of what I wanted to do with my life.”