Gold Rush

Not since 1848 has there been such a frenzy for gold. Jennifer Hill of Salt Cake City says gilded cakes are all the rage for weddings. Case in point: this two-tier confection of Southern butter-pecan cake layered with cream cheese frosting, chopped pecans, and sweet caramel. She started with ivory marshmallow fondant, then layered the extended bottom tier with hand-painted buttercream and airbrushed edible paint. A large gum paste flower lined in edible gold adds the finishing touch.

Alisa Watson, pastry chef at the Parisian-inspired Eva’s Bakery, drew on her love of honey to make glittering macarons. She sourced local honeycomb to create a brittle which she crushed, salted, and folded into mascarpone for the filling, then topped the shells with hand-painted luster dust and gold leafing.

Table shown throughout, Diamond Rental. Glass pedestal, hand-painted pears, and gold sugar, glitter, and flakes, Saucy & Kitsch. 

Sparkle & Shine

With Utah’s splendid fall and dreamy winter seasons in mind, Courtney McDowell and Kelli Wallace of Garni (801-243-7992) created this organically beautiful Valrhona chocolate layer cake with an American buttercream vanilla-bean frosting in seafoam. Wallace and McDowell, who previously worked as the pastry chef at SLC hot spots Pago and Finca, used homemade fondant to create individual cake leaves. The duo painted the leaves with food coloring, attached them with a glue-like mixture of powdered sugar, egg whites, and water, and brushed the final work of art with copper luster dust.

Glass pedestal and metallic hatch plates, Crate & Barrel. Hand-painted metallic branches and truffle cups, Saucy & Kitsch. 

Gold Stars

To complement their cake, the gals of Garni whipped up a batch of rich truffles using Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate and Winder Dairy heavy whipping cream. They rolled the bon bons in cocoa powder and topped with edible gold and sprinkles.

All that glitters

To hatch a golden dozen, Saucy & Kitsch’s Lauren and Cathy Brady sprayed more than 100 eggshells with varying shades of metallic paint. Before you take a crack at the DIY décor, the duo recommends experimenting with paint colors and finding an outdoor or well-ventilated area to work.

Gilt Group

For a glamorous take on ganache, Laurlee Morrison and Kathleen Walker of Cakes de Fleur dressed up a trio of chocolate-drip cakes with fresh fudge and gold-leaf flakes. Morrison says multiple cakes are popular with modern brides because they allow for a variety of flavors and styles. This family of made-from-scratch sweets includes a chocolate-coconut cake with blush buttercream, a chocolate-mint cake with seafoam buttercream, and a two-tier chocolate and vanilla cake with cream buttercream. To keep the fudge topping from further dripping, Morrison recommends displaying the desserts in a cool area and avoiding direct sunlight.

Forks, Diamond Rental. Metallic hatch plates, Crate & Barrel. Cake stands and hand-painted egg shells, Saucy & Kitsch.

Puttin’ on the Ritz 

Envisioning a modern, opulent celebration, Grace Harvell of The Graceful Baker created this fanciful dessert. She dusted the top tier with 24K edible gold and used a pearlized mint fondant with washed copper and gold fondant stripes, and gum paste blooms on the bottom tier. The confection’s interior features alternating layers of pistachio genoise and decadent chocolate cake filled with two layers of chocolate ganache and a layer of crème anglaise buttercream. Salted caramel cupcakes from So Cupcake make scrumptious sidekicks.

Cake stand, plates, and hand-decorated metallic shimmer leaves, Saucy & Kitsch.