Wedding Cake Drama
Unconventional Desserts Are Stealing the Show — Let Them Eat Cupcakes!
BY Jailyn Marcel // 02.03.16Maple & Love proprietor Lisa Driver drew inspiration from a painting for this colorful wedding cake.
Much like a ’90s R&B ballad, the conventional wedding cake is due for a remix. For the nontraditional bride, towering tiers of white fondant have been replaced with playful motifs and flavor-intense frills, eschewing the postnuptial centerpiece in favor of a more intimate dessert experience. Here, three culinary trailblazers think outside the fondant.
REsume: Aussie by birth, tax consultant by trade, Lisa Driver of Maple & Love got her start making cupcakes for her co-workers. Word of mouth jolted her part-time business in Melbourne, but her move stateside sealed this self-taught baker’s fate as a full-time cuisiniere.
Flavor profile: Part cake, part objet d’art, Maple and Love’s whimsical confections capsize tradition with vibrant hues, edible ornaments and flavor profiles reminiscent of childhood ( think Funfetti cake, Oreo-infused icing and homemade honeycomb).
Cake of choice: The Duchess of Sprinkles — a fluffy vanilla cake smothered in cookies and cream frosting and a dark chocolate ganache drip, finished with crushed chocolate shards, sprinkles and crumbled candy.
Maple and Love, 832.781.7790, [email protected], mapleandlove.com
Resume: After working in kitchens such as the now-shuttered Aries, the Omni Hotel and the Houston Country Club, pastry chef Matt Opaleski gave up the restaurant line for the sweeter life.
Flavor profile: Making the case that donuts are much more than a morning delicacy, the gourmet morsels from Opaleski’s Hugs & Donuts are everything from fruit-filled (with house made preserves, of course) to candy-coated to covered in bacon.
Donut of choice: To make — plain glazed. To eat — Biscoff cookie butter donut.
Hugs & Donuts, 1901 N. Shepherd Dr., 713.485.6443, [email protected], hugsanddonuts.com
Resume: After a brief stint in graphic design, Ashley Rose embarked on a path to self-discovery through her DIY blog, Sugar & Cloth. After three years of blogging, she’s been featured In Oprah magazine and on hgtv.com and teenvogue.com, among others.
Flavor profile: The classic macaron gets an artful facelift as Rose wields her paintbrush, transforming the French meringues into edible works of art.
Macaron of choice: Favorite macaron flavor — red velvet; favorite design — macaron cactus planters