Snow & Ice Effects
Icicles make a great a side design on a winter wedding cake, but look amazing when they are suspended from the cake. You can create the illusion of a cake floating on air by using clear plastic dowels or pillars to support the cake and secured to the supporting board underneath. Sugar artist and instructor, Sarah Jones of The Chocolate Strawberry showcases her icicles side design to dramatic effect (above left) by making her cake design “float”.
A hand-painted winter scene in black & white is framed with hanging icicles and topped with a Russian-style “onion dome” for a dramatically beautiful winter wedding cake design by Nadia Colella of Nadia & Co., (image by Carey Anne Photography).
Isomalt is the perfect medium to make clear icicles and “frozen” shards of ice. You’ll find a helpful tutorial here from One Fine Cookie: isomalt icicles tutorial (plus you can learn more on decorating with isomalt here: Craftsy Intro to Isomalt Class.)
Of course, if you don’t want to go the “floating” route with your icicled cake, a pretty cake stand will also work to showcase hanging icicles to great effect, like Debrah Green of Cakeability Green’s marvellous cake design, above left (image by Mark Lloyd Photography).
On the right, Sweden’s Susanna Hellstrom of Sannas Tartor has used a trail of sugar diamonds to add extra sparkle to her elegant “iced effect” cake design above, created using Wilton edible glitter flakes.
Two more “floating” wedding cake designs feature below from stellar cake designers, Ron Ben Israel (below left) and Elizabeth Solaru of Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium (below right, image by Cristina Rossi Photography) with suspended crystals adding beautiful iced effects.
(To get creative with your cake display techniques and learn more about suspended cake designs, check out – Building Better Cakes: Creative Cake Separators, with Marina Sousa on Craftsy, as well as Building Your Business: Smarter Display Cakes (w/ Chrissie Boon) which covers suspended “chandelier” style cakes.)
Below right, a subtle icicle effect is created with sparkling sugar sprinkles by Amanda Rettke of I Am Baker and you’ll find this icicle tutorial here on Amanda’s blog.
Gateaux Inc create a sophisticated frozen effect on their cake (below left), blending gumpaste snowflakes with pearls and glitter sprinkles.
Italian sugar artist, Renato Ardovino of Le Torte di Renato achieved the incredible snow blizzard effect (below) using strings of pulled isomalt wrapped in layers around the tiers for a wonderful winter wedding cake design (image by Gianfranco Marrotta Photography).
Isabelle Loiacono of The Rolling Pin, Canada (formerly the J’adore Cakes Company) has designed a superbly elegant winter wedding cake below, creating a beautiful snowy texture with subtle piped details. A vintage silver royal iced “cage” adds a majestic element to the design incorporating snowflake details for a further seasonal touch.
(How to create a royal icing cage is covered by legendary US cake artist, Colette Peters in her Craftsy class: Vintage Cakes, Modern Methods).
Beautiful piping is also a feature of US wedding cake designer, Jay Quall’s work with piped frosted branches brining an authentic snowy feel to his timelessly elegant winter wedding cake below.
On the right, the Cheshire Cat Cake Company’s vintage wedding cake design features a stylish lace trim which creates the illusion of snowfall against a metallic tier, resting on a textured base tier adding a further winter snow effect. Fondant pearls and an offset lace corsage add splendid finishing touches to this vintage chic design.
Textured lace studded with snowy pearls, a corsage fashioned from a whirl of petals and a base tier laden with scattered petals all combine to create a beautiful snow blizzard effect for a masterpiece winter wedding cake by The Cake Whisperer below (image by M Photography).
More details from the beautiful Cake Whisperer wedding cake in close-up.
On the right, cake couturier Maggie Austin’s luxuriously textured design creates a beautiful snow-laden silhouette, created with clustered sugar strands and pearls and overlaid with a beautifully delicate lace.
Silvered piping studded with glistening jewels evokes a frosted web pattern in a striking wedding cake design below by the Sweet & Saucy shop, making it a beautiful design motif for a winter wedding cake.
A luxurious silver leaf tier paired with lightly silvered leaves add a striking glacial look to the wedding cake design below left by Coco Cakes, Australia, while on the right, Liz Shim of Eat Cake Be Merry has created a clever iced effect on her cake design by marking horizontal lines on the fondant, criss-crossing here and there, and highlighted with lustre dust.
Below right, IncrEdible Endings have used a star tip to pipe hanging icicles in buttercream for an extra textured effect on their beautiful snowflake cake.
Zoe Clark’s feathered design (below left) shows what a versatile medium wafer paper is – its feather light, stiffened qualities superb for creating frozen effects for winter cake designs.
Everything Cake by Juanita’s wafer paper feather cake below would also make a striking winter wedding cake design with one or two design changes for a more “wintered” look – Juanita used steam to create a slight curve in her feathers (you can check out her great tutorial here). But to create hanging icicles, just skip the steaming stage and attach the “feather” shapes at different lengths around the side of the base tier for a more frozen, winter effect.
For a winter berry naked cake, a powdery dusting of icing sugar adds a simple fallen snow effect with two beautiful examples below, from French Made (right) and via Pinterest (left).
Snowflakes
Snowflake brooches add a simple seasonal touch to the on-trend designs below – a silver metallic cake design from Sweet Bea’s (below left) and a textured frilled design from Fantasy Frostings (below right).
When decorating with snowflakes, the key is to use a variety of different snowflake shapes and designs. Afterall, in nature no two snowflakes are the same so using the same snowflake design all over the cake will dilute the prettiness.
The snowflake cupcake toppers below are made using cutters available from Lindy Smith‘s store, but there are a huge variety now available on the market. Check out the cookie cutter section in stores too for larger snowflake shapes and even more variety.
Extra details can be added to the snowflake cut-outs by using the ends of your piping tips to cut out tiny circles/ovals for a more lacy, intricate snowflake design. You’ll find a fondant/gumpaste snowflake tutorial here from Jacque Wainwright of Cake & Cupcakes TV showing you how. Plus, Wedding Cakes For You have a beautiful royal icing snowflakes tutorial here.
Isomalt is also a great medium to make snowflakes, using moulds instead of cutters, and adds a truly “frozen” look.
The ancient art of quilling has become a popular new trend in cake decorating with a beautiful curled snowflake pattern (above left) enhanced with tiny pearls (image via Pinterest). (See our previous feature on Quilled Cake Designs here.)
Catherine Beddall of Catherine’s Cakery, Ottawa has created the superb quilled snowflake design (below) against a soft aqua iced backdrop, accented with delicate piping around the edges for a beautiful winter cake design.
A spectacular single over-sized snowflake crafted from wafer paper adorns the wonderful winter cake (below left) by Tanya Halas of Cake Heart Custom Cakes & Cookies (inspired by the papercraft of Little Miss Halas Junior).
On the right, cookie cutter-sized snowflakes add a showy yet simple decoration to this all-white cake from Southern Living.
Wilton have created a spectacular snowflake centrepiece wedding cake below with delicate piped snowflakes arranged to at angles around the cake to maximize their effect. (You can find more details on creating this cake here: snowflake cake).
On the right, US cake decorating star, Colette Foley has designed a beautifully understated snowflake wedding cake with simple piped snowflakes enhancing a stylish quilted pattern for an ultra pretty winter wedding cake.
Winter Hues
While white-on-white wedding cakes will always be popular for weddings at this time of year, pale blue is stylish alternative for the bride that wants to add a touch colour while still maintaining a seasonal winter feel.
The softest of blues paired with winter white creates a beautiful backdrop for Rosalind Miller‘s “Winter Garden” cake below. On the right, the Little Cherry Cake Company’s stylish “Winter in New York” wedding cake is finished with a brooch and statement bow in the palest of blue for an added touch of winter elegance.
Pale blue again features in the rustic winter wedding cake design below left by Barcelona’s Yocuna Arte en Azucar, paired with winter white blooms and twisted hazel branches.
Pale blue teamed with silver leaf creates a magical icy feeling in Sweetlake Cakes’ design, below right.
And while it isn’t technically a winter cake (it’s actually an underwater themed cake), we were still struck by the beautiful pattern and effects created by Sweet Love Cake Couture in their design (below left) and how wonderfully they would translate into a snow scene winter cake, with the coral becoming trees and the blue lightened for a snowier effect.
On the right, is a very definite winter wedding cake featuring an elaborate reindeer motif in a unique design by The Vagabond Baker.
Silver & Grey
The palest of greys takes on a distinctly wintery feel when paired with white and ivory accents and seasonal motifs. Amanda Oakleaf Cakes‘ design (below left) illustrates this perfectly, with exquisite hand-painted birch trees and falling snow creating a stylish winter wedding cake design (image by Forever Candid Photography via Wedding Chicks).
On the right, a snowy grey landscape creates a magical backdrop for this fantasy nature-inspired winter wedding cake (image via Pinterest).
Silver lustred highlighting and ruby red jewels add a traditional festive feel to the superb design below by Sweet on You Cakes, with seasonal wafer paper flowers and glittered effects adding an extra winter dimension (image by Barnett Photography).
Hey There Cupcake never fail to delight with their bold and contemporary designs and we think this silver leaf and white wedding cake below would make a sensational winter wedding cake. Peeling silver leaf and fabric effect flowers add a touch of vintage styling to this new and fresh design.
Pale grey and silver simply ooze sophistication in the two glamorous wedding cake designs below. CoCo Cakes, Australia have created their look (below left) with pearl shimmer and silver leaf while on the right, Mignon Daymond of Cake Face, Australia uses clusters of silver dragees for a super luxe effect.
Rosalind Miller’s background in fine art shines through in her terrific silver leafed design (below left) featuring a hand painted bird and silvered branches.
On the right, silver sanding sugar and miniature Wilton star-shaped sprinkles add sparkle to this New Year’s eve party cake by Jason Schreiber (via Martha Stewart Weddings), below.
Snow Pearls
The Great British Cupcakery use a combination of ivory and white lustred piped pearls in various sized to create their glamorous pearl-encrusted cake design below – a beautiful snowfall design, perfect for elegant winter wedding reception.
Silver dragees, pearls and non-pareils have been used to terrific effect in the silver and ivory wedding cake designs below to create a magical snow-covered look (image left via Fashionable Bride and right via Sannas Tartor, Sweden).
Snow and ice effects are created with scattered pearls and silvered sugar sprinkles in the uniquely beautiful design by The White Cakery below (a division of Connie Cupcake Luxury Cakes, image by Krista Fox Photography.
Pearl beads of varying sizes threaded onto clear wire create a delicate snowfall effect as demonstrated in the two pretty winter wedding cakes below from We Are Weddings (left) and right, by Cakes by Char (image by KaBloom Studios).
Winter Jewels & White Diamonds
Sugar gems are one of the most striking wedding cake accents for vintage style cake designs, with white diamonds being the breakthrough new trend in sugar gems.
London cake couturier, Krishanthi Armit of Cakes by Krishanthi adds a superb touch to her beautiful wedding cake design (below) with elegant white drop diamonds adorning the tiers.
White diamonds can be created by casting jewel shapes in isomalt using a gem mould and then painted with edible lustre paint for an opaque finish.
White diamonds and pearls blended with gold dragees create an opulent jewelled wedding cake design below via Inspired by This (image by Marissa Holmes Photography).
A silver jewelled design studded with precious gemstones makes a spectacular winter wedding cake below by Cake Lady Jill (image by Kristin Vining Photography), with design inspiration from The Caketress.
Wendy Kromer Confections used clusters of sugar gems to create the beautiful pearlised gem garlands in her spectular winter wedding cake design below (via Martha Stewart Weddings), sparking a whole new trend for opaque painted sugar gems.
Our final winter wedding cake design incorporates silver painted gems with intricate beading to create a dramatic Art Deco inspired design for a majestic winter wedding cake by The Cake Whisperer.
