The ultimate centrepiece - choosing your wedding cake

If there’s one thing that simply has to take pride of place as the ultimate centrepiece at a wedding (aside from the bride!), it’s the cake. They might ultimately only hog the spotlight for a few precious hours before they disappear into a small pile of crumbs, but they are a crucial part of the big day. We have marvelled at many a glorious creation at the wonderful celebrations we get to witness but none more so than those crafted by a truly amazing baker, Lucy Beal, who’s based in East Yorkshire. Here we talk to Lucy about her burgeoning business.

From Top Shop to star baker

Lucy has always enjoyed pottering about in the kitchen, but until 2009 she made her living as a brand manager for High Street fashion supremo Top Shop. However, Lucy’s life changed dramatically with the birth of her second child Georgina, who needed intensive medical care for a brain tumour and a heart defect.

“I decided to become a stay-at-home-mum,” said Lucy, “and baking was something I already enjoyed doing and could easily do at home, so I invested more time in it.” Completely self-taught, Lucy refined her art from the modern-day Oracle that is YouTube: “It’s amazing how much you can learn on there!” she laughed. She’s also a massive fan of Mary Berry, who she describes as her hero, and loves watching The Great British Bake-Off. She added: “Sometimes I talk out loud to Mary while I’m baking! It’s funny watching the show, I can see when the contestants are about to go wrong and end up shouting at the TV. I’ve had my own disasters too in the early days when things have just fallen to bits and then get thrown across the kitchen! You have to push the boundaries and experiment though, otherwise you won’t learn or improve.”

Weddings are not the only type of celebration Lucy caters for, she can turn her hand to cakes for all occasions and has regular orders for birthdays, christenings, anniversaries and baby showers. Reading the reviews on her Facebook page, it’s clear her customers are not just pleased, they are absolutely thrilled.

“Every cake is bespoke and hand-made,” said Lucy. “People usually have a clear idea of what they want, and I do my best to deliver their vision.”

Each cake can take anything from 16 to 50 hours to create, depending on the size and the details, and Lucy is able to cater for any number of hungry mouths with the biggest order to date being for a whopping 250 people.

Staying on trend

As with all things wedding-related, different kinds of cake come in and out of fashion. These days it’s rare that people opt for fruit cake as a filling – Victoria sponge remains the norm, with chocolate, lemon and even carrot cake growing in popularity. “Lemon is particularly suitable in summer, when you might want something light and refreshing, especially if you’ve had a rich main course,” added Lucy.

“Naked cakes are really fashionable at the moment, that’s cakes without fondant, so you have to be make sure each layer of sponge is exactly the same. Drip cakes are still in demand, and the marbling effect looks like it will be trending this year,” she said.

“Gold leaf is also another favourite currently, which is very challenging, a bit like gilding. I enjoy doing it but it’s so delicate I have to take extreme care to ensure there are no sudden gusts of air, such as from a door being opened, that might make it collapse!”

Lucy recalls a couple of her own favourites – a wedding cake for a celebration held at Rise Hall which featured gold leaf along with an abundance of peach and pink sugar roses, as well as a dazzling 40th birthday cake consisting of lilac, cream and pink ‘balloons’. Does she ever feel sad about the inevitably short lifespan of the creations she’s worked on with such painstaking dedication? “Not at all, they are made to be eaten, I’m always happy to let them go,” she said.

A word of advice

Lucy’s initial consultation, where customers can taste samples and look at examples, is free. Her top tip for couples is to simply have a conversation about what they want for their wedding cake and look at as many images as possible, either online or in magazines. “Think about what will work with your chosen style,” she added. “Also, don’t try to cater for the total number of guests, aim for 85 per cent instead, that way you’ll have enough but won’t have lots of leftovers.”

Chrysta Newman, Co-Director of Village Farm Marquees, said: “We’ve worked alongside Lucy for a number of years now and we are always totally wowed by her work, her cakes are absolutely stunning and she is so versatile.

“Lucy created a birthday cake for my dad’s 70th, we gave her a few ideas based on his interests and she came up with a unique design that amazed everyone. It included a virtually life-size fondant ukulele on top of the cake, which was made out of delicious lemon and coffee sponge layers.”

Lucy added: “I have a really good relationship with Village Farm and I’m always recommending them to people, they are definitely the go-to company if you need a marquee.”

To contact Lucy, visit www.lucybealcakery.co.uk or the Lucy Beal Cakery Facebook page. To find out more about our marquee solutions, contact info@villagefarmmarquees.co.uk or call us on (01262) 468160.