Cakes and Cocktails

Signature Cakes, Cocktails Enhance Guest Experience

| 2016 Q2 | story by ANNE BROCKHOFF | photos by Steven Hertzog

Cami of Camis Cakes starts creating a 4 tier cake

Wedding celebrations through the ages have ranged from grand feasts and garden parties to balls and breakfasts, yet all have included cakes and drinks. Tradition usually dictated what was served: Romans crumbled wheat or barley cakes over a bride’s head to symbolize abundance, while Medieval couples drank mead for luck.

Money mattered, too. Only the wealthy could copy King Charles II’s pyramids of sugar-glazed English spice cakes in the 1600s. And politics dictated tea and punch replace wine during Prohibition. By the end of the 20th century, Champagne toasts were back in vogue.

And now? Tradition and fashion still matter, but couples are increasingly focused on expressing their own style when it comes to cakes and cocktails.

“Couples are spending more on the guest experience and adding personal touches,” according to a 2015 survey by wedding resource The Knot. Spending on all reception categories rose, with cakes now costing an average of $575, or 3.6 percent more than in 2014. Signature cocktails are also more popular—22 percent of the 18,000 couples surveyed served them last year, up from 12 percent in 2008.

Louis Wigen-Toccalino, Decade Coffee & Expresso and Black Door Catering Co

The added cost is worth it, though, says Louis Wigen-Toccalino, owner of Decade Coffee & Espresso and Back Bar Catering Co.

“You’re building memories,” he says. “It’s something people will talk about afterwards.”

Wigen-Toccalino opened Decade two years ago and started mixing drinks after getting a liquor license in October. Soon after, customers began requesting cocktail catering services.

Some events are off-site, while others take place at the shop, at Ninth and Delaware streets, such as a recent social hour following a wedding at the Cider Gallery. After the ceremony, guests walked to Decade to socialize over cocktails before returning to the gallery for a dinner reception.

They weren’t just any cocktails, though. Wigen-Toccalino works with couples to create drinks that reflect their own personalities.

“If there’s a gin they had on their first date or a Champagne they drank on the beach—whatever those stories are, we can weave them into a drink,” Wigen-Toccalino says. “It’s a cocktail just for them. You won’t find it anywhere else.”

Wigen-Toccalino’s creations often feature infused spirits and house-made syrups or bitters; herbs, berries and farmers’ market finds; and fragrant garnishes. The result is typically a classic cocktail with a unique spin, such as a Boston sour that adds cold-brew coffee to the traditional whiskey, lemon juice, cherry and egg white.

“Where we shine is with excellent versions of simple drinks,” Wigen-Toccalino says. “People are surprised when the cocktails they’re familiar with are elevated and refined.”

Demand for bespoke wedding cocktails is in keeping with the overall shift to craft drinking, says Bryan Love, owner of The Bourbonist, another Lawrence-based cocktail catering company. Consumers in their 20s and 30s are especially fascinated by them, thanks in part to social media and television shows like “Mad Men” and “Bar Rescue.”

“It’s very trendy with millennials,” says Love, a bartender who also manages the Red Lyon Tavern. “They know what they want and how they want it.”

Love typically conducts two initial tastings. The first helps him hone in on preferences; specific drinks are chosen during the second. Gin and vodka are popular for summer, Love says, and he likes matching them with lavender-honey syrup, blackberry or vanilla-orange shrubs (vinegar-based syrups), fresh herbs like mint or rosemary, and edible flowers.

Brian Love, The Bourbonist – photo by Patrick Connor

The cost varies, depending on what clients want. Love says some offer a single signature drink; others request different drinks for prewedding festivities, the wedding day and the reception—what he calls “the whole shebang.”

“It’s all customizable,” Love says. “I’m here to say ‘yes.’ ”

The same goes for cakes. While the white, multitiered cake is still popular, it’s by no means de rigueur. Buttercream frosting now comes with flowers, ruffles or textures, although lace, geometric patterns and so-called naked cakes with exposed sides and fillings are still popular. Marbled patterns or ombré, pale pink and gold or bright colors—anything’s possible, says Cami San Romani, owner of Cami’s Cakes and Coffee, in Eudora.

Whatever the design, it’s best to order early. Specialty bakeries that focus primarily on weddings book up quickly, especially during the peak autumn months. Yes, you read that right. Autumn has now surpassed summer as the busiest wedding season.

“October is our No. 1 busiest month of the year,” says San Romani, who recommends couples book a year to 18 months in advance. “People are surprised that we’re completely booked into fall [2016].”

San Romani does between 200 and 250 wedding cakes a year, mostly in Kansas City, Lawrence and the surrounding area, both for locals and out-of-towners who attended the University of Kansas or whose families live nearby. Each begins with a tasting of a handful of the dozen flavors San Romani lists on her website; all are made from scratch using real butter, vanilla and other ingredients. That’s one reason her cakes typically cost $5 per serving, putting many in the $800 to $1,000 range.

That shouldn’t scare anyone, though, San Romani explains. She routinely works with customers to devise less-expensive options, such as a smaller-tiered cake supplanted by sheet cakes. Donut bars, pies (either whole or hand pies), cupcakes or a selection of confectionary or desserts are popular, as well.

“We’re willing to work with any budget,” San Romani says.

Labor also figures into the cost. All custom orders must be paid in full two weeks ahead of delivery so San Romani can order supplies. She confirms details the Monday before and bakes on Tuesday. Cakes are wrapped and chilled, then decorating begins on Wednesday. On Thursday, San Romani finishes icing. Fridays are for detail work like flowers or extra piping. Most cakes are delivered on Saturday or Sunday with the help of her husband, Dustin San Romani, who teaches in Lawrence and coaches basketball in Eudora.

In between all of that, San Romani and her three employees fill plenty of orders for other occasions.

“We live in a small community, so we have to be accessible,” she says. “We do tons of birthday cakes, graduations, baptisms and communions.”

Not that she minds doing the smaller events. San Romani, an artist, began baking cakes out of her house in 2011 and then moved into a commercial space in downtown Eudora. A successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014 raised $5,531 and allowed San Romani to move into a larger space and add a retail counter serving coffee from The Roasterie, donuts, scones, muffins and treats.

There are couches and soft chairs, and a nook with children’s books and toys—a favorite spot for her 2- and 4-year-old children. They often tag along on deliveries, too, making it very much a family business.

“When we’ve drive by, my name’s on the building,” says San Romani, who’s expecting her third child this fall. “It means something to me, and hopefully it will mean something to them.”

Desiree Lopez was driven by a similar entrepreneurial urge to open BellaRoca Cakes in Lawrence. She’d always baked but didn’t consider doing it professionally until the company she worked for merged with a competitor and eliminated her position. So

she took a cake-decorating class, and then a friend of a friend asked her to make a wedding cake. More requests followed, and by 2011, she had a full-time business baking wedding, birthday, baby shower, graduation and special-occasion cakes.

Now, “We do pretty much anything you can think of,” says Lopez, who suggests placing orders for wedding cakes and large events six months in advance.

Lopez’s business was initially home-based, but she quickly realized the need for more space. She bought a second house in north Lawrence, which is used entirely for BellaRoca Cakes, save a playroom for when her 3-year-old is there. She has one assistant, and her husband, Joel Lopez, helps with tasks including building special structures required for large cakes, like the 6-foot football field once ordered by KU’s football team.

“It was a massive thing,” says Lopez, who often uses social media sites like Pinterest to communicate with customers. “Obviously, it’s not a normal cake board I can order.”

Lopez offers a variety of cake flavors, all made with real butter and locally sourced eggs. That can be challenging, since egg production varies seasonally, so she’s forged relationships with several farms near Lawrence and Topeka. If the farmers run out, Lopez buys eggs from Dillons Food Stores, which sources all of its eggs in Kansas.

That does add to the cost—Lopez’s prices start at $3 a slice, with additional charges for things like fondant and shimmer colors—but customers like that she buys local, she says.

Plus, “I think it tastes better,” says Lopez, who also offers cupcakes, cake pops and balls, hand-dipped strawberries and other confections, many of which can be shipped. “You pay more for better quality ingredients.”

CONTACT INFO:

Brian Love
The Bourbonist
www.thebourbonist785.com
Lawrence, KS

Louis Wigen-Toccalino
Back Bar Catering Co.
www.backbarcateringco.com

Decade Coffee & Espresso
www.decadelawrence.com
920 Delaware Street
Lawrence, KS

Cami San Romani
Cami’s Cakes & Coffee
www.camiscakeco.com
800 Main St.
Eudora, KS

Desiree Lopez
BellaRoca Cakes
www.bellarocadesigns.com
Lawrence, KS