What’s Hot in Wedding Dessert Trends?

New in Wedding Dessert Trends

What’s trending in wedding desserts for 2019? If you are planning on catering weddings in the coming year, you have to come to the right place. Our blog last year highlighted the hottest wedding foods for 2018; this guide will give you an updated scoop on what sweet concoctions the experts predict will appear on reception tables everywhere. To cater a memorable event that is guaranteed to make your foodservice memorable, read on for some of the most innovative, wacky, and wonderful wedding dessert ideas your palate has ever imagined.

Wedding Desserts Expected to Be Huge in 2019

What wedding desserts are expected to climb the charts in 2019? Creating a ‘wow’ factor is what it’s all about. From creative confectionary displays in unconventional shapes and sizes to personalized treats in groundbreaking flavors and textures, tomorrow’s wedding desserts are a perfect way to showcase your chef’s culinary talents and to keep your clients wanting more.

While traditional wedding desserts are not entirely out of the picture, new on the horizon are some of the following scrumptious selections, including some rather avant-garde choices:

• Customized Ice Cream Stations
• Pie Buffets
• Mini Pie-Pops
• Exotic Fruit Trees
• Donut Towers
• Piña Colada and Strawberry Daiquiri Donuts
• Waffle and Cookie Bars
• Champagne Flutes

According to professional bakers, there are two particular baked goods taking center stage: Cinnamon rolls and French macaroons in mouth-watering flavors and colors.

Cake Anyone?

What’s coming down the pike in wedding cakes for 2019 and beyond? Get ready to feast your eyes and your stomachs on some truly tantalizing eye candy. Up-and-coming wedding cakes are being turned into bona fide works of art, featuring a smorgasbord of heights, materials (imagine edible metallic and gold foils embedded upon satin ice and or rich raspberry fondant…) and even hand-painted designs and decorations. From modern art splatters, sugar art, and smooth watercolor florals to bold brushstrokes of color, dark chocolate swirls, and every topping imaginable, professional bakers are being called upon to become cake artists and create the latest pièce de résistance.

And if that wasn’t enough to stimulate your taste buds, or your imagination, check out how one architect-turned-world famous-pastry chef is taking wedding cakes far into the future by using a 3D printer to make custom baking molds and create edible art!

Sparkling Wedding Desserts Create a Stir

Nothing makes tomorrow’s wedding desserts sparkle and stand out more than a serving of gleaming and glistening rock candy. According to Rachel Bruzek of D’Amico Catering in Minneapolis, Minnesota: “Sprinkles, glitter and sugar crystals will be added to everything from macarons to mini desserts.” In fact, today there are even ‘dessert stylists’ who specialize in baking and who make hard candy from scratch, break it into various shapes, and dye and color each piece separately.

High-Shine Black Wedding Desserts

If you are catering a formal wedding, nothing says elegance and sophistication more than black tuxedoes, shimmering black sheaths, décor in black-and-white simplicity, and striking desserts in shiny black. In stark opposite of traditional wedding white, this trend is gaining momentum in 2019. To create an imposing work of art that is sure to be marveled and remembered, spread a velvety smooth dark or black fondant over your favorite baked dessert, embellish with a gold or silver edible topper, add some optional edible flowers, and voila!

Latest Wedding Trends Reflect the Newlyweds

Infusing wedding celebrations with details that accentuate the couples’ personalities and tell the newlyweds’ love story is another happening trend for the upcoming year. From the invitations and centerpieces to the menu itself, couples and caterers are putting a lot of thought into each detail, including turning the dessert menu into an array of personal favorites that oftentimes bypasses the traditional wedding cake. Think chocolate recipes for die-hard chocoholics, mini rum-n’-coke cakes or strawberry daiquiri donuts for cocktail enthusiasts, and for ice cream lovers, do-it-yourself ice cream bars where guests enjoy concocting their own ice cream sundaes from every topping imaginable.

Finally, in this age of the Internet where social media reigns supreme, couples love posting their latest and greatest personal photos and videos online. This is a great marketing opportunity for forward-thinking chefs and professional bakers. Create an eye-catching, out-of-the-box, head-turning dessert and enjoy the attention your masterpiece – and more importantly your business – receives on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Drinks for Dessert

End-of-the-evening drinks are also spicing up the wedding scene in exciting and fun ways. In the spirit of letting guests ‘have their cake and drink it too,’ some divine ideas to stir into your caterer’s cup include:

• Hot Chocolate Bars
• Specialty Coffee and Tea Bars
• Ice Cream Floats
• Smoothies Station
• Do-it-Youself Beverage Bars, where guests can choose from assorted traditional and non-traditional beverage toppings such as whipped cream, chocolate syrup, assorted liqueurs, grated cinnamon, chocolate chips, flavored marshmallows, peppermint candy, lemon drops, and more.

Also growing in popularity are new dessert cocktails, including innovations such as: Peanut-Butter-and-Chocolate Martini, Caramel Apple Martini, and Gingerbread Martini (made from ginger liqueur, sparkling wine, and brown sugar).

Wedding Cocktail Recipe

Raise a glass to dessert lovers everywhere and to your catering service by trying your hand at the following recipe for a decadent after-dinner wedding cocktail:

Tiramisu Cocktail

Ingredients

• Milk chocolate liqueur
• White chocolate liqueur
• Amaretto
• Splash of espresso or coffee extract
• Ice
• Sprinkle of cocoa powder

Instructions

1. Add alternating splashes of each liqueur
2. Add the rest of the ingredients
3. Allow the layers to naturally merge, creating a similar marbled effect to the layers in a Tiramisu dessert
4. Serve with a Lady Finger on the side

Fruit Flavors and International Tastes Take Wedding Desserts in a New Direction

Also hot on the wedding dessert menu scene are fruit-flavored desserts. For 2019, one of the most popular flavors is white chocolate raspberry, but anything with fresh fruit is also in demand. For example, lemon, banana, blueberry, strawberry, peach, and apple are some of the fruity-flavors included in cakes, muffins, pastries, macaroons, and pies.

And when it comes to international tastes, Yuzu – a sour Japanese citrus fruit about the size of a tangerine – is in high demand. Known for its unique aroma and flavor that is distinct from lemon or limes, the expanding list of Yuzu dessert recipes includes: Yuzu Sorbet, Yuzu Meringue Tarts, Yuzu White Chocolate Truffles, Blueberry & Yuzu Cheesecake, and Yuzu Ginger Tarts with caramelized pineapple.

In Sweet Summary

When it comes to wedding desserts, gone are the days when tradition reigned supreme, when all-white dominated the nuptials, and when wedding cakes were the be-all and end-all of the celebration. Instead, wedding caterers and event planners have reinvented the wheel and are incorporating new tastes, textures, styles, colors and patterns into fantastic new dessert selections in numerous shapes and sizes.

For restaurant owners and caterers, this is welcome news as it gives you the chance to throw your chef’s hat into the competitive ring, show off your talent, and showcase your business by creating tomorrow’s next best talked-about wedding dessert. Good Luck!