The process of planning a wedding is one full of seemingly never ending decisions. From the more personal choices of music selections and color schemes, to weighing the pros and cons of splurging on a professional bartender and knowing when it’s time to start considering a buffet-style dinner, every single detail comes down to you, your partner, and, hopefully, your wedding planner. But when it comes to the best and worst frosting choices for your wedding cake, you’ll want to lean on a professional’s opinion. For that, Tasting Table brings you Sandy Folsom, the school director of Wilton Sweet Studio in Naperville, Illinois.
When Tasting Table asked Folsom about the best frosting choice for a wedding cake, she responded, “Fondant has been a popular choice for decades because it’s perfect for making intricate designs and providing a smooth surface that is immune to accidental smudging, though some don’t like the flavor. It’s also a great choice for warm-weather weddings as it is stable at room temperature for several hours.” She also recommends American buttercream. “It has great flavor and is also stable at room temperature for several hours,” says Folsom.
Of course, if you don’t like buttercream or fondant, you don’t have to go with either. Even Folsom believes that the best frosting for a wedding cake is whatever your favorite is. But there are some considerations to make — an important one being the one frosting Folsom says is the worst choice for your wedding cake: Swiss meringue buttercream.
Weather plays a role in your wedding cake frosting
Much like how Folsom recommends fondant and American buttercream for weddings in warmer climates, the frosting she says is the worst for your wedding cake is one that isn’t so weather friendly. Folsom told us, “This again comes down to personal preference, but if you’re getting married in a warm weather location, you’ll want to avoid a Swiss meringue buttercream [as] it won’t stay stable for long periods of time in hot weather.” She added, “Ganache can also be fickle when it comes to stability and variations in temperature.”
Obviously, if you’re a huge fan either of those frostings, there could be ways around this. Keeping your cake refrigerated until the very last moment or having a venue where the cake is kept indoors could mean that you get to have your cake and eat it too — that is, a wedding cake with Swiss meringue buttercream in a warm destination that doesn’t fall apart before you get your photo moment. But while you should have everything you want on your special day, Folsom’s American buttercream recommendation could relieve a lot of stress.
By the way, if you have to sacrifice your favorite frosting for your ideal wedding date and venue, there are plenty of ways to make up for it. Check out some of the 15 unique wedding cake ideas Tasting Table found on TikTok or look through the trendiest wedding cake styles of each decade for inspiration.
