Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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145 pastry department. It turned out to be a blessing. "I quickly learned that carving and decorating cakes is very similar to garde-manger— it's just…a different canvas." Ultimately, she was put in charge Cakes by Cakes for Occasions are made by many different in-house pastry chefs. oversees her 30-member staff. "We hire artists," says Delaney. "You can't train someone to be an artist. I can train them to make buttercream and bake a cake but to design it and have that vision—that's something that is embedded in people." When couples come in to choose their cake, it's Katrina O'Donnell they consult. It's clear she values her role in the selection process. "It's important to them—it's their one cake," she says. "They want to get it right and we want to get it right." O'Donnell draws sketches based on what people like but also finds knowing what they don't like is helpful when narrowing in on the final design. She notes that cakes today are less traditional and much more personalized. "I think for some people the cake ties the entire wedding together." It should complement the flowers, linens, place settings, etc. "Knowing what they chose for all those details helps us put the cake together," adds Delaney. The pair note how techniques for making wedding cakes are al- ways changing. There are new tools and materials available today that weren't around when Delaney first opened. "Now we can even emboss fondant," she says, attributing some of that to the DIY movement. "You can go into Michael's and find the same things in the cake making section as you would in the calligra- phy aisle," she muses. Other trends include the heavy use of texture, which may come in the form of fondant polka dots or chevrons. An old custom that O'Donnell notes is coming back is the inclusion of groom's cakes. "I think it is a way for the bride to thank the groom—to give him something special," she says, "because typically, the wed- ding cake is designed by the bride." of wedding cakes. Today, in her Danvers shop—a location she chose because she felt the town was "starving for a pastry shop, not just a bakery"—she rarely makes cakes herself, but rather