1. If traditional fall shades aren’t for you, this Cakes by Jan design still nods to the season with aubergine fondant twig and leaf cutouts applied to sage fondant. While the color combination feels like a classic Jane Austen love story, the square tiers in two heights translate the design into modern-day romance.
2. For the modern bride (no flowers or frills, please), baker Jessica Bartl of Jessica's Cakes created this monogram design by quilling, “a technique involving curl within curl within curl of paper,” she explains. “I substituted thinly rolled gum paste for the paper.” Though quilling is a vintage technique, the design perfectly suits contemporary brides seeking elegant simplicity.
3. Fresh cinnamon and nutmeg with spiced cream cheese frosting and seasonal florals makes this spice cake a dazzlingly delicious display. A Piece of Cake baker Mary Zahsky celebrated autumn using a warmer shade of frosting to complement the red and orange tones of the season and a chocolate-brown ribbon to tie it all together. Co-baker Doug Boisvert added the playful flowers.
4. This rich almond cake with raspberry filling is covered in fondant and embellished with a bronze piped design and ribbon. Classically romantic, with round tiers and delicate florals, baker Marietta Vossen of Cold Spring Bakery captured the gilded fall landscape by dipping the cascading sugar buds in autumnal shades and airbrushing them with a luster dust.
5. With its top tier floating on wine glasses, this cake from Fresh Fields Bakery provokes an immediate wow. The glasses are a modern—and stunning—twist on the old cake topper and a gift for the newlyweds to take home. Fresh flowers pop against the champagne-colored buttercream, exemplifying Fresh Fields’ “can-do” philosophy.
6. “With the leaves off the tree, what do you see?” imagined Country Cake Cupboard and Cafe baker April Wysocki when she concocted this dreamy confection. A bird’s nest and the feathers left behind came to mind, and the result is a regal, graceful cake covered in flavored fondant with mandarin orange and fresh apricot purée inside. The metallic leaf-patterned ribbon around each tier ups the sophisticated style.
