Layer Cakes on the Rise

Layer cakes offer pastry arts chefs the opportunity to display their technical excellence while bringing together a variety of pleasing flavors and textures.

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September 6, 2019 4 min read

 

The layer cake can be described as one of the more well-known and traditional concepts in the world of baked goods. This classic dessert offers a basic structure that is flexible in terms of the flavors and ingredients used, allowing a wide range of styles to be displayed. Whether you want to keep things simple with a traditional yellow cake and chocolate frosting or dive into more complex flavor profiles and varied layers, this cake style can accommodate many different visions.

Students looking to attend online pastry arts schools should consider how this dependable dessert can be adapted, elevated and experimented with to create a delightful offering in a variety of culinary settings.

A chef placing a small garnish on a layer cake.Layer cakes can combine fresh fruit, glazes, garnishes and much more along with the traditional cake and frosting.

Layer cakes increasing in popularity

While it’s difficult for something as universal as the layer cake to truly fall out of fashion, this treat has recently made strides on menus across the country. Nation’s Restaurant News pointed to several examples of layer cakes in restaurants across the country that offer unique combinations of flavors, other well-known desserts re-imagined in this format and many different ingredients.

All the cakes featured are examples of desserts carefully designed to appeal to customers and offer a delicious end to a dining experience or an exciting treat to bring home. One that stands out in particular is the banana split ice cream layer cake offered by Atlanta-area restaurant group Metrotainment Cafes through its Hudson Grille sports bars. This dessert brings together strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ice creams alongside the same flavors of cake, chopped fruits, a banana cream and a yellow cake crust that provides stability to all of the other layers.

This banana split cake is an example of the effort that goes into making an especially appealing layer cake, one that requires a high level of skill and a significant amount of time to make even in a commercial kitchen. For a home cook, it’s so complicated that only the most skilled could reliably craft a similar dessert. We’ve previously looked at a variety of bakeries that are popular because they offer other treats that are difficult to make at home. This is another reminder of how this quality of desserts crafted by professional pastry arts chefs can attract customers.

This sense of inaccessibility – of offering a dessert that isn’t easily made at home – can be one of the key attractions of a professionally made layer cake, Nation’s Restaurant News pointed out. Even in situations where the ingredients and flavors involved are more traditional, the attention to detail and presentation creates a unique, desirable experience.

Crafting your own impressive layer cakes

With pastry arts training as a base, there are a variety of strategies to consider in terms of making a unique and appealing layer cake. Combining visual and taste considerations, like an array of colors and fruit flavors, can create a positive experience that appeals to several of your customers’ senses. Incorporating less-common ingredients, from jams and preserves to candy pieces and nuts, can create more textural variety and introduce additional flavors into a layer cake. The possibilities are nearly endless when it comes to putting your own spin on this dependable dessert.

Building the skills to both craft your own unique layer cake from a creative standpoint and the technical excellence to consistently execute a complex recipe time after time can help you advance on your pastry arts career path. Finding the right baking school to provide an educational foundation, challenge you to grow as a professional and offer valuable exposure to experienced professionals is a vital consideration. To learn more about our convenient, immersive and acclaimed online baking school program, get in touch with us today!

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