A few years ago I attended a beautiful wedding reception in a very nice hall where nearly every detail had been considered and attended to. The food was great, the cake was beautiful, but there was one itsy bitsy problem. Upon sampling the freshly cut wedding cake placed before me, I immediately noticed something wasn't right. There was a very odd taste to the frosting that I couldn't identify. It was isolated to only a couple of spots on the top layer of frosting, I had no idea what it was, but my first thought was that it was chemical in nature... it just tasted very wrong. I quickly convinced myself that it couldn't be chemical. It just made more sense to assume the decorator hadn't mixed the contents of the frosting thoroughly in his dash to complete the 5-tier wedding cake. I pushed the frosting to the side and ate the cake.
It was only months later, after running across an article on a bridal website that I relized that my initial impression may have been correct after all. I now found an explanation that made sense. The horrible taste hadn't been a frosting ingredient at all, but more likely a chemical added to a fresh flower that had only minutes prior been sitting atop my very sweet and seemingly non-threatening slice of cake.
Some of my favorite cakes are those with mountains of fresh flowers. They're a wonderful way to add color to the ever popular, but often plain white wedding cake, and can make an inexpensive cake look very rich and vibrant. Still, the bride needs to be sure she is choosing flowers that are non-toxic and chemical free. Below is a partial list of some of the favorite flowers used in weddings... if you don't find your flower, herb, or plant listed here, but wish to use it on a cake, please consult with a professional. One word of caution, I've found that many florists and cake decorators know little about this issue... so you may need to a little research on your own... as if you don't already have enough to do!
It's generally recomended that you never insert flower stems directly into your cake. It's best to find organically grown flowers to avoid the contamination of harmful pesticides, but these will cost you more. If you can't afford the extra cost, try inserting your flower stems into a food safe pick or plastic before inserting them into your cake, or place a barrier between your flowers and the cake. Some cake decorators insist on only using artificial flowers as a way of avoiding the whole issue of what is safe and what is not.
I don't pretend to be an expert in this area, but would like to share a couple lists I've compiled of both non-toxic and toxic foliage. This list will not tell you whether what you're using is chemical free. For that you will need to consult with your florist. You'll find these lists in my sidebar.
