THIS STORY IS PART OF MILWAUKEE MAGAZINE’S 2024 WEDDINGS GUIDE. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.
Not long ago, if you wanted your wedding cake to be of the moment, you’d have nixed the buttercream-piped scrolls, swags and flowers – anything that smacked of excess – for iced simplicity.
Well, the era of minimalistic cakes is over. Welcome (back) to the Lambeth age. In 1934, American cake decorator Joseph Lambeth helped popularize an ornate decorating technique by publishing a book about it.
Milwaukee baker MK Drayna, who owns the specialty cake business Whisk Chick, embraces this maximalist trend. “It’s very traditional and old-school,” says Drayna, who credits her culinary arts training at MATC for giving her the decorating precision necessary for this “over-piped” style. Drayna’s Lambeth cake orders took off after she started posting videos of her work on TikTok.
Modern Lambeth is less stuffy and more playful than the 20th-century version. Yes, elegant monochrome white cakes are still popular, but bakers are also using bold colors (green, periwinkle, red) and making romantic cake shapes (hearts, of course) with whimsical toppings like fresh cherries. For a neo-traditional bride, Lambeth offers a gorgeous option.
