It's out with the old and in with the new with modern cake designs and flavours. A Cake's Amanda Way shares her advice for the perfect cake.

Q. What are the latest trends in wedding cake design?

A. I suppose the most noticeable trend I have encountered in relation to wedding cakes over the last few years is a move away from tradition in terms of size, style, use of colour, flavour and just about everything! I have also noticed a trend away from very large cakes, especially if a formal dessert is served.

My cakes are de rigueur with brides who do not want a traditional big white wedding cake, but still want something elegant and beautiful as a feature at their wedding. They tend to have a strong sense of individual style and they want that reflected in their wedding.

My brides are focused on selecting something that is stunning and unusual that will make a great show in their photos. Often couples will select a cake, along with cupcakes, to display on stands. This looks fantastic in photos! Some give the cupcakes to the bridal party as gifts or box them as a present for guests.

I think it's safe to say that the big white wedding cake has had its day. Although I use white in my designs, I don't do an entirely white wedding cake and my cakes are probably best known for their use of colour.

Q. What is your point of difference in cake design?

A. My two main decorating themes are floral and stripes. I like wallpaper-type stylisation so there is usually a strong geometrical background. It allows for a fair bit of intricacy without the result being too froufie. I usually use a pale pastel base colour and then introduce the stronger colours over the top in cascading flowers. My stripe designs are bold and I love using dark chocolate or red stripes and then topping it off with a dark red rose.

Q. Which celebs are couples looking to for cake inspiration?

A. I don't usually have couples requesting copies of celebrity cakes. However, I recently went on a bit of a cake tour of New York and met up with a few of the star cakemakers there who write books, go on Oprah and are celebrities themselves. The most famous is probably Sylvia Weinstock, New York's official cake doyenne and the creator of cakes for the likes of Donald Trump, Whitney Houston, Michael Douglas and Liza Minelli. I was able to taste a plate of her 15 cake fillings - they were sublime!

Hot Tips

• If you can't decide on a cake flavour why not have them all? Multi-tiered cakes are popular again making such decisions unnecessary. Ask for each layer to be a different and your guests can pick a flavour.
• For couples on a limited budget, why not serve your cake as dessert?
• The tier you save for your first anniversary needs to be made of fruitcake, otherwise it won't keep.
• Instead of cake, serve your guests little blocks of chocolate. Have a chocolate fountain set up through which guests pass a selection of skewered fruits. See www.sunshinechocolatefountains.com

Contact Amanda Way: A Cake, (03) 9821 5227

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Do you need more info and advice? Check out our Bride to Be Cakes magazine for mouth-watering cake designs from the country's best cake makers and decorators.