Apple Brides Podcast: Episode 1 is Out Now!

December 21, 2022

Apple Brides Podcast: Episode 1 ‘’Sweet Beginnings’’ with Sweet Frostings Blissful Bakery, is officially out now!

Coming to you from downtown Spokane, located in the beautiful Inland Northwest of Washington State (the perfect place for a wedding) we proudly present to you Episode 1 of the Apple Brides Podcast, Sweet Beginnings. This week our hosts Doyle and Carri Wheeler meet with the owner of Sweet Frostings Blissful Bakery, Jessica Atkins, and her colleague and professional cake decorator, Piper Scott about all things wedding desserts. They go over upcoming cake and wedding dessert trends for 2023, the history of wedding cake traditions, the Pros and Cons of cake smashing, and much more!

Listen to the full show here.

Who is Sweet Frostings?

Sweet Frostings Blissful bakery began back in 2011, by Jessica’s mom, Sally Winfrey, and her friend, Judy Beebe. Sally has been a baker her entire life, getting her start in grocery baking departments and various grocery stores. She opened their first Sweet Frostings location, downtown Spokane, in a smaller space selling only cakes, cupcakes, and pastries. They have since expanded not only their location size but their menu as well! They now offer daily coffee beverages along with savory items as well. As the business grew they added two additional locations, one in the Valley Mall, and another in the Whitworth area. You can always shop their daily cupcakes and various sweet treats online here.

Sally’s daughter Jessica, has worked at Sweet Frostings since the very first booth at a small thrift fair summer of 2011. She attended Spokane Falls Community College for business, working her way up in her industry from sales to office assistant, and is now CEO of Sweet Frostings. Jessica also serves on the board of the Business Improvement District (BID) for the Spokane Downtown Partnership.

What do they do?

The list of what they are capable of doing is actually endless. Sweet Frostings bakes custom cakes, cupcakes, or desserts to order, as well as party/event dessert bundles. Their specialty is cupcakes, however. They rotate flavors, offering different varieties on each day of the week. Check out their rotating cupcake flavors here.

They make various desserts as well including truffles, macarons, brownies, lemon bars, pies, and so much more. Another unique service they offer is their do-it-yourself baking kit which includes all of the ingredients and tools that you will need to create your very own baked goods right at home. Shop holiday and DIY kits here.

Sweet Frosting has catered desserts and created custom cakes for many weddings and various occasions over the years. They love helping and being involved in the wedding planning process in order to help the bride enjoy their day by creating a seamless process.

What is their process like for Wedding desserts?

For many brides, it is their first time being married. Jessica along with her Wedding and Events Coordinator, Piper, have catered many wedding celebrations over the years and know all of the ins and outs on what to do.

If you have a curated vision of what you want your wedding cake to look like, they can make it happen. If you have no vision whatsoever and need to start from scratch, they will help by showing previous weddings they’ve done and inspiration to help you find exactly what you want.

The first step in their process is getting to know the couple. Piper sits down with the bride and groom and asks questions like how they met, and their favorite things to do together; gathering inspiration for what their cake might look like. They have photos to show the bride and groom so that they can see the different styles they can go with. From there, you and your significant other taste cake flavors and sip champagne while deciding on your dream wedding dessert!

Schedule a wedding consultation and tasting here.

Tips and Tricks from the Wedding Dessert Pros

Sweet Frostings provided us with some useful information including several tips and tricks on the wedding cake process. Take it from the pros:

1. Start Your Cake Process at Least 6 Months Prior to the Wedding

They recommend that six months prior to saying ‘I do’ is the prime time to get your cake process started (or dessert if you’re not doing cake). If you are six months away from the wedding, you’ll probably have the date decided and will be able to share that information with your caterer or bakery. You may have the most popular wedding date of 2023, which means you’ll want to give your baker plenty of time to order the correct ingredients. It also just helps them to prepare for what to expect and gives you time to pay for it in advance since it can be expensive.

2. Go With a Professional

Your day will be so much less stressful if you do it this way and have someone else take care of it for you. Your cake or desserts will be on time, delivered, or ready for pickup. Then none of your friends or family attending the wedding will have to worry about it either.

3. If You’re Having an Outdoor Wedding in the Summer, Avoid a Semi-Naked Cake

A semi-naked cake style is a trendy style of decorating cakes that covers the cake with only a thin layer of frosting while leaving parts of the cake showing. The reason they recommend avoiding it is that there is no buttercream to help keep that cake standing tall. If your cake is sitting in the heat, the buttercream has less of a chance of helping keep it standing.

4. Pick an Assortment of Flavors that You Love

Sweet Frostings emphasized that when choosing your cake flavors you should choose more than one and pick flavors that you and your significant other love. Don’t pick a flavor to make anyone else happy, but it is always better to have options.

5. Get Creative and Personal

Some of their favorite cakes done for wedding celebrations are those that include the couple’s personality whether that’s through the colors or the cake topper. They’ve done cake toppers made to look like Lord of the Rings style, and had them include the couple’s pets, or something sweet like two little birds kissing. They can seriously create whatever you dream of having on your wedding cake.

6. Discuss Cake-Smashing Prior to the Wedding

Lastly, discuss whether or not you are going to smash your cake in your spouse’s face or not. Some couples prefer to go for the cake smash, and some decide not to. Totally up to you, but definitely worth considering prior.

For even more useful wedding advice, tips and tricks, and inspiration, follow us on Instagram @applebrides and listen along wherever you podcast! Thank you to Sweet Frostings for joining us on this exciting journey and being our very first podcast guest.