By Nancy Brumback, Contributing Writer
Photo/Nancy Brumback
Business name: Crown Bakery & Café
Address: 133 Gold Star Blvd., Worcester
Owner: Jon Lundstrom
Contact Information: 508-852-0746
Crown Bakery has made wedding cakes from the beginning?
“Yes. Wedding cakes are a special niche,” said Jon Lundstrom, owner of the Worcester bakery his father started in 1960. Crown is a full-service bakery, offering a wide range of pastries, breads, Swedish specialty items and cakes for all occasions, as well as deli and breakfast sandwiches.
But wedding cakes are a specialty, and Lundstrom noted Crown’s wedding cakes are competitively priced. The bakery makes 1,500 to 2,000 wedding cakes a year.
How should a couple get started?
“It’s best if they order the cake four to six weeks ahead of time. We do a tasting right here in the bakery. We have all kinds of flavors—our specialty rainbow cake, regular golden cake, red velvet, carrot cake, chocolate, whatever they want. We also have them taste different icings that go with each cake flavor. And we show them photos of a wide variety of cake designs.
The size of the cake depends on the number of people at the reception.”
What is your advice on flavors?
“If the couple asks, we suggest they go with a gold cake because most people will eat it. Some people don’t like chocolate cake. Some couples want carrot cake, but a lot of guests won’t care for that. We explain that they are choosing the cake for a large group of people, not necessarily their favorite. Sometimes a couple has the bottom tier be gold cake, the next tier chocolate and the small top tier carrot cake to satisfy everybody,” Lundstrom said.
“Our rainbow cake is gluten-free, with different colors of buttercream between the layers. We’ve been making that since the beginning. That cake tastes so good people have been ordering it before there was concern about gluten.
When choosing icings, the weather is important. Buttercream frosting is great this time of year when it’s not warm outside, but when it’s hot in the summer, you’re better off with white frosting. It stands up better to the heat.”
What do you suggest if people want colors on their cake, perhaps to match bridesmaids’ dresses?
“Really dark colors, like maroons or deep blue, have a tendency to bleed if the cake sits too long. We can use ribbons for color instead of colored icing. In bright sunshine, some color the icing can fade, so you could end up with the wrong color. You’re usually better off with pastel colors on the cake.”
Are fresh flowers popular on cakes?
“A lot of people prefer using fresh flowers. The couple orders flowers for the cake from their florist, who brings them to the reception site and I put them on the cake.
There are other options for flowers. We can use rolled fondant for a smooth base over the cake and then make flowers from the rolled fondant, or we can make frosting flowers.
We can also use flowers made out of gum paste, either ones we buy or make. They are very solid, you don’t eat them. They hold up well.”
What happens with the cake the day of the wedding?
“Some people pick the cake up, but otherwise, I bring it to the reception hall a couple of hours before the reception starts. That’s when I’d put any fresh flowers on it. And if the florist has forgotten to bring cake flowers, I might take one flower from every table arrangement to make a top for the cake. Or I make icing flowers. I always have an icing bag with me if I need to make any repairs.
We also leave a box for the top tier if the couple wants to save that.”
