The wedding cake is one of the most important cakes in a couple’s life, if not the most important. It becomes the centrepiece of the celebration, a sweet treat for their guests, and the lasting taste tied to the memory of the day. Traditionally, many couples opt for multi-tiered cakes with clean white finishes and floral detailing. But for Barbara, while she has mastered these classic designs, there’s one style she has fallen in love with: the croquembouche. For those unfamiliar, a croquembouche is a traditional French wedding cake made from a cone-shaped tower of custard or cream filled profiteroles (choux pastry) bound with caramel. It’s light, crispy and sweet, and perfect for weddings as it avoids the crumbs and formality of cutting a traditional cake. Barbara’s discovery of this cake didn’t come by chance. Born in the heart of Europe, her appreciation of the dessert is rooted in a deeper cultural connection.
“A few years ago, while searching for new wedding cake ideas, I read that the traditional French wedding cake is the croquembouche … I asked a professional pastry chef to teach me how to make croquembouches, and thus began my croquembouche adventure,” says Barbara
Since this adventure, Barbara has refined her croquembouche skills, offering croquembouche cakes for all occasions, from festive Christmas tree inspired towers to, of course, the more elegant croquembouche towers for weddings.

A TECHNICAL MASTERY IN BALANCE 

The creation of a croquembouche is a true expression of precision and a perfectly built structure. Each piece must be carefully placed to ensure the tower stands tall, almost as if suspended by an invisible string, otherwise it is at risk of collapsing under its own weight.
“A croquembouche is essentially an architectural dessert made of profiteroles held together with caramel or chocolate, so every element needs to be consistent,” Barbara explains.
The caramel work, creates the visually stunning spiderweb-like decoration, acting like glue, it binds each profiterole into place. But, due to the nature of working with caramel, it requires exact temperature, timing and control.
“You’re essentially shaping liquid sugar in a very short window before it sets,” Barabara explains.
If this window closes before the caramel or chocolate is shaped, the decorative webs that a croquembouche is so well-known for will visually fall short. The technical planning and skill behind the creation of a croquembouche cake is difficult, but the result is worthy of the meticulous timing that Barbara masters every time.

CREATING CONNECTIONS TO YOUR WEDDING CAKE

Food is an expression of culture, relationships and heritage, and this is no different to a wedding cake. It is a blended expression of a couple’s shared love but can also carry deeper symbolic meaning. Take the croquembouche cake, where in France it is more than just a dessert. As Barbara explains, it is used “to symbolise [a couple’s] prosperity, fertility and celebration.” Even when paired with a traditional cake, the croquembouche remains an important part of the wedding because of what it symbolises. For Barbara, these meanings tied with food are deeply familiar. Growing up in Europe, she was surrounded by celebrations which centred around food and sharing it with loved one.
“Cakes weren’t just desserts, but they were a way to bring people together and mark important moments,” Barbara explains.
Now, working and living in Australia, she brings that same philosophy to her work. When couples chose a croquembouche cake for their wedding, Barbara sees it as more than a stylistic decision.
“I feel like I’m able to [take a] piece of a European celebration into someone’s wedding day … passing on a small part of that heritage into a new story,” she says.