'People are prepared to pay up to R100k for a luxury wedding cake in SA'

Are you old enough to remember the old-style traditional wedding cake?

Icing-clad fruitcake in tiers, with some saved for future celebrations, is no longer standard for modern nuptials.

And, if you have the money, you can go to extreme lengths to impress your guests with extravagant offerings that are also delicious to eat.

Bruce Whitfield finds out about the bespoke luxury wedding cake business from Kevin Schoof, founding director and head pastry chef at Baker Boys Confectionery.

The specialised bakery is based in Pretoria East, but its handcrafted creations travel all over the country and even as far as Seychelles and Europe.

Schoof says old-fashioned fruitcake is hardly in demand anymore, making up about two out of every 700 of their wedding cakes.

"We have all these amazing flavours, and what people want these days is for their guests to actually eat the cake. Previously, when it was fruitcake, they never used to eat it!"

"We have wonderful flavours like coconut, amarula and lime and ginger... so there are all these extraordinary things that you can add to your wedding and it makes a statement along with the cake..."

Kevin Schoof, Founding Director and Head Pastry Chef - Baker Boys Confectionery 

While this environment is satisfying because it allows the pastry chef full creative reign, it is also extremely stressful, Schoof says.

"I don't think people understand how much work goes into a wedding cake. You've got to think about structure, about size, about decoration, how the cake's going to be covered - by fondant or by butter cream... We work a lot with wafer paper with rice paper to create all the detailing..."

"There are a lot of challenges... and there's no do-over."

Kevin Schoof, Founding Director and Head Pastry Chef - Baker Boys Confectionery 

Astonishingly, clients are prepared to pay anything from R 3000 to R100 000 for the wedding cake of their dreams.

The happy medium is between R8k and R25K, Schoof says.

When it comes to the more extraordinary briefs he's been given, Schoof cites floating cakes, hanging cakes, and even cakes that 'come down from the ceiling'.

"When a bride and groom want a specific thing then they're willing to pay for it and willing to have it delivered and set up at their own venues all over the place."

"I think for every pastry chef it's important that people appreciate your product, and where you can actually make a decent financial income from it, and that just screams wedding cakes. You're not going to make money from birthday cakes and celebration cakes. Where people are willing to spend, is weddings."

Kevin Schoof, Founding Director and Head Pastry Chef - Baker Boys Confectionery 

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the conversation