CRAVE Catering in Minneapolis is proud to announce we now make our own wedding cakes! We debuted our first ever wedding cake a few weeks ago at one of our venues, the Jeune Lune. The Catering Team is excited to offer this new addition to our areas of expertise! We sat down with our talented and passionate Pastry Chef, Amanda Neeld, for some background information and insight on the wedding cake process.
Amanda worked at the Women’s Club of Minneapolis before CRAVE was lucky enough to acquire her in September 2012. She joined the team with 9 years of professional experience in the industry but a lifetime of exposure, with her parents owning a restaurant for 26 years.
Amanda fell in love with the romantic side of pastries, particularly wedding cakes. She finds it extremely rewarding to see the reaction of the bride and groom on the most important day of their life, and feels fortunate to be part of it. The fulfillment is why she does what she does! When creating these one of a kind masterpieces, Amanda likes to focus on the bride’s personality and elements of her wedding to make it special; such as color, theme, invitation, etc.
The first wedding cake she created was for her sister. It was a 6-tier cake and turned out beautifully. Since then, everything has been a learning process. Amanda strongly believes in never saying “no,” to the bride — knowing she will always figure out how to do it later.
The largest cake she has ever made was a recreation of Princess Diana’s cake for the Queen of Hearst a benefit Gala at MOA!
How long does is take to create a cake? A basic 3 tier including baking time takes 6-7 hours from start to finish. She makes her cakes almost all from scratch, especially the fillings, and truly believes it makes for a better product!
Of course we had to ask, Amanda did in fact make her own wedding cake, which will be published in MN Bride Magazine!
This year the color of the year is emerald and the most popular flavor has been Almond raspberry, using fresh, real raspberries. CRAVE Catering has an extensive list of flavors, fillings, and icing you can mix and match! We are proud to be expanding our dessert wedding options with our own cakes, candy buffets, and S’mores stations! We would love to speak to you if you have any questions!
