Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hello cake lovers. I went to see a friend who was decorating a cake and as she brought the cake out, it smelt absolutely gorgeous. I asked her what flavour she used, and she told me that she mixes all different types of flavours. It smelt gorgeous and rich. Please tell me, is it ok to mix different types of flavours? I want to try it but I thought I’d ask if anyone had done this before. Many thanks in advance.

Hi NikNak42

Sure it’s ok to mix flavours as long as you get the balance right. The only way to find out what works is to experiment. There are many already established flavour pairings like lemon and ginger, orange and cinnamon, coconut and lime. I make maderia cake with three zests, lemon, lime and orange, it smells gorgeous and tastes fantastic! and another with cinnamon, star anise and orange. Chocolate cake can be paired with mint or orange and if you’re feeling adventurous try chilli or cardamom, but lots of other flavours go nicely with chocolate. If a recipe asks for water you can substitute with fruit juice of your choice or with fruit teas. Herbs, spices and some flowers like rose and lavender can also be used to add flavour and give aroma. Then there’s alcohol, use either directly in the cake batter or in fillings Available now are some excellent highly concentrated natural food flavourings like these http://www.cakeflix.com/shop/product-category/ingredients-mixes-and-colouring/flavouring/ and these http://www.foodieflavours.com/
Of course you could also use fresh fruit and purees for same day consumption cakes. Not a good idea for cakes which need to be worked on for several days as fresh fruit in cakes can mould virtually overnight!
These are just a few ideas, the tip of the iceberg! if you have a fancy try it out, that’s what I do, sometimes it doesn’t work out flavour wise but a lot is learned.

Madeitwithlove thank you so much as always. Will definitely try it out. Have a great weekend.