17 Delicious Summer Wedding Cake Flavors To Crave

What’s your favorite taste of summer?

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If you say a good old-fashioned ballpark hotdog, roasted corn dripping in butter, or the choice of many… a juicy burger flipped just for you at a BBQ, we have to admit, we’ll be hard-pressed to turn any of that into a wedding cake flavor for your dessert table!

But if you love fresh fruits, ice cream, buttercream icing, sweet carrots, s’mores, and even cotton candy during the warmer months, we think you’re in luck if you’re planning a summer wedding.

There are so many beautiful essences in florals and spices to consider too. To create the perfect cake for your wedding reception, you can incorporate traditional summer wedding cake flavors with other tasty treats and natural aromas.

We can’t wait. Let’s dig in!

bride and groom kissed in front of their wedding cake
Photo by Elissa Deline Photography

Begin With Buttercream

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gorgeous summer wedding cake
Photo by Foxtails Photography

We checked out a bunch of recipe websites looking for the most popular flavors for summer wedding cakes. We counted buttercream icing as the main ingredient 12 times on one website, and the entire list only had 10 wedding cakes!

So what’s the big deal with buttercream?

No spoiler alert here because it’s pretty much all in the name. As a base, buttercream is a fresh butter and sugar mix that most bakers call the lightest and smoothest cake icing you could imagine.

The thing is, there are different recipes for buttercream from different areas around the world. American buttercream is the most popular frosting in our neck of the woods, and we’ve got dibs on how you can learn to make this delicious icing yourself…

A+ American Buttercream Recipe

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Important wedding details like photos and video, bouquets, and a sweet table make your day memorable, but as we all know, the costs add up.

couple kissing with smeared cream on faces photoshoot
Photo by Taylor Rae Photo + Film

Whether you’re creative, thrifty, or a bit of a rebel, you can have some fun with your wedding cake choice by learning the trade secrets to buttercream icing!

This recipe package includes nine pages of tips, tricks, and detailed instructions, so basically, you’ll be able to add “buttercream icing genius” to your resume.

Now, let’s look at using a buttercream icing recipe from another country. If you choose a layered wedding cake (the most popular cake style for the occasion), some bakers recommend a German buttercream recipe with pastry cream or whole milk added.

When you read about all the different flavors added to a buttercream icing recipe, you understand how creative you can get with your cake topping. So let’s check out some popular wedding cake flavors now!

For the Love of Lavender Lemon Cake

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A delicious lemon cake is a summertime classic and a popular summer wedding cake choice. 

But, why not take it up a notch by incorporating other fresh summer fruits like blueberries? Or choose a buttercream icing infused with something yummy like a simple lavender syrup.

This lavender syrup is a perfect introduction to a delicious flavor that tastes great in coffees, soda water, hot chocolate, or lemonade! You can experiment with it, and if you fall in love with the flavor, you’ll know it’s a perfect ingredient for your summer wedding cake.

Bakers often brush simple syrup over layers of a wedding cake to add moisture, or on the top of the cake as a glaze instead of icing.

The purple gum paste blossoms pictured above make decorating fun and easy, so there’s no need to go overboard with time-consuming rosettes and piping!

A Romantic Taste of Roses

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Does anything say romance more than the taste of sparkling wine and roses?

summer wedding cake with fresh rose flowers
Photo by WildHive Photography

A big trend in the summer is to bake wedding cakes with light-textured batters like foam cakes, sponge cakes, chiffon cakes, or vanilla cakes topped with buttercream icing flavored with roses and prosecco, a sparkling wine from Italy.

Prosecco has a lower alcohol content than most wines, and when it’s added sparingly to a wedding cake, it’s unforgettable.

As for the romance of roses, this organic, simple syrup will give you a tasty idea of how delicious that will be!

Serve the Scrumptious Vanilla Bean

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The traditional vanilla flavor is a true wedding classic, but that doesn’t mean you’ve got to keep it old-school or boring!

newlyweds kissing in front of their wedding cake
Photo by Photography By Ali K

Brushing a light-textured cake with fresh, homemade vanilla bean syrup will be heaven for your taste buds. Your cake will be moister, richer, and a perfect base for decadent vanilla buttercream topped with fresh strawberries or raspberries. A simple wood cake topper custom-made in gold is the ideal decoration.

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Pina Colada Makes Summer Wedding Cake Flavorful

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Are you a bride who enjoys a beachy cocktail in the summer? And is the perfect pina colada your drink of choice? Maybe you’re having a destination wedding?

couple feeding cake to each other
Photo by Nick Mehn Wedding Photography

Bring the beach to your wedding cake by adding the tropical flavor of pina colada to your buttercream recipe—it’s the perfect icing over a coconut chiffon cake with shaved coconut and edible pearl tinker dust!

Summer Sensational Taste of S’mores in a Wedding Cake

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Yup, you read us right. You can fulfill your long-ago summer camp dreams by having a s’mores cake at your wedding reception.

Search online for s’mores cake recipes, they all feature that classic graham cracker crust, and some have a chocolate cake base (another great twist if you’d like something different from vanilla cake).

But you can’t forget the vanilla marshmallows! We found these delicious homemade vanilla bean marshmallows that made our mouths water and will definitely elevate your wedding cake.

Celebrate With Coconut Cream Cake

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It might be a challenge to order a premade wedding cake online, but homemade mixes like this seriously yummy-sounding coconut cream cake are a cinch to ship and fun to taste-test.

This batter has all-natural ingredients, and we just can imagine how great it tastes with a coconut pudding center layer, a homemade whipped cream topping, extra coconut shavings, and an eye-catching mix of edible wedding ring confetti on top.

Each cake mix packet serves up to 24, so it’s yummy and affordable!

Chocolate and Mint Is a Happy Marriage

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We love chocolate mint ice cream in the summertime, so we’re already dreaming about making this chocolate mint poke cake.

If you love the flavor as much as we do, this cake would be delicious at your wedding, and imagine it served with a simple syrup glaze and a topping of fresh fruits like nectarines, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries!

Delicious Red Velvet Summer Wedding Cake Flavors

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A red velvet cake is decadent at any time of year, but it works best with a whipped buttercream icing infused with sweet cherries and almonds for a summer wedding cake.

Try making this homemade mix yourself. You’ll fall in love with it too!

Key Lime Pie Makes Perfect Summer Wedding Cake Flavor

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What a refreshing summertime cake idea!

This homemade mix accomplishes that unmistakably tangy and delicious key lime pie flavor in a light-textured dessert perfectly topped with fresh whipped cream and banana puree.

By the Sea Salted Strawberry and Chocolate Cake

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Sea salt and chocolate bars have become a hugely popular sweet treat, so how about a summer wedding cake flavor of chocolate ganache with a layer of sea-salted strawberry jam?

If you’re wondering, chocolate ganache isn’t hard to make. It’s similar to chocolate mousse but is used more often as an icing than as a standalone dessert. So yummy!

Over the Rainbow With a Cotton Candy Cake

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For beach weddings, backyard weddings, rooftop weddings, or any summery rainbow-themed celebration, why not order up a personalized cotton candy cake to make a fun statement with your reception dessert table?!

Stack Up Your Delicious Carrot Cake With This Cake Stand

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Carrot cake consistently ranks high as a popular flavor for celebrations and it can be relatively simple to make. 

Prepare moist rounded layers of carrot cake ahead of time and freeze them ready for buttercream frosting on your wedding day.

The most important thing with a heavier mix like a carrot cake is to stack it properly. This geometric cake-stand riser with a glass top is both decorative and sturdy!

Delightful Jams for a Fruity Summer Wedding Cake Flavor

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Delight your guests with unique fruit layers in your summer wedding cake!

One yummy and not overly sweet flavor is apricot jam, and all-natural jams like this with no added flavors, colors, or preservatives are a wonderful ingredient.

Make Your Wedding Cake With Champagne Jelly

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Picture your perfect wedding cake with angel food tiers, buttercream icing, and this pink champagne rose hip jelly added between the cake layers.

The taste will sparkle on your tongue!

Classic Cookies and Cream Summer Wedding Cake Flavor

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Who doesn’t adore cookies and cream cake? On the other hand, who has the time to crumble up all those cookies?

This selection makes it easy to bake your cookies and cream wedding cake because the crumbling is done for you. We’ll be around to enjoy a slice when it’s finished!