12 Chocolate Wedding Cakes That We're Sweet On

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Indulge your craving, especially on your big day.

Photography: José Picayo

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The beloved flavor can take center stage at your reception dessert table. Just look at these showstopping cocoa-laced confections from celebrations we have featured over the years and pastry pros for proof.
Photography: Thayer Allyson Gowdy

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Two of a Kind

Pastry chef Sylvia Weinstock made two chocolate buttercream-covered confections for Anthony and Rusty’s Brooklyn wedding. The flavors inside—chocolate for Anthony and peanut butter for Rusty—reflected the grooms’ personalities. And because you can never have enough chocolate, a variety of bite-size cocoa treats from One Girl Cookies and Jacques Torres completed the dessert display.

See More Details from Anthony and Rusty’s Wedding
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Like Mom Used to Make

Two tiers of this chocolate stunner by Elizabeth Loudon were made with the mother-of-the-bride’s chocolate cake recipe. The others comprised marble and pound cakes. The confection was set on a stand trimmed with felt, covered with bittersweet chocolate frosting, and dressed with roses, fiddleheads, and sandersonia.

See More Details From Jeanette and Nicholas’s Wedding
Photography: Max & Friends

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Desert Dessert

Can’t decide on vanilla or chocolate? You can have both! At Christen and Billy’s desert celebration, this chocolate cake, topped with and surrounded by mini succulents, was served alongside a gluten- and dairy-free vanilla cake, both from BabyCakes.

See More Details From Christen and Billy’s Wedding
Photography: Yazy & John/Yazy Jo

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First Pick

For this bride, one of the easiest big-day decisions was choosing this three-tiered confection. “I’m a chocolate lover and couldn’t imagine a wedding cake other than chocolate!” Anna says. Guests also enjoyed two smaller spice cakes iced with cream-cheese frosting. The cakes were decorated with fresh flowers.

See More Details From Anna and Donald’s Wedding
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Photography: Dana Gallagher

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Variety Hour

This buffet by Ron Ben-Israel is proof that the classic flavor is anything but boring. The pastry chef included two malted dark chocolate cakes, marbleized chocolate-truffle tartlets, and chocolate cream puffs filled with whipped-cream centers, among other chocolate treats.

See 20 Years of Wedding Cakes by Ron Ben-Israel
Photography: José Picayo

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Golden Touch

A bit of shine is an easy way to add elegance to a cocoa creation. The dark chocolate fondant covering these three square tiers forms a delicious backdrop for amber waves of grain. Jason Schreiber stenciled each stalk with a luster-dust-and-vodka mix, then topped the cake with some luster-dust-painted wheat sheaves tied with a satin ribbon. Underneath, almond cake meets its ideal match: chocolate ganache.
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Delicate Dots

A graphic embellishment is all the more striking against chocolate-brown fondant. These royal icing designs, piped in white and light-brown dots, echo the petal shape of the cake tiers and stand. A pattern was first pinpricked into the fondant and then piped over. The cascading design on the top tier forms an intricate, many-petaled flower—an understated alternative to a cake topper.
Photography: VICTOR SCHRAGER

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Petal Perfect

Miniature posies of cosmos and fondant lamb’s ears are tied with delicate satin ribbon and perched atop shimmering carpets of sanding sugar. The curves of the flowers’ petals are echoed in the contours of each chocolate-covered tier, made by using petal-shaped cake pans.
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Surface Interest

This cake was named for a ski resort in Switzerland, the Megève, and it resembles nothing so much as a mountain—one covered in chocolate curls. Beneath them are disks of vanilla meringue layered with chocolate mousse.
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Pattern Play

This opulent five-tier cake features a graphic interpretation of damask; it plays up the pattern, which is traditionally tone-on-tone. The intricate scrollwork is best suited to a square cake because the flat surfaces display the repeating motif to greatest advantage. To create this magnificent design, the pattern is placed under waxed paper, then piped over and filled in with royal icing. After it dries, the hardened frosting is removed from the waxed paper and affixed to the cake. The Wedgwood-blue fondant and dark-brown decorations look elegant with a chocolate cake.
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Sampler Cake

A chocolate sampler inspired this cake. Striped and solid ribbons trim the board; the cake itself mimics a pastry box with its bands of tempered white chocolate piped with royal icing. Hand-molded truffles by Christopher Norman Chocolates line the tiers.
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Marble Masterpiece

White-chocolate fondant encases a grand cake wrapped in dramatic silk moiré ribbons. The marbling was fashioned with plastic transfer sheets, as were the candy favors.