4 On-Trend Color Blends From Pantone's 2016 Color of the Year

Perfectly Match Your Cakes To This Year's Hottest Hues

January 12, 2016

500x500_Colors-of-the-Year-Cupcakes

Natural flowers, berries, PCB Creation chocolate décor, and the Pantone color of the year make these cupcakes a feast for the eyes.

Last month, the color specialists at Pantone announced their 2016 color of the year. This decision is made as the result of careful analysis of trends in design, and not just by throwing darts at a wall full of color swatches. The intention is to help artistic types (like pastry chefs!) stay on-trend. It’s the color we’ll be seeing on every throw pillow, cocktail dress, and wedding cake for the next year.

This year, though, Pantone has decided to break their own mold and proclaim not one, but two colors as the ones to watch in 2016! That might be a novel concept for the company, but the colors they've selected are anything but novel. The colors, a pale pink called “Rose Quartz” and a dusty periwinkle blue called “Serenity,” feel reminiscent of an old fashioned baby nursery (congratulations! It's a boy and a girl!). But, apparently that's exactly what Pantone had in mind.

According to the official Pantone website, the decision to offer two seemingly gender-specific colors is actually intended to challenge “traditional perceptions of color association.” The idea, it seems, is that baby blue and pale pink are colors for everyone, not just blue for boys and pink for girls. It's actually a fascinating concept, and their gender-bending explanation is worth checking out. For our purposes, though, let's talk cake.

500x500_Colors-of-the-Year-Cake

A cake covered in Serenity blue fondant with Rose Quartz fondant décor and gold dust detailing, enhanced with natural flowers.

Pinterest is already exploding with wedding inspiration boards highlighting the two colors, and The Knot's website has prominently featured the colors in inspiration shoots. If Pinterest and The Knot are on board, you can be darn sure that brides are going to start requesting these colors for their fantasy wedding cakes. Both colors pair beautifully with gold leaf, a trend which promises to carry well into 2016, and they’re also a perfect combination with many ready-made décor pieces or natural flowers. 

To save you the time and trouble, the AUI pastry team has cracked the code on these color blends for buttercream and fondant applications. You’ll find the formulas below. We’re dying to see what you’ll do with these color trends, so send us pictures of your Rose Quartz and Serenity Blue creations at PastryTeam@auifinefoods.com or post them to our Facebook page.  

500x500_Pantone-Color-of-the-Year

Serenity Blue Fondant

Rose Quartz Fondant

Serenity Blue Buttercream

Rose Quartz Buttercream

About The Author

Carolyn Crow is an experienced pastry chef and chocolatier who has traded in emulsifying ganaches for organizing events and tradeshows as AUI’s Event Manager. Even with a Culinary Institute of America Pastry Arts degree and a University of Maryland English Literature degree, Carolyn still believes the best dessert is a brownie sundae and the best book is anything with Harry Potter in it.