Who takes the (wedding) cake
The wedding cake has always been important for the celebration of marriage. In ancient Roman times, bread was broken on the bride’s head, which meant good luck for the couple. As time passed, different foods replaced the bread and piled on, the happy couple hoping to lean over it and kiss it before taking it apart and serving it. The content evolved into buns and small cakes or pastries, sometimes even meat pies that were eaten as part of the meal. But the symbolism has remained largely the same, that of fertility and good fortune, as the newlyweds ceremoniously cut the cake and share it with each other before their guests.
Contemporary cakes are often not even edible, but simply disguised cardboard or Styrofoam, elaborately decorated and then brought into the kitchen where a simple cake is cut and served to unsuspecting guests. Traditionally, the top layer, often called the groom’s cake, is saved and consumed at a later date, or it can be separated entirely. At some weddings, the cake consists of tiered cupcakes for easy serving, or is displayed on an elaborate dessert “sweet table” where guests can serve themselves.
During the Victorian era in Britain (1800), the royal family and the elite took the wedding cake to a new level (literally) with sweet cake and white frosting as the status symbol of the bride and groom, exemplified by the luxurious exhibit served in 1871. Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Louise’s wedding which took three months to complete. One has to wonder how well it literally kept for all that time and if it was still edible. Apparently, since parts of the original were auctioned years later. One buyer described the texture as “firm,” a definite understatement. Although most royals prefer a lavish but somewhat traditional cake, elaborate reproductions of historic palaces and monuments have been featured prominently at some elite children’s weddings.
No longer the traditional white cake or fruit cake (preferred by the British), contemporary cakes have become art shows, with unique themes, sculptures, photos and even replicas of the bride and groom themselves. They can be carrot cake, chocolate or cheesecake, with colorful frosting and decorations of any flavor, and they often come at a price that far exceeds the wedding dress. Specially trained pastry chefs compete on the Food Network and have their own businesses that exclusively create wedding cakes.
Possibly the most famous wedding cake in history belongs to the character of Miss Havisham in the legendary novel by Charles Dickens. High expectations. The planted spinster, left at the altar, spends the rest of her life in her bedroom in her wedding dress, the rotten wedding cake on display, covered in cobwebs. Although it is not that dramatic, here are some famous cakes today that deserve mention:
Actress Grace Kelly’s celebrated marriage to Prince Rainier III of Monaco featured a six-tiered wedding cake at her reception in 1956, and featured a three-dimensional replica of the Pink Palace in Monaco, her future new home.
When a beaming Elizabeth Taylor carved a five-tiered white cake at her lavish first wedding to hotel heir Nicky Hilton in 1950, she was crowned with traditional wedding bells, created by the pastry chef at the elegant Bel-Air Country Club in California. Imagine the lucky bakers who were commissioned by Elizabeth Taylor and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Although the cakes got smaller and smaller with each subsequent marriage, they still had excellent repeat business from each of the two actresses.
At the 1947 royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth, soon to become Queen of England, the 500-pound fruit cake (a traditional British favorite) stood 9 feet tall. It required 660 eggs, 300 pounds of nuts and dried fruit, and three and a half gallons of Navy rum. (And some of us complain when we get a measly two-pound shortcake for Christmas.)
The five foot tall cake of Prince Charles and Diana was adorned with marzipan shields from Windsor and was so vital to the royal celebration that a duplicate copy was made, in the event of an accident. (Something like “an heir and a spare”).
When Kennedy’s daughter Eunice married Sargent Shriver, she had to stand on a ladder to cut the cake, she was very tall (which gives new meaning to the phrase “defend a wedding”).
Elvis Presley married Priscilla in 1967, where the wedding featured a large yellow cake, which was priced at $ 22,000, a staggering amount in 1967. Created by the pastry chef at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, he proudly proclaimed Layers of his masterpiece were filled with apricot jam and Bavarian liqueur-flavored cream, then glazed with fondant frosting and topped with marzipan roses. Fit for a king.
The Donald Trump and Melania cake cost $ 50,000 and could not be served to guests due to the amount of wiring used to keep it intact. The cake was reportedly a stunning seven-tier work of art, weighing in at over 200 pounds and consisted of a yellow sponge cake flavored with orange zest, soaked in Grand Marnier, filled with buttercream and garnished with 2,000. individually constructed flowers spun from sugar. . (Author’s note: I don’t know anyone else, but it sounds so delicious that I would have gladly picked the wires and devoured it.)
Without a doubt, the simple wedding cake has become an art form, where creativity and ingenuity know no limits. If you can dream it up and absorb the cost, you will find a willing and talented baker to create it. In the words of a famous member of French royalty, “Let them eat cake.” Indeed.