History of the Wedding Cake
The importance of wedding cakes goes back for centuries. Originally, wedding cakes represented fertility, prosperity, and also symbolized the couple’s new life together. Many even think that the tiered wedding cake was not born out of artistic creation, but actually out of necessity.
The tradition of the wedding cake can be found as far back as the Romans. According to legend, the groom would take a bite of a cake, which was made from either wheat or barley, and then break the remaining portion over the bride’s head. This gesture symbolized the new couple’s union and the new bride’s fertility. It was also thought that piling up the small cakes, then having the bride and groom kiss over the stack without knocking them down, would hopefully lead to a life of prosperity. The act of the bride and groom cutting the wedding cake represented the beginning of the couple’s life together. And, the importance of love, honor, and respect was represented by the bride and groom feeding the other a bite of the wedding cake.
The beautiful tiered wedding cakes we see today may have originated in the 1600s. By some accounts a French chef visiting London saw stacked baked goods fall from trays or carts. The chef decided that he could use icing to bind or hold some of the cakes together. By the end of the century, what once started as an idea to simply keep baked goods intact was being offered as beautifully iced tiered confections.
Today’s brides looking for wedding cakes and wedding cake ideas can find almost any style and type when visiting Wedding and Party Network. Whether traditional wedding cakes, modern wedding cakes, elegant wedding cakes or unique wedding cakes, finding the right wedding cake is an important center piece of the wedding reception.
Wedding Cake Designs
Choosing your wedding cake can be fun and exciting or somewhat intimidating and confusing. Understanding the styles of wedding cake design can help you decide which wedding cake ideas would be appropriate for your wedding.
Traditional Wedding Cakes usually involve two or more round tiers. The base color of a traditional wedding cake is white usually accented with the predominate color from the wedding. From simple to grand weddings the traditional wedding cake is an excellent choice.
Modern Wedding Cakes often incorporate shapes such as squares, rectangles, or domes for sleek or asymmetrical designs. Modern wedding cakes are often known for their striking color components that can range from vibrant hues to soft pastels.
Fountain Wedding Cakes use fountains in the cake design and stairway wedding cakes use stairs in the cake design. The soft rustling of a waterfall or an enchanted spiral stairway can add to the ambiance of the occasion. Like tiers and columns, fountain wedding cakes and stairway wedding cakes, add a dramatic element to the cake presentation.
Designer Wedding Cakes feature elegant and unique designs. These cakes are not mass-produced. Designer wedding cakes are the exquisite and the show stopping confections for an unforgettable wedding reception.
The Grooms Wedding Cake is gaining in popularity. A grooms cake can compliment the brides cake or it can add a touch or wit and humor to the wedding reception. Some of the popular flavors for grooms cakes include: Chocolate, Red Velvet, Carrot, Spice or Cheese Cake. This stylish cake can be used to display the groom’s hobbies, interest or vocation.
Popular Wedding Cake Flavors
There is no longer the rule that a wedding cake has to be the traditional white cake. Choosing the flavor of a wedding cake should reflect the tastes of the bride and groom. Typically, wedding cakes come in an assortment of flavors such as vanilla, lemon, banana, spice, walnut, almond, chocolate, and tiramisu. Often the cake flavor is coordinated with the wedding cake style or design. Traditional wedding cakes may use a vanilla flavor, modern wedding cakes may use chocolate, and designer wedding cakes may be unique gourmet creations.
CREME DE LA CREME
The best of the best, or the cream of the cream, is the frosting or the icing that brings color, texture, decoration, style, and flavor to the cake. The inspiration of a wedding cake can come from any number of ideas. The wedding cake designs such as traditional wedding cakes, designer wedding cakes, modern wedding cakes and unique wedding cakes can be coordinated with such details as ribbons, lace, flowers, bows and pearls. With this combination of design and detail the icing or the frosting plays an important role.
- Butter Cream Frosting is light and delicious. This frost is the most predominate type use for wedding cakes.
- Royal Icing is used for beautiful wedding cake decorations. Royal Icing is the most versatile frosting used to decorate wedding cakes.
- Meringue Frostings produce a light and airy texture.
- Fondant Icing or Frosting has a play dough type texture, which can be rolled, draped or painted onto the cake. Its matte coating produces porcelain like finish. Modern wedding cakes often use fondant.
- Marzipan Frosting/Icing is usually made from almond paste and is used somewhat like fondant.
- Gum Paste used in wedding cakes can be easily shaped or formed, and dries very hard. It is often used in making decorative items such as flowers, fruit, swirls, and ribbons.
- Ganache, which is a liquid pour of chocolate, gives a rich chocolate taste to the cake.
After thinking about Wedding Cake Ideas, the infamous phrase, “Let Them Eat Cake,” may have a new meaning.
There are several resources to help you plan your wedding.
An excellent reference source is Wedding & Party Network. The Wedding and Party Network can help you find: The Who, What, When, and Where you need to plan your wedding and party.
For more information concerning Weddings and Wedding Cakes check out the following Flower Shop Network Newsletters:
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