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The Happy World of the Wedding Cake
By Sue Toliver on January 06, 2010 |
Total Viewed: 280 |
| Post by : Eddy FoX |
| Category: Food & Beverage |
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Today's world provides us with so many choices and options. We can contact people by traditional phone, cell phone, email, or regular mail. We can drive a car, take a bus, ride a bike, or stroll along. Given the options available to us today, it's only natural that variety should work its way into one of our most cherished traditions...the wedding cake. Selecting the flavor of the cake and the color of the icing is just the starter. Don't forget to take some time to choose the best wedding cake topper for your special cake. In this article we will be exploring the world of the wedding cake, providing some background details on the tradition, and working our way up to the selection process of the perfect topper for that very special cake.
The wedding cake is usually displayed proudly and strategically during the wedding reception. Towering into the heavens, it competes with the bride as the "center of attention" on the big day. This work of art establishes a focal point that the other aspects of the reception revolve around. For those couples that prefer a bit of the dramatic, the wedding cake can be wheeled in at the end of the reception for a "grand entrance" for all to see. To many people this will trigger the memories of the bride who walked down the aisle earlier in the day.
In The Beginning
The wedding cake has evolved with the passing of time. In the beginning it was a simple symbol of fertility, but it has transformed itself into an artistic tradition with many different artistic interpretations. For many people in the ancient world, wheat was a symbol of both fertility and a bountiful harvest. The Ancient Romans used to throw grains of wheat at the bride and groom as a symbolic "fertility wish" to the new couple during their wedding. This custom eventually evolved into bringing little wheat cakes to the wedding banquet itself. People would crumble this cake over the head of the bride to wish the couple "many children". The fallen crumbs would then be eaten by the guests as a symbol of sharing in the couple's good fortune.
Did you know that this "crumbling of the cake" over the bride's head may have evolved into another one of our wedding day traditions? Happen to know what it is? Well, in order to protect the hapless bride from the shower of wheat, the bridesmaids draped a cloth over her head before the "crumbling tradition" took place. Many believe that this simple cloth eventually evolved into the wedding veil of today.
Enter The Middle Ages
By the time the Middle Ages entered the scene, buns or sweet rolls had replaced the wheat cakes, but it was still very customary for wedding guests to bring these tasty treats to the wedding. They were placed in a huge pile between the bride and groom, and if the happy couple was able to kiss over this stack of wheat, it was believed that they would be blessed with many children during their marriage.
Many believe that the next step in the evolution of the traditional cake was performed in the 17th century by a French pastry chef. While on a trip to London he happened to observe this "cake piling" ceremony. Upon his subsequent return to France he coated the stack of buns with sugar, and thereby "cemented" them together into one very tasty art form. This was to become the first rendition of the tiered and frosted wedding cake, and a mere forerunner as to what was to come in the years ahead.
The Classic Style
The classic style of the modern day wedding cake, are you familiar with it? It's the one that has the distinctive design of smaller tiers as the cake builds vertically upward? Did you know that many believe this model was inspired by the spire of the 14th century Saint Bride's church in London? How's that for trivia.
Many of today's valued wedding traditions came from Victorian England. Queen Victoria herself is said to have had a cake that weighed in at 300 lbs. As bakers and confectioners became more skillful and daring, their creations became even more elaborate and daring. When England's Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip were married in 1947, their wedding cake weighed in at a whopping 500 lbs, and was 9 feet tall.
The Version of Today
In today's world the elaborate wedding cake is no longer reserved for the rich and famous. Every couple can share in the tradition of having a wedding cake added to their big day. The wedding cake specialists of today's world have taken their art to towering heights (pardon the pun). Long gone are those bland days when you were limited to a white cake with white frosting. Although a white cake will probably always be the most popular due to its traditional meaning, today's couple is limited only by the limits of their imagination (and budget) when it comes to their wedding cake.
Why The White Color?
White is definitely the color of a wedding, but did you know that there is another reason why the white is the customary color of a wedding cake? Back in Victorian times the finer ingredients of a wedding cake were scarce and hard to come by. If the cake had a white icing, this revealed the fact that only the best and most expensive white sugar was being used. Brown sugar was much more common, and therefore much less expensive. So, the more white the cake, the richer the people.
Be Prepared...Plan Ahead
The most important thing to remember when choosing that special cake for your big day is to not leave it till the last minute. Whether you choose a talented family member, the local baker, or a pastry chef who specializes in these tasty masterpieces, if you plan well in advance you will be able to navigate the difficult waters of whatever obstacles might come your way. Although some bakers require only a minimum notice, many are booked far in advance. It's a shame to have that perfect cake of your imagination be "canned" due to the fact you cannot allocate a baker's time.
What if you have no idea who will be baking your wedding cake? If you don't have a particular baker in mind, you have a bit of homework to do. Shop around and get some recommendations from family and friends. Investigate the yellow pages and the internet as they are both valuable informational resources. If you happen to be surfing the web you will find that many bakers today are posting photos of some of their masterpieces. As a sort of masterpiece gallery, they showcase what they are capable of producing, and this will jog your imagination as to what you would like your own wedding cake to look like.
Don't Forget Your Budget
Be sure to be mindful of your budget before you let your imagination get the best of you. You want your wedding day to be one of celebration, not the day that you started your journey into debt. Many people are surprised at the cost of a wedding cake these days. Keep in mind that you are asking an artisan to create a colorful masterpiece for you, and this can often be reflected in the price that he/she will be asking. The cost of labor is often the largest expense in the creation of a wedding cake, but also keep in mind the simple fact that fondant is more expensive than buttercream.
The next step in the process is to determine the staging of your tasty masterpiece. Be sure to take the wedding cake stand into consideration during your planning. While some cakes are simply placed on flat boards that will not be seen by the general public, others are elaborately displayed on beautiful stands for all to see. Keep in mind the simple fact that actual size of the cake table must be in proportion to the size of your cake. A table that is too small will make the cake look too big, while a table that is too large will make it look like a cupcake. Your cake table will need a beautiful covering to compliment its strategic location at the wedding reception. Oh, don't forget the cake knife and cake server. There needs to be a place on the table for these two items as well.
The Wedding Cake Topper
The wedding cake topper tops off your special wedding cake. The "wedding cake topper" is the simple name for the decoration or figure that sits atop a wedding cake. While it is true that some couples prefer to have the simple elegance of an unadorned cake, many prefer to have that final "crowning touch", the wedding cake topper, added to the upper layer of the cake. Today the simple plastic "bride and groom" of yesteryear has more likely been replaced by the classic porcelain figurine of today.
What types of wedding cake toppers are available today? We are glad you asked. Many different types of figures are available, from the classic poses to figurines depicting some of the potentially "humorous" aspects of the wedding (such as a bride dragging the hapless groom back to the altar). Personalized wedding cake toppers are also popular, while niche toppers such as a marine marriage have their place as well.
The Conclusion
We have so much to say, but there is only so much detail that one can go into in a single article. If you would like to learn more about wedding cakes (and wedding cake toppers to be more specific) please come and visit us on our blog. |
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About the Author:
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