Written by Andrea. Published on Sep 30th 2009.
So you're getting married and you've booked your venue and decided on a theme or colour scheme. Now comes the fun part of trying cakes! Have a look through some of these for some inspiration.
The tradition behind the wedding cake dates back to Roman times where the groom would eat part of a baked bread and then break part of it over the brides head signifying the end of her virginal state and the start of the grooms dominance over her. I can understand why this tradition hasn't lasted. This has evolved over the years and thankfully now we get to have lovely iced sponges or elaborate cupcake creations instead of having bread crumbs all over our neatly coiffured hair.
Well gone are the days of plain white fruit cakes with the odd sugar flower or ribbon now you can have anything from your wildest dreams. My sister was at a wedding recently where the cake was a country landscape with the bride at the top of a mountain and the groom scaling the side to get to her while overlooking a lake. Now that's some imagination!
As for cake type you can have anything from carrot cake to cupcakes, individual white chocolate mousse creations to a traditional 4 tier white fruit with tartan ribbon the world is your oyster. We weren't huge fans of fruit cake but seeing as we had a lot of older family coming and know that my great aunt would love to take a piece home in her purse we had a bottom layer of fruit so it might be worth asking around to see what your guests might like.
There are so many wonderful bakers out there who will create whatever your heart desires and as long as you follow the general rules about which layer to have at the bottom (ie fruit as it's too heavy to go ontop of sponge) then you can't really go wrong.
Or do you have a great aunty who makes those cakes for special occasions? Are you a dab hand at making gorgeous cupcakes and could make them yourself? Worth looking into if you are a budget conscious bride or are just keen on making things yourself. Also for the budget bride it might be a good idea to look at a cake from M&S or even a supermarket like Asda as they do really nice cakes for very reasonable prices and they are super tasty too.
Check with your venue first if they have a cake stand for you to use and make sure you take a note of the shape before you order your cake if you want something specifically to fit. Most bakers give the choice of layers as Lemon, plain victoria sponge, chocolate or fruit. Some are more adventurous and offer carrot cake or other flavoured sponge. We went with three different layers consisting of fruit, chocolate and plain sponge as I simply couldn't choose! I had a pretty traditional plain cake with a few little pearls to tie in with my theme. I added my own little rebellion against tradition and had a slightly cheeky cake topper but then it was only us who knew. heehee
Ooooh, cheeky!
Tier size is also something that you will need to decide on with this usually depending on your guest numbers. No point in having a 5 tier wedding cake for a wedding party of 50 guests! Unless you want them to go home with a slab in their purse. If you want the look of a 5 tier cake but not necessarily need that amount of cake you could always use a fake layer. I know this sounds a bit odd but most cakes can be built using a fake, (usually polystyrene), layer to help create a larger cake without having masses of cake leftover.
Another way of creating a larger cake is to have each layer separated by pillars. This creates the illusion of a larger style but without the excess cake and the spaces in between could even be beautifully filled in with fresh flowers. You can also separate the cake using a special cake stand that splits up the layers usually into three sections. This can create a dramatic look and great focal point if that's what you are looking for from your cake.
Cupcakes are becoming more and more popular with individual cupcakes for each guest being placed in a cupcake holder, or circular shaped base with many layers to create the shape of a traditional cake. Sometimes the top layer will be a small round traditional fruit or sponge cake for the bride and groom to cut.
Some say that your choice of wedding cake says a lot about you, for example having a chocolate fountain laden with fresh fruit and marshmallows to dip into said fountain instead of cake would make you young and hip if a little daring. (kids plus melted chocolate plus expensive wedding wear do not make a great combination) Having cupcakes makes you a little quirky and possibly seeing as it was supposed to be last years "thing possibly a little dated (I don't agree with this personally I think they are adorable whether it was last years fad or not). You could have your favourite rice crispy treat made in the shape of a 3 tier wedding cake, have a cake made up entirely of crispy creme donuts or even the traditional French Croquembouche (little choux pastry balls filled with cream, stacked in a pyramid shape and stuck with caramel or chocolate mmmmm)
Now onto the cake topper. This used to be an easy decision as there wasn't much choice, you had a bride and a groom standing next to each other and that was pretty much it. Now you can have personalised ones that look like you and your groom down to your wedding outfits. There are funny ones with the groom stepping on the brides dress, him helping her up from the second tier, her holding the keys to his ball and chain and my favourite the bride pinching the grooms bottom. So if you are having a plain cake why not jazz it up a little with a cake topper that's personal to you.
On the big day your cake should be placed near the top table during the meal with the announcement of the 'cutting of the cake' after the meal signifying the end of the wedding breakfast or for us the start of the disco dancing :)
When cutting the cake the right hand of the groom goes over the right hand of the bride and if you have a fake layer remember not to cut into this ;) Some people use a sword to cut the cake although I'm sure I read that it was unlucky to draw a sword indoors but if you aren't superstitious then I think it looks great. If you do have a Croquembouche the tradition is to whack it around the middle with a sword to shatter it while the bridesmaids stand behind and catch the falling bits in their dresses (although again might not be a tradition for everyone).
Another tradition is to keep the top tier of the wedding cake to be used at the christening of the the couples first born however this has slowly been dying out and more regularly it will be used to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. We have some of our fruit layer in the cupboard, gave a lot away to family/friends who couldn't be at the wedding and have various slices of the sponge in the freezer for special occasions or just days where I really want cake :) Either way I'd say that no matter what size cake you get and how well you judge how many guests you have you will always be taking some leftover cake home for whatever tradition you wish to follow.
Hand picked items you may be interested in.
