Wedding Cakes

Traditionally, the wedding cake symbolizes good fortune and fertility and it is said to bring good luck to everyone who eats it. The wedding cake should be made with an abundance of good quality ingredients to symbolize a long-lasting, rich, and happy marriage.

Wedding cake was originally a luxury item and a sign of celebration and social status. The bigger the cake, the higher the social standing. Today, the wedding cake is often given centre stage at the reception and is a focal point.

The contemporary wedding cake has grown out of several different ethnic traditions. In ancient Rome, marriages were sealed when the groom smashed a barley cake over the bride’s head to bring good fortune to the couple (luckily tiaras were not fashionable then!) In medieval England, newlyweds smooched over a pile of buns, a successful kiss meant they were guaranteed a prosperous life together.

Unmarried guests sometimes took home a little piece of cake to tuck under their pillow – perhaps this was preferable to eating it! One early British recipe for “Bride’s Pye” mixed cockscombs, lamb testicles, sweetbreads, oysters and (mercifully) plenty of spices. Another version called for boiled calf’s feet.

Wedding cakes come in all kinds of shapes, sizes and style, such as a traditional tiered wedding cake, smaller cakes or individual mini cakes used a guest favours, and towers of decorated cupcakes.

Traditionally wedding cakes were white in colour, usually covered in royal icing or buttercream icing, these days fondant is used most widely, and decorated with a variety of icing designs and edible confection.

The look stuck for a while though now, of course, they are making way for some creative Pinterest-inspired alternatives. Mini doughnuts? A sundae bar? The possibilities are endless.

White (sponge) cake is the most traditional wedding cake flavour, but different flavors of filling can be added between layers. In the Caribbean, our traditional wedding cakes would be made with fruit and laced with rum. Chocolate, carrot, ginger, passion fruit, lemon, red velvet – wedding cake flavours are now boundless and certainly reflect the characters and tastes of the couple.

The tradition of cutting the cake as a couple is as popular as ever. Once the cake has been cut, the groom will feed his bride and then the bride will feed her new husband. This ritual symbolises their commitment to provide for each other, contains the meaning of good luck and fortune and is symbolically the first task that bride and groom perform jointly as husband and wife.

In modern society, the most popular wedding cake is still a traditional stacked cake, comprising layers of tiers – which can be a different flavours – positioned directly on top of each other. Just how those layers are stacked varies vastly and often they are filled with flowers or columns to add visual impact and height. Separators can include jewels, shells, flowers and the like or can be completely separated by using traditional chrome stands or glass pillars and wedding cakes will often stand on a plinth for additional height.

When it comes to cake, our bakers have the ability and talent to fabricate visually appealing, innovative and super tasty creations.

Take a look…