The Wedding Cake

Hi everyone!! I hope everyone's Wednesday is going well and is cool, it is a scorcher over here in New Jersey! So as you all know from recent posts we are new to this whole blogging world and posting blogs... but today we came across the best blog from Hot Pink Brides about "The Wedding Cake" and the evolution and history of wedding cakes and we just had to share it with everyone! Having just recently orchestrated our very own ASE wedding for team member Carly, we instantly thought of her beautiful wedding cake which was designed and baked by Celebrity Cake Baker Wendy Kromer (seem familar? yes, she is the one who is featured in all of the Martha Stewart magazines!). So, ASE thought it would be fitting if we also paid tribute to the blog and share it with our followers as well! So i hope everyone enjoys a little slice of history on the wedding cake ;) ! xox ASE


The Evolution of the Wedding Cake

The history of the wedding cake goes as far back as the Roman Empire. Did you know that they use to break the cake over the brides head?? The groom would eat part of the loaf of bread baked especially for the wedding and break the rest over his bride. It was suppose to symbolized the breaking of the bride’s virginal state. Ummm I think I am glad that tradition did not make it to today’s date but, that is why today we see the bride and groom smashing cake in each others face.

In Medieval Europe cakes were described as breads with some sweetening. There are stories of a custom involving stacking small sweet buns in a large pile in front of the newlyweds and the couple would attempt to kiss over the pile. This is where the stacking of the cream puffs in a pile like the modern day french wedding cake came from. It was said if the bride and groom could successfully kiss over the pile they would produce many children.

From the 17th century to the 19th century there was a pie called the “brides” pie. The pie was filled with sweet bread or a simple mutton pie. The main ingredient was a ring made out of glass. They claimed that the lady who found the ring while eating the pie would be the next to be married. It is said that over time this custom has changed and formed into today’s version of the lady who catches the bouquet is the next to be married.

But why where wedding cakes always white?? The symbolism attached to the color white meaning “purity” is the reason that from the beginning using bread until today the preferred wedding cake color is still white. Since the wedding cake was originally called the “brides” cake a white cake was a symbol of the brides purity. This not only highlighted the bride as the main figure of the wedding, but also created a link visually between the bride and the cake. In 2010 81% of wedding cakes in the USA used white icing!


So why do we save the top layer of the wedding cake??? This one I found the most interesting so apparently most people got pregnant and had a baby about 10 to 11 months after they got married. So somewhere around the early 20th century when the multi tiered wedding cake started to become popular instead of having a grand cake for your wedding and an elaborate cake for your child’s christening they would save the top layer of the wedding cake to serve at the christening.


(Wendy Robinson photography photo credits)