Brief History of the Wedding Cake
By Jeff Cisneros, executive summarized by Andromeda
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Going to a wedding reception without a wedding cake is simply unheard of. The wedding cake is an important aspect of the celebration following the wedding ceremony. Guests of weddings expect to see the bride and groom feed each other the cake that symbolizes their new lives together. The history of this delicious concoction is quite long and colorful.
It can be traced as far back as the Roman era, when there were loaves of bread baked of wheat that were used to break over the newly married couple’s head. Of course the Romans did not have elaborate wedding cakes like we see today, they were just simple loaves of bread. This was to ensure the happy couple would have prosperity and luck in their lives together. If it was only broken over the bride’s head, the groom was the one doing the breaking.
The crumbs of the wedding cake were something to be savored as well. Any crumbs that landed on the floor were considered good luck and an indicator of the bride’s fertility by the guests and they scrambled without shame to gobble the remains. This was especially true of any unmarried women attending. Eating these crumbs was thought to ensure that they too would become betrothed.
- The Middle Ages
Guests attending a wedding during this era brought a small cake, usually a biscuit or a scone to the event. The small cakes were piled atop each other and it was the task of the bride and grooms to kiss each other from across the pile of cakes to ensure that they would have good luck in their life together.
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- France in the 17th Century
Icing began making its appearance when French bakers began coating wheat buns with it during the 17th century. This began a new era for wedding cakes. The decoration was now important to the success of a wedding cake and with icing this could be easily accomplished.
- Wedding Cake Traditions of the Past
The wedding cake was a symbol for most and all chose the same white cake with bland white icing because white was a part of the symbol. There were layers of cakes piled upon one another and wedding cakes soon began to resemble the wedding cakes we know and love today.
- Wedding Cakes Today
No longer do brides and grooms have to be satisfied with the old tradition of white cake and icing. Today’s modern soon to be married can choose from a variety of flavors, shapes, colors and designs. A wedding cake can now be a symbol of the life that the newly married couples expect to lead and when it comes to decoration, anything goes. Many young couples are choosing chocolate, meringues, individual cakes, and anything else that tempts their sweet tooth.
Checkout my other guide on Wedding Dresses.