Wedding Cake

Cutting your wedding cake is an important part of the wedding reception, although I think just having the cake as a centerpiece to the room is the most impressive part it plays. As guests come in to the reception area the wedding cake is often the first thing that catches their eye.

The first wedding cakes were made of wheat to symbolize fertility. Later loaves of wheat bread were broken over the bride's head, usually by the groom, and guests were encouraged to eat the crumbs that fell for good luck.

Later wedding cakes were made of wheat buns secured into a small tree formation and stuck together with sugary syrup. This led to some very messy traditions. Thankfully, a french chef finally organized it all by putting all of these little cakes together into a larger and better tasting wedding cake (at least that's what the french say).

Today, couples cut a slice before anyone else and feed it to each other, symbolizing the support they'll provide through their many years together. But the cakes themselves have become showpieces. You can have cakes made in a wild variety of shapes and sizes.

Some couples return to more traditional times by having small cakes made up for each guest. As in all things there are cycles.

There are many ways to prepare a cake for your wedding. Do you want one large cake for everybody? Or perhaps a smaller two tier cake and either sheet cakes or individual cakes for the guests. I've even see cupcake trees used to make a cake structure but then make it easy to come by and pick a cake for themselves.

Normally, a couple will order at least a two tier cake, keeping the top layer to eat on their first wedding anniversary. Three tiers are traditional.

At Queen Victoria's wedding in 1840, white icing was used to decorate her cake and it has been known as royal icing ever since. The white icing was originally a sign of an affluent family because of the refining needed for white sugar, but since Victoria's time it has become a symbol of purity.

A second fruit cake, known as a grooms cake, may also be ordered. The groom's cake is a smaller cake that is served at the wedding  reception. Young women (unmarried) traditionally take a piece of the groom's cake home to place under their pillows. The old wive's tale says "they will marry whomever they dream of that night."

No matter what color you order, the parts of the cake will be the cake, the filling, the icing, the decorating, and the topper.

The cake

The cake is the floured portion of the cake and is the platform for everything else. Typical types would be white, yellow, chocolate, vanilla, marble, carrot, spice, and lemon.

Cakes that do not contain fat include sponge, biscuit, roulades, genoise, chiffon, angel food, meringue, and dacquoise and are often referred to as foam cakes. These have a high proportion of eggs to flour and they are leavened solely by the air beaten into whole eggs or egg whites.

There are three categories of foam cakes.

Those with no fat:

• angel food
• dacquoise
• meringues

Those where the only fat is from egg yolks:

• sponge
• roulaides
• and some biscuit

Those that contain fat like either butter or shortening plus egg yolks:

• genoise
• chiffons

More fun are the butter or shortened cakes, also called creamed cakes, contain butter, margarine or vegetable shortening, which make a finely textured, tender, and moist cake. 

Fillings

Filling are what provide much of the taste and creaminess of the cake, especially if you choose a fondant icing.

Some of the richest are mousses, which start with a ganache. Fflavors are added that give them both a creamy texture as well as a wonderful flavor. A basic ganache is made by pouring boiled heavy cream over chopped chocolate and then stirred until  velvety smooth.  Dark, milk , or white chocolate is used to make a basic ganache and then different flavorings such as liqueurs and extracts are added for more flavor.  Butter , oil, or corn syrup can also be added when a dark shiny glaze is desired. Ganache also keeps well, in case the cake is to set out for a while.

Other fillings include: bavarian cream, lemon curd, fresh fruit, chocolate ganache, fruit marmalade, cream cheese, chocolate fudge, and tiramisu.

Icings

Fillings and icings (or frostings) may be the same, but often fillings don't have the stiffness to stay on a vertical surface like the side of a cake. Types of icings include butter cream, whipped cream, chocolate ganache, and rolled fondant, and the traditional royal icing.

Fondant and royal icing make a smooth surface for decorating, but don't have much flavor.

Buttercream is that rich, textured, swirling icing. Just because it's called buttercream doesn't mean the fat is butter. Shortening may be used instead of butter, especially if the cake is being served in hot weather. Shortening melts at a higher temperature than butter and may save an outside wedding reception from a real meltdown.

If a bakery does use shortening ask about the type and a for a sample. Crisco is regarded as the best. Warehouse shortening brands may leave an off taste or texture to the icing.

Butter cream icings are rich and creamy, but they may overwhelm a foam cake.

Ganache can be used as both a creamy filling and an icing, the ratio of cream to chocolate is modified to change the stiffness.

Decorations

The decorations are the time consuming part of making a cake. Fondant, royal icing, gum paste flowers and bows, chocolate roses, marizpan, fruits, edible flowers, and fruit may be used to decorate cakes.

Some decorations may be purchased and added to the cake but many bakers are true artists as they shape figures to add to the cake.

Fondant and gum paste are sugar products that can be shaped, painted (with food colorings) and attached to create intricate sculptures like orchids and roses. They are mostly sugar, water, and air so they add little to the flavor of the cake.

Cake Toppers

Some speculate that cake toppers came to replace the English tradition of stacking small wedding cakes and having the new couple stretch over the top of them and kiss. Traditional cake toppers were small sculptures of a bride and groom that sat on top of the cake

While toppers initially represented the couple in a variety of poses, the growth in the wedding industry means that almost any topic is available today, including motorcycle riders, cowboys, and cute animals.

Small cake toppers can also be found that go on individual cakes for wedding guests.

The traditional cake is three tiered. The bottom tier is served immediately after cutting.

The middle tier was given away as gifts.

The top tier was frozen and served at the first child's christening. Since many couples now wait to have children the top is traditionally eaten at the first anniversary. You can slightly freeze the cake, then seal the cake well and remove as much air as is possible before completely freezing.

Here are a few tips on buying your cake.

1. Order the most beautiful two layered bridal cake you can afford. The bottom layer can be cut formally for photos and eaten traditionally by the bride and grown at the reception. You can save the smaller top tier for your freezer to be eaten by the bride and grown on their first anniversary.
   
2. Money can be saved by ordering a sheet cake or two for your guests. Most caterers will be glad to cut up the sheet cakes in the kitchen for you and will serve it on small plates or put the plates with cake on them out on a table along with the coffee service.
   
   Grocery stores also make delicious sheet cakes for much less than you would be charged at a regular bakery. Sometimes weddings are non-traditional and even have bakeries prepare a variety of small trays of sweets including lemon bars, brownies, petit fours and cookies, leaving the smaller cake for the bride and groom.
   
3. Try decorating the smaller bridal cakes with luscious fresh fruits and flowers to make an elaborate look for less.
   
4. Different cultures have different wedding cake traditions. Italian wedding cake is white and creamy, while traditional Greek wedding cake is a fruit cake. By using your family heritage you can create an international delight that will thrill all in attendance.
   
5. Use a cake topper that is significant to you, for instance your parent's old cake topper or perhaps the first gift the grown ever gave the bride. You can have fun with this and be original.
   
6. Order early and taste test the cake you order. Reputable bakeries allow for tasting.
   
7. If you choose an elaborate many tiered cake you will need it set up on a table prior to the reception. Some bakeries provide this service some don't so ask early and plan appropriately.