History of Wedding Cakes

The tradition of wedding cakes dates back to Roman times.

A cake of wheat and barley was broken over the brides head to ensure fertility. Wedding guests would then dive in to get a crumb of the cake. The tradition of sharing the wedding cake with guests stems from here.

In Medieval times a mound of buns was presented as a wedding cake which is not so different from the trend of cupcakes we see now as an alternative wedding cake.

One ritual was for the bride and groom to kiss over the top of the cake. If they could do it without knocking the cake over they could expect health and prosperity. This is not something that the bride and groom still do and is just as well. Some of the 6/7 tier cakes designed now would require the bride and groom to be 7ft tall in order for good fortune and well being to come their way!

From the mid 1600s wedding cake design moved towards the cakes we a re familiar with today.

As wedding cakes became more elaborate the time to create them increased leading to cake makers using fruit cake. This enabled the baker to start decorating months in advance of the wedding and  the cake would stay moist and fresh without the need for refrigeration.

The tradition of a white wedding cake dates from before the Victorian era when only the very rich could afford the finest quality sugar needed for pure white icing.

Therefore a pristine white cake was a display of the wealth of the brides family (the father of the bride traditionally paid for the wedding celebration.)

During the second world war sugar was rationed so an alternative was found in the form of a dummy cake decorated with plaster of paris inside which a smaller cake would be cut to serve to at the wedding breakfast.

The official Royal wedding cake for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in 1947 was made by McVitie and Price and stood over 2.5 metres tall. Eleven other cakes were given as presents. The photograph above shows them on display in the Blue Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace.

With post-war food rationing still in place ingredients were sent as wedding presents from overseas. Pieces of cake and food parcels were later distributed to school children and institutions.

The design of wedding cakes has changed enormously since then and gone from traditional, white, three tiered cakes to anything that can be imagined. The choice of flavour, style and size is almost limitless.

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Tags: Bride, Groom, History, Queen, Tradition, White