Your wedding cake - make it a mouth-watering culinary masterpiece
No marriage celebration is complete without a wedding cake at the centre of the feast - whether you're considering chocolate, carrot or traditional fruit, we'll help you choose the perfect cake.
Throughout history, the wedding cake has had a symbolic role in the celebrations - with the wheat ingredient generally symbolising fertility for the couple. Centuries ago, cake was broken over the bride's head and smaller cakes given out to the wedding guests.
A wedding cake to suit all tastes
Today, the French still distribute smaller cakes to guests, in the form of the croquemboch - a pyramid of custard-filled pastries with a sticky almond base, often bound by spun sugar and filled with sugar almonds for good luck. This stylish version of the wedding cake has recently become fashionable at South African weddings.
Although some cultures have adapted the traditional wedding cake, every country in the world has some form of wedding cake on offer - from the slice of bean paste cake sent to Chinese wedding guests with their invitations, to the British fruit cake with marzipan and icing - there's a wedding cake tradition in every nation. The French first introduced the idea of icing the wedding cake and the South Africans have generally tended to add sugar flowers, figurines and intricate lacework to the icing on the top.
Recent trends however, have seen the emergence of the modern wedding cake - the rich, liqueur-soaked torte (the Italian way) with sheets of rich chocolate for example, or the carrot or coffee cake, if that is a favourite of the bride or groom. There are no rules for choosing your wedding cake; a strawberry pavlova or ice cream cake are also good options for the hot South African climate, and can double as a dessert too.
If you still want a good old fashioned wedding cake on your special day, then have a tiered wedding cake and make the bottom tier a fruit cake. In this way, you can keep the bottom tier for your first child's christening, still a popular tradition.
The tiered cake emerged as a two-layer tradition - the heavier bottom one for the groom and the lighter top one for the bride. Indonesians rarely have fewer than six layers as they believe that the higher the cake, the more prosperous the marriage (something to consider!)
Icing options
Not everyone is a fan of marzipan, and some may prefer butter icing on their wedding cake. Just be aware that marzipan is often necessary for the icing to stick to a fruit cake, so if you want to leave it out, a sponge cake is the way to go.
Decorating the wedding cake
Your wedding cake should reflect your catering and décor theme and is also a reflection of your personal taste. You can be as ornate as you like, or keep it really simple. Fresh flowers are a beautiful alternative; just keep them cool so they don't wilt all over the cake. Decorations don't have to be all plastic horseshoes and turtle doves. You can also opt for a fun decoration that says something about you - like a Mickey and Minnie Mouse couple if you're a fan and planning to honeymoon in Disneyworld, or a basketball or soccer player figure in the act of shooting if that is your favourite game.
So go big and have a wedding cake so gorgeous your guests will be salivating through the speeches. The only rule is to make sure there's enough to go round! For a magnificent selection of wedding cakes to suit every taste and theme, go to www.celebration.co.za
Today, the French still distribute smaller cakes to guests, in the form of the croquemboch - a pyramid of custard-filled pastries with a sticky almond base, often bound by spun sugar and filled with sugar almonds for good luck. This stylish version of the wedding cake has recently become fashionable at South African weddings.
Recent trends however, have seen the emergence of the modern wedding cake - the rich, liqueur-soaked torte (the Italian way) with sheets of rich chocolate for example, or the carrot or coffee cake, if that is a favourite of the bride or groom. There are no rules for choosing your wedding cake; a strawberry pavlova or ice cream cake are also good options for the hot South African climate, and can double as a dessert too.
Your wedding cake should reflect your catering and décor theme and is also a reflection of your personal taste. You can be as ornate as you like, or keep it really simple. Fresh flowers are a beautiful alternative; just keep them cool so they don't wilt all over the cake. Decorations don't have to be all plastic horseshoes and turtle doves. You can also opt for a fun decoration that says something about you - like a Mickey and Minnie Mouse couple if you're a fan and planning to honeymoon in Disneyworld, or a basketball or soccer player figure in the act of shooting if that is your favourite game.
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