That’s the Way the Wedding Cake Crumbled

Wedding cakes are a tradition that takes us back to ancient Rome. Back then, after the newlywed couple had nibbled at a wheaten cake and offered a bit of it to the gods, the remainder was crumbled over the bride’s head to guarantee many children and a fruitful life.

Over time, one crumbly cake evolved into many thin biscuits. They were still broken over the bride’s head, and guests scrambled for “lucky” crumbs that fell to the floor.

By Elizabethan times, the biscuits had been transformed into rich, dark buns made with sugar, eggs, milk, spices and currants. If the family could afford it, the cakes were covered with marzipan. One bun was crumbled over the bride’s head, some were given to the poor, and the rest were stacked in a high centerpiece on the feast table, over which the couple kissed for luck.

When Puritans took over, the English royal court fled to France--and fell in love with French pastry.

In the mid-17th Century, the Royalists regained power and returned home to England, bringing several French pastry cooks with them. On some obscure wedding day, an inspired French chef frosted all the little fruitcakes with white sugar icing so they would stick together and stand upright in a tiered mound. But tradition still called for dropping the cake on the bride’s head. To save their daughters from a possible concussion, clever mothers began to have two cakes prepared--a large one to be distributed to the guests and a little one to crumble over their darling daughters.

After the American colonies severed ties with England, the cake-crumbling custom faded away, to be replaced by the clearly brilliant concept of cutting it into slices. By the mid-1800s, milling techniques made fine white flour available to the masses, baking powder and baking soda were invented, and a new cake appeared on the scene. The pale-golden, sinfully rich pound cake became the “bride’s cake,” while the spicy, dark fruitcake, liberally laced with rum and coated in marzipan, became the “bridegroom’s cake.”

At first, two separate cakes were presented, a custom that is still the tradition in parts of England and the Commonwealth, especially Bermuda. Eventually, they were combined into one large masterpiece. Pound cake formed the bottom layers, which were sliced and distributed to all attending. The small topmost layer, however, remained an exotic fruitcake, which was removed, placed in a tin and saved until the couple’s first anniversary or the birth of their first child.

Whether the wedding style is old-fashioned or avant-garde, anyway you cut it, the cake is still the high point of the wedding feast. Surrounded by family and friends, the bride and bridegroom ceremoniously feed each other the first piece, just as newly married couples have done since antiquity.

The following three-tiered wedding cake is very traditional: two tiers of luscious, impossibly rich Pound Cake topped with a small Marzipan-coated Golden Fruitcake, all swathed in Butter Cream Icing. The Golden Fruitcake and Pound Cake recipes will make more than enough batter--use the extra batter for cupcakes, or make an extra cake for later. Note that the Butter Cream Icing sets to an almost candy-like glaze, so once it’s set, you won’t be able to smooth over mistakes.

GOLDEN FRUITCAKE

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups sifted flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup crab apple jelly

1/4 cup milk

1/2 pound golden raisins

4 ounces citron, finely diced

2 ounces candied orange peel, finely diced

2 ounces candied lemon peel, finely diced

2 ounces candied cherries, finely diced

2 ounces candied pineapple, finely diced

4 ounces almonds, coarsely chopped

3/4 cup dark rum

Marzipan

Butter Cream Icing

Cut circle of parchment paper to fit bottom of 6-inch springform pan. Grease paper and sides of springform. Set aside.

Cream shortening with brown sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir into egg mixture alternately with jelly and milk. Stir in raisins, citron, orange and lemon peel, cherries, pineapple and almonds.

Fill prepared pan 3/4 full with mixture (use extra batter for cupcakes or small baking pan). Bake on middle oven shelf at 300 degrees until wood tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 1/2 hours. Cover with parchment paper last hour. Cool cake 1/2 hour. Remove from pan and set on wire rack to finish cooling.

When cool, place cake on platter and pierce all over with wooden skewer. Spoon 1/4 cup rum over cake. Set aside several hours, then repeat process 2 more times. Cover cake with tea towel and let stand overnight before topping with Marzipan and Butter Cream Icing. Cut in small-size servings. Makes about 25 servings (including leftover batter), about 15 servings for 6-inch fruitcake.

Marzipan

8 ounces almond paste

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Blend together almond paste and sugar thoroughly. Add enough egg white to obtain texture of modeling clay. Shape mixture into ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Set aside at room temperature. Makes enough to cover 6-inch fruitcake, about 15 servings.

POUND CAKE

1 1/2 pounds butter, softened

3 cups sugar

15 eggs

3 tablespoons vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoons ground mace

6 cups sifted cake flour

Butter Cream Icing

Cut circles of parchment paper to fit bottoms of 1 (10-inch) springform pan and 1 (8-inch) springform pan. Grease paper and sides of springforms. Set aside.

Cream butter well in mixer bowl. Gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 2 at time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla and mace.

Sift flour twice. Gradually add to batter, beating until smooth. Spoon batter into prepared pans and place on middle shelf of oven. Bake at 300 degrees until tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool 10 minutes, then remove from pans and place on wire racks until completely cooled. Wrap in foil or plastic wrap and leave at room temperature overnight.

Before icing, gently rub off “skin” on top and sides of each cake, brushing off loose crumbs, so icing will go on smoothly. Spread with Butter Cream Icing. Makes about 1 (10-inch) and 1 (8-inch) pound cakes, about 40 servings.

Butter Cream Icing

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1/4 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon vanilla

12 cups sifted powdered sugar

Beat together butter, shortening, whipping cream, vanilla and 6 cups powdered sugar in bowl of electric mixer until very smooth. Continue beating while gradually adding remaining 6 cups powdered sugar, until icing is almost consistency of smooth peanut butter. Use as soon as possible, covering with damp paper towel to prevent drying. Makes enough to frost all 3 cakes, about 55 servings.

Instructions for Assembling Three-Tier Wedding Cake

At cake-decorating supply store, purchase 1 (10-inch) icing spatula, 2 sets of 4-inch-high separating columns (4 pieces per set), 1 pair of 8-inch separator plates and 1 pair of 6-inch separator plates.

Step 1: Roll Marzipan between 2 sheets wax paper until large enough to cut into 8-inch circle. Place circle of Marzipan on top of fruitcake.

Step 2: Center 10-inch Pound Cake layer on oversize presentation platter. Place 8-inch Pound Cake layer on 8-inch separator plate. Place Fruitcake on 6-inch separator plate. Leave tiers unassembled until just before presenting cake.

Step 3: Ice each cake layer, using spatula to spread icing thickly on top and sides, being careful to make surface very smooth. Give it final touch by dipping spatula in water and smoothing over iced surface lightly few times (ripples will melt away).

Step 4: Snap-lock 4 separator columns on second 8-inch separator plate. Center and embed plate in 10-inch Pound Cake layer, so columns point up.

Step 5: Snap-lock 4 separator columns on second 6-inch separator plate. Center and embed plate in 8-inch Pound Cake layer, so columns point up.

Step 6: Just before presenting, assemble layers by locking each layer’s separator plate gently on columns of layer beneath. Decorate assembled cake with fresh flowers, which can also be massed in center of each layer to cover up separator plate. Make sure flowers are dry (and nontoxic) before placing on cake.