Cake history

The traditional wedding cake as we know it has been around for hundreds and hundreds of years. Although many variations on the theme have been sprung up since it first became popular; the tiered, white- iced fruit and rum flavored classic has stood the taste test of time. But how did all start?

Use your loaf!
In Antiquity, the very first cakes appeared. They were nothing but thin loaves made of wheat or barley- more like bread. The ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians would bake a bread cake in the shape of a bird or grain, and break it over the brides head as a symbol of her fertility, fruitlessness and good fortune. Guests then scrambled for the pieces of cake hoping to secure good luck for themselves

Oh sugar!
In Anglo Saxon times, sugar made its disappearance in the original wedding loaf, turning it into more of a sweetened bun, it became tradition for guests to bring these little cakes to the wedding and pile them up one on top of the other, as high as they could. The bride and groom could attempt to kiss one another over the tower without knocking it down, if they were successful, it meant a lifetime of prosperity.

Something’s up
From there the birth of the tiered wedding cake as we know it is somehow uncertain. The story goes that in the 1660s , during the reign of king Charles 11, a French chef was visiting London and observed the cake piling ceremony. Appalled at th haphazard manner in which the British stacked baked goods, often to have them tumble , he conceived the idea of transforming the mountain of bland biscuits into an iced, multi-tiered cake sensation. British papers of the day are supposed to have deplored the French excess, but before the close of the century, British bakers were offering the very same magnificent creations.

The icing on the cake
On we go with Renaissance as edible centerpieces (known as sublities) became popular. These centerpieces grew to extravagant heights amid the general extravagance of the edge. It became customary to build the wedding cake as a palace, iced with white sugar to symbolize purity, and replete with figures of the new “Lord and Lady of the Manor, ”miniature gardens and horses
Whiter than white

Purity was not the only reason white icing was all the rage; it was also a sure way to tell everybody you had more than a few pennies. White icing had to be made using only the most refined white sugar –a very expensive ingredient at the time; so the whiter the cake, the wealthier the brides family had to be.
Sweet dreams

As the modern age dawned with the 1700’s it became tradition to box up small pieces of cake for the maids and bachelors to take home and put under their own pillows. Before going to sleep a prayer was said, which, with the aid of God, the saints, angels or Venus, would allow the sleeping person to dream of their future marriage partner, Being by then a “civilized” Christian culture, no one openly called it a spell, but now we can safely say that’s exactly what it was!

A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
Cake preparation bliss - from serving to preserving.It’s time to get creative….today, professional cake decorators can do almost everything under the sun, the sky- and your imagination – is the limit!!! With such a wide scope of options, choosing a wedding cake can be a daunting (but delicious) prospect, Inspiration for colors and styles is easy to find if you do your research. Start by flicking through this magazine and cutting out pictures of the cakes you like, and noting your favorite cake decorators.

LOOKING FOR MR.RIGHT
You may be lucky enough to find your dream cake in a magazine or a cake decorator’s show room, if it isn’t the case though, don’t despair!! Collect cut outs or take a photo of different ideas that take your fancy-an icing texture or color from here, a beautiful decoration from there. Just combine all these ideas and you’ll have Mr. Right!!

WANTED NOTICE
Design ideas are not enough though. To turn your culinary dreams into reality, you need to find a professional cake decorator,If you fell in love with a specific cake in a magazine or at a cake designer’s show room, choosing your cake designer might be as simple as a phone call. Just ring this person up and arrange an appointment. Even if your dream design was created by an interstate or overseas decorator, you may be able to arrange to have it couriered to you before the wedding.If you have yet to decide on a cake design, call three or four designers whose work you like to arrange an appointment. Take with you pictures of cakes you like, swatches of your dress fabric and samples of your flowers so the cake decorator grasps the theme of your wedding.

IN GOOD HANDS
When making your final decision, it’s important to choose a cake designer with whom you feel comfortable, who listens to you and your ideas but offers his or her own suggestions and ideas. You need to feel that you can say what you like or dislike so that together you can come up with a gorgeous edible masterpiece.

MONEY MATTERS
Now that you have found your dream design find the dream designer to go with it, it is time to talk about a wedding biggie-your budget. Your cake can cost anything from 200$-2000$. The cake size will determine the basic cost –the more guests you will have, the more slices you will need; and the bigger the cake the bigger the price tag, if you want to serve your cake as desert the slices will need to be bigger than if served with coffee; so you’ll need a bigger cake!Adding tiers to your cake adds to the value, and as do unusual shapes such as hearts or hexagons , intricately hand crafted decorations such as sugar flowers, iced embroidery lace-work and icing sculptures will look stunning, but also add more to the bill. Hand painted cakes will also be more costly due to the time and skill required to create them.

TAKING THE PLUNGE
Cake decorators suggest you order your cake at least 12 to 16 weeks prior to your wedding, if your wedding is at a peak time like march or October. This allows your us to book you into our baking schedule and make time- consuming decorations.

SIZE IT UP
The size of your wedding cake will depend upon the number of your guests at the reception, the size of the slices you’ll serve, and whether you are keeping the top tier. Most cake decorators like us are experienced in determining how much cake you will need, and can design a wedding cake that will serve up to 500 guests. If you want to have your cake and eat it too we can design a showpiece cake and bake an undecorated and less expensive one to serve your guests

SPOILT FOR CHOICE
While around half of modern couples still go for the traditional fruitcake flavoured wedding cake , the options are many and mouth watering …flavours include dark or white chocolate, hazelnut torte, carrot, banana, tiramisu, orange-poppy seed, strawberry, coffee and hazelnut. Your choices really are endless. Talk to your cake decorator about alternate tiers- you could have one slab or mud cake, continental the next, and perhaps a vanilla cake on top

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY
The way your wedding cake tastes is just as important as the way it looks, so it is best to sample the cake before you confirm decorator. When you make appointments, tell the decorators you’d like to sample a few of their cake flavors. Most cake decorating businesses will offer a selection for you to taste, Some decorators may charge a small fee.