Wedding Cake Styles

Wedding cake is not only the main centerpiece of the wedding but they represent the happiness of the newly wed couple. Wedding planning not only involves wedding reception planning but one also has to decide the wedding cake style. You have so many new, elaborate wedding cake ideas that one tends to get confused! Do you know the history behind wedding cakes?

History of Wedding Cakes
In ancient Roman empire, before icing was invented, a loaf of barley bread was baked for the wedding. The groom would have a piece of the bread and break the remaining piece over the bride's head, symbolizing dominance over his wife.

A stack of small sweet buns in a large pile was kept in front of the newly weds in medieval England. The couple was asked to kiss each other over this pile. If they were successful in kissing, it symbolized that the couple would be blessed with many children.

The bride's pie was a regular feature in weddings in the early 19th century. It was a regular mutton pie with a glass ring hidden inside. It was an old saying that the lady who finds the ring would be the next bride.

The late 19th century saw wedding cakes taking over the bride's pie. Initially known as the bride's cake, they were simple, single tiered plum cakes. Eventually, the wedding cakes started to evolve into various wedding cake designs and have reached the elaborate wedding cake styles of today.

The old tradition of early American wedding ceremonies was the groom's cake. This cake was usually dark in color and was thought to be served by the groom to the bridesmaid with a glass of wine. Another folk story says the groom's cake was supposed to be saved and it had to be eaten with friends after the honeymoon. Though this ceremony is not widely observed, it is still seen in some of the southern American states.

So now that you know how this wedding tradition of cutting the cake came into existence, let us concentrate on the various wedding cake styles.

• Traditional Wedding Cake: The traditional wedding cake is the most popular wedding cake style. It is generally a tiered cake separated with pillars and covered with royal or fondant icing. The cake is decorated with a miniature replica of the bride and groom. Simple flowers are also used for cake decorations.
  
• Contemporary Style: This wedding cake style is a stacked cake with tiers placed on top of the other. This cake is decorated with fresh flowers or edible sugar flowers. The flowers are usually designed like the flowers on the wedding gown.
  
• Cascade Style: The cascade wedding cake style consist of pedestals. These pedestals vary in size from large to small. The wedding cake design can be oval or round or square. The symmetry and the pyramidal shape of these cakes give an aesthetic look to the wedding cake design. The cakes can be of varied designs, colors and flavors.
  
• Artistic: You can let your imagination run wild when deciding the shape and look of your wedding cake design. The cakes reflect the personal thoughts of the newly weds.

Wedding Cake Recipes and Icing
Use your creativity in choosing the different delicious wedding cake recipes and icing to make your wedding cake special. You can choose from cappuccino flavoring, lemon, lime or orange flavored cakes. You can try different variety of the popular flavor chocolate with almonds, cashews, fruits and walnuts. The Mexican chocolate cake, double fudge devil's cake and German chocolate cake are few of the delicious wedding cake flavors. There are many interesting and uncommon flavors like carrot, spice, vanilla, banana, pumpkin, apple, marble, coconut and red marble. Pick an unique flavor for your wedding cake that has an edge over the traditional cakes.

Other wedding cake recipes to entice the taste buds of the wedding guests include Cassata, fresh strawberry cake, Italian cream cake, orange marmalade and lemon cake, pineapple cake and raspberry liqueur cake.

The wedding cake recipes for unique icing flavors include butter cream, whipped cream, fondant, marzipan, spun sugar and pastillage. Ganache is another such unique icing flavor that is made from a combination of chocolate and heavy cream. It is poured over the cakes for a glass-like chocolate finish. You should decide about the wedding cake design, colors and flavors with the wedding cake baker and come up with a cake that's unique and one of a kind.

You can brainstorm with the baker and come up with beautiful, mesmerizing wedding cake designs. You should place the wedding cake order well in advance and have the order and details regarding the wedding cake style written on paper by the baker or wedding cake supplier. The order should also include the date, time and place of delivery, amount of payment and other delivery instructions. Ask your baker to provide you with a mini replica of the cake before finalizing the order for the 'big day'. Go ahead and have a slice of fun and excitement with your wedding cake!