When various traditions gain international popularity and travel across the globe, they are subject to various regional and local adaptations and influences. Same is true for the wedding cake custom. So let’s take a glance at various regional and traditional practices of serving this pleasant and scrumptious delight.
The idea of wedding cake has been adapted from Europe and America in Japanese weddings. However, in view of high costs involved in multi tiered and an elaborate wedding cake, at times an artificial/false wedding cake made of plastic or wax is displayed and cut in front of the guests but later on more affordable sheet cakes are served to the guests. Fresh whipped cream/cheese cakes either single or multilayered combined with strawberries and fresh fruits are often served at important Japanese celebrations. As for a wedding cake topper, Japanese brides opt for themes more closer to nature such as small miniature waterfalls, gardens, ponds, rocks, bridges placed on top of a small wedding cake to enhance its grace and beauty.
Layered sponge cake covered with whipped cream is a popular treat in Korea. For some Korean families such a cake would be too sweet so they prefer a ground steamed rice cake over laid with red bean powder. As a symbol of sharing, the Korean couple might share three spoons of rice instead of a wedding cake. As a symbol of union of two souls they might pour out a rice liquor such as sake into two cups.
Chinese have an interesting ritual with respect to the wedding cakes. In China, wedding cakes are presented as a gift to bride’s family from groom’s family as a part of wedding proposal. This cake is divided and distributed among family members and friends after dedicating a portion of the cake to their ancestor worship which is thought to be a vital part of their tradition. These cakes are called Happiness cakes and such a cake often has an imprint of a dragon and phoenix on their surface so they are also called as "Dragon & Phoenix Cakes". Such cakes are of different varieties depending on respective fillings used in the cake e.g. lotus seed paste, red bean paste or green bean paste filling.
Instead of cakes, well-decorated hard boiled eggs are served where eggs symbolize fertility.
The tradition of sharing wedding cake among local villagers was introduced by Julius Caesar. Till today, the British takes pride in serving an elaborate, grand and multitier wedding cake at their weddings. This elegant looking tiered fancy fruit cake is often covered in white marzipan. Fruits such as raisins, currents, dates, prunes and orange rinds soaked in sherry, wine or rum makes a very rich and moist cake and also serves as a preservatives. Other popular frostings used in UK are brandy butter and fondant. Some eager to follow the old wedding traditions make sure not to consume the first top layer of cake until the birth of their first child or until the first wedding anniversary.
As in UK, layered fruit cakes are popular wedding cakes in Ireland and Scotland as well. Use of bourbon, brandy, whiskey along with almond paste is famous dressing for the cake.
Wedding cakes in Carribean islands is also a fruitcake similar to the one in UK. Unlike all the wedding custom discussed so far, one source revealed an interesting fact about the Carribean wedding and that is that the wedding cakes are hidden under the table cloth and the guests have to pay the price to the newlywed couple in order to peek into the tasty and taste the cake. Same custom is followed also in West Indies.
What is interesting about the wedding cake toppers in Bermuda is that they have a small cedar sapling which is planted after the end of ceremony and is a representative of couple’s growing love.
A so called genoise sponge cake rich in nuts iced with liquerur or syrup fondant or ganache having various fillings as such as jam, marzipan, or nougat is served in wedding in Germany.
First wedding cake was the creation of a French baker who named it as croquembouche. Croquembouche is a tiered tower made up of cream filled pastries coated with caramel which remains to be the highlight of French weddings.
Only some parts of Italy serve wedding cakes in their weddings. The cake is called as mille-foglia. It is formed of light multiple layers of pastry, chocolate and vanilla creams with strawberries as a topping.
Lithuanians have a special cake known as the tree cake. This tree cake are also known as raguolis (meaning spiked) or sakotis (meaning branched). It is made of a cookie-like pastry and is of a tree shape. It can be 16-36 inches or more in length. It is made through a special technique in which a rotating rod is used and it results in a layered cake giving it an appearance similar to the cross-sections of a tree trunk and has many protruding spikes on its surface. It is decorated with flowers on its top. It can be served alone or with fresh fruit or with chocolate syrup.
In Ukraine a bread-like dessert called as Korovai is served and is thought to be a sacred part of a wedding feast. It is often decorated with well-meaning symbols representing the coming together of two families.
In Norwegian weddings, the guests are served with special traditional pastries which are known as Brudlaupskling. It is made of special bread covered with a mixture of cheese, cream and syrup which is rolled up and then cut into pieces.
The Danish wedding cake is called as cornucopia cake. It is a rich marzipan cake made up of fresh fruit, candy, almonds and marzipan and is decorated with sugar on outside. I found two very interesting facts about Danish weddings. During the wedding celebrations, all the male and female guests get the chance to kiss the bride and the groom in the absence of their future mate of the couple. And the second interesting ritual is the gathering of all the guests around the groom to cut his tie and socks.
The wedding cakes in Icelandic weddings is called as Kransekake, or ring cake. It has an interesting appearance much like a stacking ring toy which is hollow from inside. Rings of almond pastry are stacked one by one on each other in the order of decreasing diameter, much like an Egyptian pyramids. It has a marzipan coating. The middle hollow part is used to place various sweets, chocolates or a bottle of wine.
There are different kinds of wedding cakes which are served to the guests at the Greek weddings. The traditional cake is made up of honey, sesame seed and quince which represent the enduring commitment between the bride and the groom. In some parts of Greece, bread made up of sourdough decorated with beads and blossoms is served. In Modern Greek weddings, a flourless almond cake filled with fruit and vanilla/custard and decorated with sliced almonds is popular. Guests are also served with candy coated almonds, called koufeta.
Greeks normally have long wedding celebrations sometimes lasting the whole night. The bride might carry Ivy as the symbol of love. Bride and groom are treated as the King and queen on the special day in their lives. Dishes are smashed as a sign of good luck.
