Holiday Fare - Wedding Cakes

Early Wedding Cakes were large heavy fruit cakes with raisins, citrons, almonds. The white layered cakes we know today came after the middle of the 19th century with the advent of baking powder and refined flour. So in 1840 Queen Victoria had a large one layer fruit cake, but her daughter Victoria, the Princess Royal had a layered and iced white cake in 1859. Recipes for the fruit style "Wedding Cake" continued into the 1900s. The 1877 Buckeye covered all three types: 3 fruited "Wedding Cakes", the white baking powder "Bride's Cake" and the "Groom's Cake" with raisin, citron and almonds. An early white version, a "Bride's or Snow Cake" appeared in an 1859 cookbook, but generally Bride's Cakes continued as fruit cakes in published cookbooks until after 1875.

Wedding Cakes: A cultural History
The Wedding Cake . . . history, customs and traditions
Regency Wedding
Decorate for an 1850 Wedding
Many Victorian links
Bride-Cake poem. 1891
The White Wedding: A Victorian Tradition
Our Pioneer Heritage, Utah. Cakes

Wedding Cake. recipes

The Experienced English Housekeeper, Raffald. 1769
The Frugal Housewife. Child. 1830
The Cook Not Mad. 1831
Rich Plum or Wedding Cake. The Good Housekeeper. Hale. 1839
The Housekeeper's Assistant. 1845
The New England Economical Housekeeper. 1845
Miss Beecher's Domestic Receipt Book. 1850. Raised Wedding Cake
Miss Beecher's Domestic Receipt Book. 1850. Ohio Wedding Cake
Buckeye Cookery. 1877
Miss Parloa's New Cook Book. 1882
Mrs. Lincoln's Boston Cook Book. 1884
La Cuisine Creole. 1885. Rich Wedding Cake, or Black Cake
The Woman Suffrage Cook Book. 1886
The Woman Suffrage Cook Book. 1886. Irish Wedding Cake.
The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. Farmer. 1896
1909 Wedding Cake Recipe. Mrs. Curtis's Cookbook.
The International Jewish Cookbook 1919. Fruit Cake (Wedding Cake)

Bride's Cake. Groom's Cake. Snow Cake. recipes

The Great Western Cook Book. 1857
The Young Housekeeper's Friend. 1859. Snow or Brides Cake.
The Complete Confectioner. 1864.
The Complete Confectioner. 1864. Rich pound-cake; twelfth, or bride-cakes
Jennie June's American Cookery Book. 1870
Buckeye Cookery. 1877
La Cuisine Creole. 1885
White House Cook Book. 1887
The Bride-Cake by Robert Herrick. 1891
The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. 1896
The [LA] Times Cook Book. 1905
Good Things to Eat. 1911
Groom's Cake. Buckeye Cookery. 1877


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