Wedding Cakes
A wedding cake is the traditional cake served to the guests at a wedding reception (or in parts of England, at a wedding breakfast) after a wedding. Throughout the entire Caribbean, it is unheard of not to have the traditional ‘Black Cake’ for your wedding. This is derived from the English Plum Pudding: a rich mixture of blended fruits soaked in wine/rum and baked. End result a rich, moist dark brown cake and this is generally topped with English icing. (Royal icing) This icing holds up well in the Caribbean and is heavily decorated as per the choice of the bride/groom. And no, you do not see the fruits as you would in an American fruit cake.
Tradition generally requires that the first cut of the cake be performed by bride and groom together. An older, archaic tradition had the bride serve all portions to the groom's family as a symbolic transfer of her household labor from her family to the groom's family.
A portion may be stored, and eaten by the couple at their first wedding anniversary, or at the christening of their first child. Sometimes this portion is the top tier, and sometimes a portion of the piece from which the bride and groom fed each other, depending on the local customs. The portion of the cake may be frozen for this purpose; the top tier of the cake may sometimes consist of fruitcake, which could be stored for a great length of time.
If you would like to order one of these traditional cakes for your Barbados wedding, make sure to advise your Tropical Wedding Coordinator today!