Traditional Wedding Cakes

Traditional British-Style Wedding cakes are perhaps the quintessential wedding cakes, from which most other wedding cake styles are derived. These are, in general, unfilled dark fruitcakes. The richness of the cake reflects a time when refrigeration was unavailable. Dried fruit, sugar, suet, and thick layers of coatings and icings helped the cakes stay fresh for one year, as the top layer would be saved and eaten on the couple’s first anniversary. The cakes are traditionally coated with a layer of jam, then with marzipan, and finally with several coats of royal icing. The jam and marzipan keep the white icing from absorbing oils or moisture from the cake, while protecting the cake itself from moisture loss and staling.