Three Cakes

• The Victorian period lasted from about 1837 until 1901, the years of Queen Victoria’s reign. Over that 63 years, cake fashions inevitably changed. During the early Victorian era, weddings generally sported three cakes: one for the bride, one for the groom and the main elaborate cake. This main cake was usually a dark fruitcake covered with white frosting scrolls and orange blossoms. The bride’s cake was a white cake, the groom’s was dark. As milling processes brought down the price of fine flour, different types of cake replaced the traditional fruitcake.

Wedding Charms

• Victorian brides hid charms on ribbons between the layers of their wedding cakes. Guests would find tiny spinning wheels, rocking horses, anchors, cupids, keys, bibles and other objects in their cake slices. Later in the Victorian period this tradition fell out of favor, as it soiled many a glove with frosting. This tradition is making a comeback, with some retro-inspired modern bakers slipping keepsake charms into wedding cakes.

Case Study: Queen Victoria’s Cake

• Queen Victoria’s cake could, of course, be considered a classic example of a Victorian cake. While it measured only 14 inches high, her rose-covered cake was nine feet wide and weighed more than 300 pounds. Queen Victoria also had some auxiliary cakes, as every relative and VIP would expect a piece. Her cake had amazing staying power; in 2007, a mummified piece from her 1840 wedding cake went on display at Windsor Castle.

Case Study: Admiral Markham’s Cake

• Later in the Victorian period, wedding cakes grew remarkably high, sometimes reaching seven feet in elevation. At five feet high, Rear Admiral A.H. Markham’s cake was not the tallest, but it was one of the more distinctive. The admiral had served on the 1875-1876 Arctic expedition and wanted his wedding cake to reflect this accomplishment. Atop the cake, a model made of sugar depicted the H.M.S. Alert, lodged in an iceberg. Nautical symbols such as anchors, boats and life buoys circled the cake. Admiral Markham painstakingly designed it himself.