Marzipan, fondant, gum paste, buttercream, and chocolate are among some of the more popular ingredients used. Along with ranging in size and components, cakes range in price. Cakes are usually priced on a per-person, or per-slice, basis. Prices usually range from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars per-person or slice, depending on the Pastry Chef hired to make the cake.

Wedding cakes have been present at wedding ceremonies for centuries. They were not always the focus of the event and often came in different forms, like pies or bread. There has always been a lot of symbolism associated with the wedding cake. The earliest known sweet wedding cake is known as a Banbury cake, which became popular in 1655.

During the Roman era unsweetened barley bread was used as the wedding food and the groom would break the piece of bread in half over the brides head symbolizing “breaking of the bride’s virginal state and the subsequent dominance of the groom over her.”

One of the most obvious symbolic traditions is the cake’s white color to symbolize virginity and purity. The white color has been attached to wedding ceremonies since the Victorian era when Queen Victoria chose to wear a white wedding dress at her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840. Queen Victoria accentuated an existing symbol, the color white is frequently associated with virginity and purity. The wedding cake was originally known as the brides cake therefore the color white became common because the cake needed to reflect the bride.

The cutting of the cake is a task full of symbolism. The cake was originally intended to be distributed among the guests by only the bride because consuming the cake would ensure fertility. As weddings grew and the number of guests increased this task became a joint venture, the groom needed to help cut the growing cake and distribute it among their guests. Layers of cakes began to pile up and the icing would need to support the weight of the cake making is very difficult for one person to cut.

The groom would assist the bride in this process. Once this tradition began the bride and groom would share a piece of cake before distributing it to the guests to symbolize their union and their promise to forever provide for each other.

The wedding cake is surrounded by superstitions. In a traditional American wedding, maidens would be invited to pull ribbons that are attached to the bottom layer of the wedding cake. Out of all the ribbons, only one contains a charm or a ring, and whoever gets the charm will be the next person to marry.

In other countries, the wedding cake is broken over the bride’s head to ensure fertility and bring good fortune to the couple. Also, most people today think that eating the crumbs of the wedding cake would give them good luck because the wedding cake symbolizes happiness and good life to the newlywed couple.

There are also myths that most bridesmaids have on dreaming their future husbands. Hopeful bridesmaids would take a piece of cake home and place it under the pillow[23]. Some bridesmaids would sleep with the pieces of cake in their left stocking and the rest are under their pillows after passing the pieces of cake through the bride’s wedding ring.

In the medieval era, wedding cakes were constructed in rolls and buns that were laid on top of each other. The groom and bride would attempt to share a passionate kiss on top of the stack of rolls to ensure fertility and have good fortune. In the eighteenth century, newlywed couples would try to keep the cake until their first anniversary to prevent them from marriage problems in the future. This is one of the reasons why cakes in the eighteenth century were made of fruits and blended with wine.

Wedding cakes provide a history of symbolism and superstition. In Gainesville, Florida, the best place to purchase wedding cakes remains a cakery, cake shop, or specialty cake bakery.

Baking first started with the Egyptians, all the way back to 8000 BC.  In the middle ages, bakers ran community kitchens often stealing or cheating from customers. This led to very harsh penalties for bakers and a “reinvention” of the profession. Bakers worked extremely hard to erase the cheating perceptions– often giving their clients more than they had purchased (thus the origin of baker’s dozen).

Times have certainly changed and today, bakers no longer have the perception of thieves or crooks. In today’s world, bakers often create masterpieces and have made cakes (through a cakery) amazing, edible art. At Gainesville cakery, we believe in the artistry, tradition, and skill of local bakers.

Modern cake, especially layer cakes, normally contain a combination of flour, sugar, eggs, and butter or oil, with some varieties also requiring liquid (typically milk or water) and leavening agents (such as yeast or baking powder). Flavorful ingredients like fruit purées, nuts, dried or candied fruit, or extracts are often added, and numerous substitutions for the primary ingredients are possible. Cakes are often filled with fruit preserves or dessert sauces (like pastry cream), iced with buttercream or other icings, and decorated with marzipan, piped borders or candied fruit.

Cake is often the dessert of choice for meals at ceremonial occasions, particularly weddings, anniversaries, and birthdays. There are countless cake recipes; some are bread-like, some rich and elaborate, and many are centuries old. Cake making is no longer a complicated procedure; while at one time considerable labor went into cake making (particularly the whisking of egg foams), baking equipment and directions have been simplified that even the most amateur cook may bake a cake. (source: wikipedia)

Blue Roses with Ivory Wedding Cake

A Cakery is a specific establishment which produces and/or sells cakes; usually these are cupcakes, muffins, sponges, as well as other baked goods that fall under the title of a cake.

Think bakery, specializing in cakes. Cakes would normally fall under a bakery, but to specifically distinguish themselves as a mainly cake bakery, the term cakery was coined. Some places call these types of bakeries cake shops. At a cakery, you can find a wide variety of cakes, cupcakes, cake truffles, and more. If it’s cake related, you’ll find it at a cakery.

Sometimes a cakery will even create specialty cakes — cakes that contain sculpting or extreme decoration resulting in cake art. In Gainesville (and all of North Florida), residents can always find a locally (and family) owned alternative to the big business corporations. When looking for a bakery, cakery, or restaurant, we highly encourage you to Buy Local. When you purchase from family owned local businesses, more than 65% of your money stays in the local community.

Of course, money isn’t the only reason to choose a locally owned cakery. True bakers care about ingredients. Unlike large supermarket bakeries that use frozen cakes, high fructose corn syrup, and preservatives, local bakers tend to cake about their craft. Local bakers know that great ingredients do not contain words that you cannot pronounce.

Take for example, Dream Day Cakes^®; a locally owned bakery/cakery in Gainesville, Florida. Dream Day Cakes^® makes an incredible 9 layer cake with a very popular buttercream. They never freeze any of their products and when we asked them how many ingredients were in the buttercream, they knew immediately. “Our buttercream has three ingredients,” said the baker.

Remember, when you’re looking for a custom cake in Gainesville, Florida, look no further than your locally owned Cakery. Bakery, Cakery? If it’s locally owned, they both sound delicious.

Cakery Gainesville, Florida

For more information, please check out Dream Day Cakes.