Will you save top tier of your cake?
More than half of couples save the top tier of their wedding cake
Just over half of couple who are getting married will save the top tier of their wedding cake according to an Easy Weddings poll. The results of the poll showed that out of more than 2,000 respondents 53% planned to save their top tier while 47% didn’t.
Traditionally the top tier of the wedding cake was saved to be eaten at the birth of a couple’s first child. Wedding cakes were originally a symbol of fertility so saving a piece of the cake was thought to increase the couple’s chances of having a healthy child. The tradition has changed over time as it has become less common for couples to have a baby in their first year of marriage, and couples that still save their top tier tend to eat it to celebrate their first wedding anniversary.
There are many reasons that almost half of modern couples choose not to follow this tradition. Years ago most wedding cakes would have been heavy fruit cakes soaked in brandy, which would have been easy to preserve and which would actually have improved with age. These days cakes are more likely to be made of a light sponge, perhaps flavoured with chocolate or lemon, which will be more difficult to preserve, even in the freezer.
Another reason that saving the top tier has lost some of its popularity is that not all couples choose to have a traditional tiered wedding cake. Cup cake towers, wedding cheesecakes, ice cream cakes, cake pops, and macaroon towers are all alternatives to a traditional wedding cake that do not have a top tier to save.
If you do plan to stick with tradition and save the top tier of your cake for your first anniversary, or even the birth of your first child, make sure it is tightly wrapped in suitable paper, followed by airtight plastic. It will need to be placed in a freezer as soon as possible after the wedding to keep it fresh. Check with your cake baker to see if your cake will be suitable to keep. Perhaps you can have the top tier made from something different to the rest if you’d like to keep it.