Kitchen

[shoekitty]

This contains 3 authentic wedding fruitcakes. They included Royal Icing, but a type of fondant or marzipan frosting is also used. I think I might like a fondant. Bon Appetite'

English Traditions

Getting Married in Great Brittain

Wedding flowers are scattered by a small girl preceding the English bride and her wedding party, who walk together to the wedding chapel or the wedding site. The flowered path and symbolic walk express hope for the bride's path through life to be happy and lovely. English bridesmaids wear wedding dresses very much like the bride's, so she cannot be singled out by any jealous evil wishers, who might curse her for her happiness.

Brides sew a good luck charm, such as the silver horseshoe of royal British brides, to the hem of their wedding dresses. Old English wedding tradition also calls for the bride to carry a horseshoe, streaming with ribbons, for good luck.

English Wedding Ceremony

Traditionally, an English couple getting married will exchange their vows outside the wedding chapel doorway, allowing the ceremony to be witnessed by anyone who might want to watch.

Traditional English Wedding Receptions

Traditional English wedding cake is a fruitcake, usually made with raisins, ground almonds, cherries and marzipan. The top layer of the wedding cake is called the "christening cake" which the couple is saves for the baptism of their first child.

The fruitcake is served at the wedding reception along with another traditional cake -- the groom's cake -- which originated during the Tudor period. It was once English custom for this to be a fruitcake as well, but today, the groom's cake is likely to be chocolate.

A unique Victorian wedding reception event is called a 'ribbon pull'. A sterling silver charm is purchased for each of the bridesmaids. A ribbon is tied to each one, and the baker places them between layers of the wedding cake as it is being assembled. Before the bride and groom share their first slice of cake, the bridesmaids gather so that ech can pull one ribbon, claiming for herself a future good promise.

The wedding tradition of tying shoes to the cars of newlyweds also began in England during the Tudor period. Originally, wedding reception guests threw shoes at the newlyweds as they were leaving the church for good luck. The modern tradition is to tie shoes to the honeymoon vehicle. The English consider rain on a wedding day a sign of good fortune.

Below are three recipes. The first is an English fruit cake recipe without brandy and the next two are for the traditional English wedding cake with brandy.

English Fruit Cake

1 lb. butter
2 tablespoons milk
1 lb. light brown sugar
3 lbs. currants
9 eggs
2 lbs. raisins, seeded and finely chopped
1 lb. flour
2 teaspoons mace
1/2 lb. almonds, blanched and shredded
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon soda
1 lb. citron, thinly sliced and cut in strips

Cream the butter, add sugar gradually, and beat thoroughly. Separate yolks from whites of eggs; beat yolks until thick and lemon-colored, whites until stiff and dry, and add to first mixture. Then add milk, fruit, nuts, and flour mixed and sifted with mace, cinnamon, and soda. Put in buttered deep pans, cover with buttered paper, steam three hours, and bake one and one half hours in a slow oven, or bake four hours in a
very slow oven. Rich fruit cake is always more satisfactory when done if the cooking is accomplished by steaming.
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Wedding Cake I

1 lb. butter
1/2 teaspoon clove
1 lb. sugar
3 lbs. raisins, seeded and cut in pieces
12 eggs
1 lb. flour
1 lb. currants
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 lb. citron, thinly sliced and cut in strips
Nutmeg, Allspice, Mace, 3/4 teaspoon each
1 lb. figs, finely chopped
1/4 cup brandy
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Cream the butter, add sugar gradually, and beat thoroughly. Separate yolks from whites of eggs, beat yolks until thick and lemon-colored, whites until stiff and dry, and add to first mixture. Add flour (excepting one-third cup, which should be reserved to dredge fruit) mixed and sifted with spices, brandy, and lemon juice. Then add fruit, except citron,
dredged with reserved flour. Dredge citron with flour and put in layers between cake mixture when putting in the pan.
Bake same as English Fruit Cake. ----------------------------------------…
Wedding Cake II

1 lb. butter
3 lbs. raisins, seeded and cut in pieces
1 lb. brown sugar
12 eggs
2 lbs. Sultana raisins
1 cup molasses
1 1/2 lbs. citron, thinly sliced and cut in strips
1 lb. flour
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 lb. currants
4 teaspoons allspice
1/2 preserved lemon rind
1 1/2 teaspoons mace
1/2 preserved orange rind
1 nutmeg, grated
1 cup brandy
1/4 teaspoon soda
4 squares chocolate, melted
1 tablespoon hot water

Cream the butter, add sugar gradually, and beat thoroughly. Separate yolks from whites of eggs, and beat yolks until thick and lemon-colored. Add to first mixture, then add flour (excepting one third cup, which should be reserved to dredge fruit), mixed and sifted with spices, fruit dredged with flour, lemon rind and orange rind finely chopped, brandy, chocolate, and whites of eggs beaten until stiff and dry. Just before putting into pans, add soda dissolved in hot water. Cover pans with buttered paper, and steam four hours. Finish cooking by leaving in a warm oven over night.

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Royal icing gets its name from having been the traditional icing for fruitcake -- which was the wedding cake of choice among English royalty, and then among the general English population. Along with marzipan, fondant, and other rolled or formed icings, it has the advantage of sealing in freshness so that the cake in question could be made days in advance and still be tasty and moist upon serving. If a wedding cake needs to be made more than a few days in advance, royal icing is frequently used in tandem with fondant, which is cut and formed to fit exactly the particular dimensions of the cake.

We don't get a lot of call for wedding cakes around our house, so I use royal icing mainly to decorate cookies at Christmastime. You can thin this with a little water or milk, or add more powdered sugar to thicken it up. Make it just before you need it, then use it all up in one fell swoop -- if you wait, you will be left with royal icing cement in the mixing bowl. The addition of glycerin is optional; it simply serves to give the icing an attractive glossiness, and has no bearing whatever on the flavor. If the eggs in your area are questionable as far as the risk of salmonella, feel free to substitute an equivalent amount of meringue powder, available at many baking supply stores. Do not double or halve this recipe.

1 lb. confectioner's sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla, orange, peppermint or whatever extract you prefer
3 large egg whites
3 to 6 drops edible glycerin (optional)

-- Sift together the confectioner's sugar and cream of tartar 2 or 3 times. Do not skip this step, or you will have unattractive tiny white lumps throughout the icing.

-- In a large bowl, mix all ingredients until combined. You will despair at first, because the extract will make the icing look muddy or grey; never fear, as a good beating will incorporate enough air into the icing to turn it snowy white again. Set mixer speed on highest level and mix for at least 3 minutes. Use immediately.

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