WEDDING CAKES

Image via WikipediaI've been to two weddings in Japan. They weren't so different from weddings back home, except that they seemed rather more formal and lavish. Many young Japanese couples just have Western style weddings these days, and there are lots of "chapels" around Japan with hired-for-the-day Caucasian "ministers" (often just actors.) But some couples have both a Western and a traditional Japanese ceremony (probably at twice the expense, not to mention all that exhausting effort!)

But this post is not about ceremonies, it's about wedding cakes. The weddings I attended had fairly standard looking wedding cakes, grand white tiered affairs. Someone told me that like the "ministers" they are hired rather than bought! I don't know if that's true, but I do know that the rich heavy fruitcake that is the traditional wedding cake (and Christmas cake) of countries with a British Heritage, like New Zealand, is almost unknown in Japan. Fortified with brandy or some other strong spirit, the cake can be kept for long periods of time. So the quaint custom of keeping your wedding cake's top tier for your first baby's christening or your first anniversary is not as shocking as it sounds. The flavor of the cake actually improves. I know this is true, because I followed this custom.

A little while ago my friend Sachiko brought me some traditional Japanese wedding cake. It was sweet adzuki beans covered with two layers of mochi, one white and on pink. A combination of red and white signifies celebration in Japan.
Although I like traditional Japanese sweets very much, I'd take a rich fruit wedding cake any day.
I love rich fruit cake!

Related articles

• Wedding cakes around the World (brighthub.com)