Author: Dani Griffin

The groom’s cake is one of those southern traditions that, like zydeco bands and sweet tea, should be adopted by everyone, everywhere, immediately.

Most people are only familiar with groom’s cakes – if they’ve heard of them at all – from the movie Steel Magnolias, in which the groom’s cake is a red velvet cake in the shape of an armadillo. Please don’t let that put you off. I’m still mad at that movie for giving both groom’s cakes and red velvet cakes a bad name. In the name of justice, I’ll just say that a properly made red velvet cake is the closest you can get to eating unicorn dreams for dessert and press on.

Anyway, the groom’s cake is your wedding cake’s hilarious but equally tasty best friend. Some say that it’s traditionally a fruit cake, but I’ve much more often just seen it as a way to get a different flavor of regular cake in – sometimes a chocolate companion to the traditional white wedding cake, sometimes a bolder or weirder flavor, or sometimes just what the couple felt like having.

And that “just what the couple felt like” spirit is why groom’s cakes are such a treat. While your main cake does traditional upstanding duty, the groom’s cake gets to play. Groom’s cakes are often baked in fun shapes to reflect an interest or hobby of the groom or of the couple. I like the idea of making it about your groom – so much of the ceremony is bride-focused that it’s nice to remind everyone that he’s a part of this too. And a crafty bride can even keep the groom’s cake as a secret surprise for the reception – a literally sweet tribute to your new husband.

It’s fine to either serve the groom’s cake as a part of your reception dessert (away from the wedding cake, which gets top billing and prime placement) or to serve it on its own as the main dessert for the rehearsal dinner. Either way: cake!

If there are single-and-looking women at your wedding, they should each take a bit of the groom’s cake home. Tradition says that sleeping with a slice under your pillow will give you dreams of your future husband’s face, which seems like fun, if a trifle unsportsmanlike. Tradition does not address whether it’s acceptable to wrap the cake slice in something, or what to do about pillow ants, but that’s your friends’ problem, not yours.

If you do decide to have a groom’s cake, don’t be afraid to be playful or even get a little outrageous with it. Talk to your bakers – you’ll be surprised at the creative effects that they can achieve when they put their ingenious floury minds to it.

Above all, take the chance to celebrate that great, tasty guy of yours. And don’t let anyone talk you out of an armadillo if that’s what he really loves.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/choosing-a-grooms-cake-616903.html

About the Author:

Dani Griffin is a contributing writer for OneWed.com. She is a registered chocoholic, and writes about wedding planning from start to finish including her favorite topic - wedding cakes.