Grooms Cakes

Grooms Cakes

Grooms cakes are a southern tradition.  Who can forget the red velvet armadillo grooms cake from the movie "Steel Magnolias".  Did you know that the tradition of the grooms cake actually goes back to Victorian times in England.  It was a cake made with fruit and usually some type of alcohol.  Supposedly, it was cut by the bridegroom and served to the bridesmaids with wine before going to the church.  

Grooms cakes can either be served as the dessert at the rehearsal dinner or

enjoyed by wedding guests at the reception.  Chocolate seems to be the most popular flavor choice for grooms cakes; however, just about any flavor will work. 

In some cases, the grooms cake is ordered by the bride as a surprise for her groom.  These cakes usually represent something of interest to the groom or to their relationship.  The grooms cake can be a little less formal than the wedding cake and many couples use it to reflect their personality.

Sometimes, the groom would prefer to have an undecorated "dessert style" cake like a:

Carrot Cake

or Poured Chocolate Ganache Cake

or Buttermilk Caramel Cake

Nintendo Groom's Cake

Nintendo Groom's Cake

If you remember Super Mario Brothers, Tetris, Galaga and Donkey Kong, you probably played on one of these old-school Nintendos.  The bride ordered this Nintendo NES cake for her groom as a surprise.  She supplied me with a photo of Pink Cake Box’s version of this cake and I used it as well as a few other pictures I found online as a guide.

Preparation

When you are making a replica of something like this in cake, it helps if you can find drawings with dimensions to assist in getting the scale right. 

I took note of the size of the items on the control panel and then scaled that to the controller I was making so it would look more realistic.  I found it much easier to work in centimeters and millimeters than inches.

Carving the Cake

I decided to make the Chocolate Kaluha cakes in a 10 x 10 cake pan.  I cut about 2 inches off one side to give it a more realistic shape.  I wrapped the cakes in several layers of plastic wrap and put it in the freezer.  A cold cake is much easier

to carve. Using paper and cardstock, I made a template of the sloped bottom portion and used it to carve the cake, which I had filled with chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream that had been flavored with kaluhua. I iced the entire cake in chocolate ganache and let it sit overnight to firm up.

It was easier to carve it upside down...

then flip it right side up.

Once the ganache had sufficiently hardened, I covered the top with a light grey fondant.  The Nintendo console is light grey on the top and top portion of the sides but dark grey on the bottom portion of the sides. The template that was used to carve the cake with was also used to cut a panel of fondant for the bottom portion.  

Using the pictures as a guide, I added some details.  The controllers were made in advance from rice cereal treats covered in fondant. I painted on a glaze of corn syrup mixed with vodka to give them a shiny look.

 I don’t often get the chance to make cakes like this and was pleased with how it turned out. 

The wedding cake was designed from a picture provided by the bride.  The colors (pale yellow, orange and grey) matched the color scheme of the reception hall décor.  The reception was held at 211 Main Hall & in Como, MS. 

I wish Mark and Kathryn many years of happy memories.  

(Photo by Mariposa Photography by Emily Tillman)