I have a possible large Bar Mitzpah cake coming up and I need to figure out a few things so I don't look stupid for her tasting...
She says the cake will be for serving AND for candle-lighting... will there be any special way I will have to make the cake to accomodate candles? How many candles do they usually light, and how large? She mentioned some 3D stuff on top of a sheet cake, I didn't know if the sheet cake part was necessary to fit whatever candles?
Any insight on Bar Mitzpah cake traditions would be VERY helpful. I don't want to look like a doofus when she comes over. Thanks!!!
FYI...it is Bar Mitzvah (not pah). The candle lighting ceremony is to honor special people in the Bar Mitzvah boy's life. Parents, siblings, teachers, etc will come up and each light a candle. They typically aren't tiny birthday cake candles, but rather larger tapers, so it will need to be a decent size cake to hold them. It is usually 13 candles (since that is the age of the Bar Mitvah child), but I've seen more or less depending on the family. My guess is they will want a sheet cake simply b/c it is easiest to hold/light that many candles. I'm not sure there is really a "tradition" for these cakes...sometimes they are thematic for the child, sometimes they have religious symbols etc. Just depends. Hope that helps a little!
Hmm...good question. Honestly, I can't remember....it was a looong time ago. My cake was a filled sheet cake, so it was deeper than a normal sheet cake. They were probably just shoved in there. They weren't huge tapers, but definitely bigger candles. I wouldn't worry too much, my guess is the Bar Mitzvah family will have an idea about what they need. No worries on the misspelling, just though you might like to know 
Good luck with your tasting!
I made a Bat Mitzvah for a young lady. Her Dad did not let me know until close to the date of the completion of the cake that he wanted candles placed on the cake for the candle lighting ceremony. Since I was not acquainted with that part of the ceremony, I asked the Dad how long these candles would need to be light. After hearing that the ceremony lasts for a lengthy period of time, I went to a Jewish store in our area. Their candles were beautiful thin, thin tapers, which would not have held up for a lengthy ceremony without burning the cake down. So, I went to my hardware store and purchased the 5"-6" emergency white hurricane candles. I made fancy little Reynolds Wrap skirts for the base of each candle and tied a small decorative bow at the base of each candle (the aluminum wrap skirts stopped the wax from flowing onto the cake during the ceremony). I shoved the candles into the top sheet cake with the little aluminum skirts protecting the cake from the on-flow of wax. You can see the results of this cake at: http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=55612. Afterward I asked the Dad how the candles held up. He told me that they were perfect and that no wax went on the cakes surface. The help at the restaurant where the reception was held told me that they were shocked how wonderfully the little candles with the "skirts" held up for the long ceremony and no mess was made onto the cake!
At least where I'm from, everyone does the candle lighting with large candles placed around, rather than on, the cake, (or sometimes using a special candlabra.) There is not really a traditional candle. In something like 50 years of seeing these ceremonies done every way you can think of, I don't think I've ever seen candles actually on the cake. I just asked my sons and husband what they remember and they all said the same. As someone else mentioned, the ceremony can take quite some time. Often there are groups rather than individuals called up and with a photo or two for each group...
If you do do something complicated to make the candles fit on the cake, the best I can say is to remember to charge for your extra work.
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