I spoke with the bride and she said that they were talking about almond cake. They are having a renaissance wedding and want it as true to period as possible. Since there were no 'wedding cakes' at the time they figured that they'd go as traditional as possible. I'm bringing WASC for them to taste but I'd like to offer another flavor or two. What are some other 'traditional' or 'old fashion' flavors? I'm a funky flavor combo girl normally so traditional is throwing me for a loop

I am no history expert, but what about pound cake or fruitcake...???

Try almond, chocolate, vanilla and spice. Then pair with a vanilla BC, almond BC, chocolate BC and cream cheese frosting.

That's pretty traditional, and offer up sliced strawberries as an addition to the fillings if they want.

These won't do at all, but just for fun, here are some recipes:

http://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/renaissance-cake-recipes.html

Maybe you can get some ideas from the listed ingredients. Rosewater seemed to be quite the pantry staple back then.

From my "wedding cake history" file:

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In Medieval England, cakes were described as breads which were flour-based foods without sweetening. No accounts tell of a special type of cake appearing at wedding ceremonies. There are, however, stories of a custom involving stacking small sweet buns in a large pile in front of the newlyweds. The couple would attempt to kiss over the pile. Success in the process was a sign that there would be many children in their future. .


By the late 19th century, wedding cakes became really popular, and the use of the bride's pie disappeared. Early cakes were simple single-tiered plum cakes, with some variations. It was a while before the first multi-tiered wedding cake of today appeared in all its glory..

Previous to Victorian times, most wedding cakes were also white, but not because of the symbolism. Using the color white for icing had a more pragmatic basis. Ingredients were very difficult to come by, especially those required for icing. White icing required the use of only the finest refined sugar, so the whiter the cake, the more affluent the families appeared. It was due to this fact that a white wedding cake became an outward symbol of affluence..

I do historical cooking with the SCA. You may want to go to sca.org and look at the arts and sciences section. Many post redacted period recipes for use in our time period.

Rosewater and almonds were used extensively so any white cake with the additions of those ingredients would work. Good luck, I'm looking forward to hearing about the finished product.

Lori

Thanks everyone. I happen to be making a chocolate butter cake between now and then so I'll steal a little batter to make a cupcake of that and I might do a spice cake (this was my original thought) but that means that I have to go back to the store...boo...and two types of buttercream and a fondant sample. This is a family friend (DH is the best man at the wedding) and they are being (at least at this point) really reasonable and flexible so I'm not too worried but I'd like to offer more than just the one flavor.

Keep in mind that chocolate was not widely used until the 1700's. Ask them how authentic they want it to be.