There are alternatives to a wedding cake. Many wedding receptions feature a towering, multi-tiered cake with white frosting and elaborate details, and Canadian marriage ceremonies are no exception. While this cake stands as an iconic symbol of Western weddings, you might prefer to represent your homeland for your special day. You can add a touch of Canuck to the festivities with wedding cake alternatives that are distinctly Canadian. Consider these options for your reception.
1. Nanaimo Bars As Alternatives
Named for the town of Nanaimo in British Columbia, this no-bake dessert may be one of the most well-loved Canadian sweet treats. This dessert is made of three layers, starting with a crust of chocolate, coconut, and graham cracker. The middle layer is rich and creamy yellow custard, topped by a gooey layer of chocolate ganache. The earliest recipe for this treat dates back to the early 1950s, but today’s Nanaimo bar has been modified to include other flavors such as mint, mocha, and peanut butter, among others. Dress this dessert up or down as appropriate for your celebration.
2. Saskatoon Berry Pie
Some people prefer a flaky top crust and a sweet berry filling to kick off a life together. Saskatoon berries resemble blueberries, but they’re smaller and sweeter, with a slightly nutty flavor that is reminiscent of almonds. Also known as juneberries or prairie berries, Saskatoon berries are abundant during the summer months in Canada’s prairie region, including Saskatchewan. Serve whole pies to be cut into slices or individual pies.
3. BeaverTails
When it comes to Canadian desserts, you can’t go wrong with a treat named for the national animal. This sweet treat is made from hand-stretched, fried dough that is topped with chocolate, hazelnut spread, maple butter, and more. Shaped like the tail of a beaver, this fried snack has been a national favorite for over 40 years. Even former US President Barack Obama enjoys this Canadian treat whenever he visits. BeaverTails can also be served as savory snacks, topped with cheese, ham, and other proteins instead.
4. Butter Tarts
Butter tarts are some of the oldest Canadian confections around. Dating back to Canada’s pioneer days, these handheld tarts are almost like pecan pies without the pecans. Hugely popular on the east coast, these pastries are made of butter, cream, sugar, and eggs — everything we love in a dessert. The most common flavor is a filling made of maple and vanilla, but for your nuptials, you could opt for alternative fillings, especially flavors or colors that hold significance.
5. Tiger Tail Ice Cream Alternatives
Exclusive to Canada, this ice cream gets its name from its appearance. It is orange-flavored ice cream swirled with black licorice ribbons, resembling the signature orange and black-striped look of a tiger. While this ice cream peaked in popularity between the 1950s and 1970s, it is still available. Whether you serve it as a snack or as a complement to another dessert, you’re sure to score points with guests, especially those who are nostalgic.
6. Persian
Although the name might make you think otherwise, this dessert actually comes from the city of Thunder Bay in Northwest Ontario. The best way to think of a Persian is as a love child of a cinnamon bun and a donut. Persians are typically oval-shaped and cinnamon-flavored. They’re usually served covered in pink frosting with either a strawberry or raspberry flavor. Consider this treat for your reception menu, especially if pink is a part of your color scheme.
When you’re tying the knot in front of loved ones, you want to make sure that the event is one that everyone recollects fondly. Choosing a menu that makes you and your spouse-to-be happy goes a long way toward that goal. Canada offers several types of desserts that are sure to make your day of celebration extra sweet and super special.
There are a wealth of strange traditions surrounding the cake that you might be interested in including at your wedding reception.
The world has seen its fair share of bizarre wedding customs over the centuries. While some practices are going to appear odd to those who are not part of a specific culture, there are certain rituals even long-standing members of a group find weird. Interestingly, many of these acts have to do with the cake. While you might already be familiar with one or two of these customs, there are a wealth of strange traditions surrounding the cake that might take you by surprise.
Learning about some of these fascinating rituals can help you to determine whether or not you want to include any of them in your reception. Take a look at these cake-related customs, and discover the lengths people will go in the name of tradition.
Smash It Up
To kick things off, it can be fun to start with a more well-known custom: the smashing of the cake. At modern weddings, guests can often get a kick out of watching a couple cut the cake and then waiting in anticipation to see if the cake will get smashed in someone’s face. Some couples love this tradition and happily grab handfuls of cake to rub on their partner’s cheeks. Still, other couples are happier keeping their clothes free of sugar and frosting. Interestingly, the custom itself seems to have developed from another weird one.
According to certain European wedding traditions, it was common for a groom to take a few bites off of a loaf of bread baked specifically for the event. Upon biting off a tiny edge of the bread, the groom would then hold the loaf above the head of the bride and shower her with crumbs. After all the bread was crumbled above her, the guests of the wedding would be invited to come and collect crumbs from the ground. The crumbs collected symbolized good luck, and when cakes replaced bread as the preferred nuptial treat, smashing the cake became lucky.
Two-Cake Town
One cake at your reception might be a delicious idea, so why not make it two? Recent years have seen a shift in the number of cakes at weddings. The main reason behind this seems to be to allow both partners the chance to have a bit of creative freedom. Compromise is often the key to a happy relationship, but there are certain happy mediums that might be difficult to find. For example, you’re never going to win when you’re fighting against a partner who wants a chocolate cake. It just won’t happen.
Instead of fighting a losing battle, you can find a lot more joy in having two cakes. The beauty of this option is that you do not need to get two lavish options. You can get two wonderful cakes that are smaller in size and allow guests the option of trying whatever option appeals to them. This is a more modern practice, so there really aren’t any fascinating facts surrounding it. Still, you may find the choice of bringing a second cake into the picture to be too sweet to pass up.
Purity or Price?
The tradition of having a white cake at a wedding is also one with interesting roots. Though white is usually used at ceremonies to symbolize purity, the real reason cakes are white is because of cost. The purer the sugar used in the frosting, the whiter the results. White became the norm as people over the decades raced to see who could boast the whitest confection of the season.
Though there are many interesting traditions surrounding the cake, it is hard to imagine a wedding without one. Discover what customs are the most appealing for your own event by exploring the other fascinating stories out there.
A Croquembouche can be a unique wedding cake option.
With the number of French contributions to our culture, you probably won’t be surprised to find a croquembouche at a Canadian wedding. However, you might not be familiar with the history, details and preparation behind these fascinating pastry desserts. Whether you’ve adopted a French theme for your festivities or just want a different type of wedding cake for your reception, this delightful tower of goodness might be just right for your crowd.
Origins in 19th Century France
While much of Canada was still under British rule, a young Parisian baker began crafting a pastry creation that would become his enduring legacy. In January 2017, the U.S. media network National Public Radio website published a piece on legendary French chef Marie-Antoine Carême, the famed inventor of the croquembouche. Born to an impoverished family around 1783 or 1784, he was presumably orphaned by social turmoil resulting from the French revolution. Carême began working in a Paris kitchen at the age of eight, and by the time he was 15 years old, he’d landed a position as an apprentice to top-rated pastry chef Sylvain Bailly.
As Carême honed his craft during his late teen years, Bailly regularly displayed Carême’s stunningly elaborate pastries in his bakery shop window. By the late 1700s, this young sensation had fashioned a tower of small, round cream puffs called “choux” festooned with spun sugar. A recipe for this dessert, which he called a croquembouche, was published in his 1815 cookbook “Le Pâtissier royal parisien.” Meanwhile, Carême continued to rise to culinary stardom, designing lavish, beautiful sweets for the likes of Napoleon, Russia’s Czar Alexander I and prince regent George IV of England.
The Croquembouche in the Modern World
While there are many modern variations on this delicious pastry, they still follow the same basic format: a tall mountain of cream puffs covered in spun sugar and other wonderful edibles. You’ll probably have no difficulty finding bakers in any province to supply one for your special day, and it’s an appropriate wedding cake for many types of wedding themes. Wedding Bells Magazine showcased a French vintage matrimonial affair in a 2012 piece on its website, adding that the couple chose a croquembouche to add a delicate grandeur to their festivities.
If you think that such a spectacular wedding cake should get its own entrance and fanfare, you’re absolutely right. In fact, contributor Kim Petyt on The Good Life France blog revealed that a croquembouche is usually not presented until dessert time. With the lights dimmed and celebratory music playing, guests typically begin chanting “Le gateau! Le gateau!” as the star of the hour is brought out to the dining hall while decorated in small, sizzling fireworks. Once the display is over, the staff serves each guest three or four of the sweet, creamy choux to enjoy.
Flavorful Possibilities Abound
In both exterior decorative touches and inner fillings, the croquembouche presents a wide variety of lovely flavors. Traditionally, each choux contains vanilla-bourbon crème in the center. Nevertheless, bakeries offer several popular filling choices which can include favorites such as caramel and chocolate, or less common tastes like rose, pistachio or orange blossom. Besides spun sugar or pastel-tinted icing, a croquembouche wedding cake can be decked out in sugared almonds, chocolate, candied ribbons or even edible flowers.
A Delicious Wedding Cake Idea for Your Nuptial Affair
The croquembouche is a distinctive and delightful wedding cake that offers a complex combination of aesthetics, French culture and flavor. Its name appropriately translates to “crunch in the mouth,” and your guests will enjoy the taste and texture of this now-classic sweet treat. Add to that the customary celebratory fanfare with which it’s presented during your festivities, and your croquembouche will certainly be a memorable part of your wedding day.
A classic wedding cake will never go out of fashion, but it is certainly not a requirement for getting married. A wedding is often a unique expression of a couples’ personalities. Why should the cake be any different? Patricia Truchom, a Quebec bride-to-be, recently celebrated her bachelorette party with a custom-made poutine wedding cake.
Poutine
Poutine is a traditional Canadian snack food consisting of French fries and cheese curds topped with brown gravy. The dish originated in Quebec and is now served throughout Canada. It can also be found in the United States in the upper Midwest, New England and the Pacific Northwest.
Truchom originally ordered a poutine for 12 for her bachelorette party from the Quebec snack bar Patate Mallette. The cooks decided to go all out for the request and created a three-tiered poutine cake. The end creation weighed 12 kilograms (26 lbs.), the majority of which was French fries. Even a small portion of poutine is very fattening; Truchom’s poutine cake was estimated to have contained approximately 35,000 calories.
Other Wedding Cake Alternatives
While poutine is probably one of the more unusual choices, there are many alternatives to the conventional wedding cake.
Pancakes and Waffles
Pancake or waffle wedding cakes can be a delicious, fun choice. If you are planning a brunch reception, they are particularly appropriate. Berries, whipped cream, powered sugar and syrup are wonderful garnishes.
Croquembouche
A croquembouche is a tower of puff pastries topped with caramel threads. This French dessert is an elegant choice for any wedding. Strawberries can also be inserted among the pastries for a touch of color.
Cupcakes
Cupcakes can add a more personalized touch and are easy to serve. They are stunning when arranged in a tower. Incorporating flowers that match the bouquets of the bridal party are one way to decorate a cupcake stand.
Cake Pops
Cake pops are another popular and creative alternative to the standard wedding cake. Frosting them in the colors of the wedding party is one way to tie the dessert into the overall theme of the nuptials.
Donuts
Many guests probably have not attended a wedding where they get to pick from a stack of assorted gourmet donuts. If you like them with chocolate icing, sprinkles or filled with cream, this alternative can be a fun choice, particularly for more casual weddings.
Cannolis
What says love better than a cannoli? This delicious Italian dessert is made of tube-shaped, fried pastry shells stuffed with sweet filling.
Cheese
A variety of artisan cheese wheels stacked on top of each other and adorned with fruit can make a lovely wedding cake. For couples who are not huge fans of sweets, this is an alternative well worth considering.
Sushi
A cake made out of pieces of sushi is a sight to be seen. For lovers of seafood and Japanese cuisine, it can be the perfect substitute for a traditional wedding cake.
Cookies
Serving cookies instead of cake is another option. Consider having them decorated with tuxedos, the date of the wedding or the happy couple’s initials.
Pie Table
Pies are another great option for a wedding dessert and can be stacked in tiers in lieu of a cake. This dessert is more rustic and fits right in if your nuptials are in a more rural location.
S’mores
Desserts that guests can assemble themselves can be very fun; chocolate, graham cracker and marshmallow s’mores fit the bill. If your affair is more causal, you may even consider letting people roast their marshmallows over a campfire.
Dessert Bar
Some couples opt for a dessert bar of miniature sweet treats. Popular choices include petit fours, brownies, éclairs, macaroons, cookies, nonpareils and whoopie pies.
Some type of dessert is typically served at most weddings. Poutine may not be your first choice, but there are many other wonderful alternatives.
There are alternatives to a wedding cake. Many wedding receptions feature a towering, multi-tiered cake with white frosting and elaborate details, and Canadian marriage ceremonies are no exception. While this cake stands as an iconic symbol of Western weddings, you might prefer to represent your homeland for your special day. You can add a touch of Canuck to the festivities with wedding cake alternatives that are distinctly Canadian. Consider these options for your reception.
1. Nanaimo Bars As Alternatives
Named for the town of Nanaimo in British Columbia, this no-bake dessert may be one of the most well-loved Canadian sweet treats. This dessert is made of three layers, starting with a crust of chocolate, coconut, and graham cracker. The middle layer is rich and creamy yellow custard, topped by a gooey layer of chocolate ganache. The earliest recipe for this treat dates back to the early 1950s, but today’s Nanaimo bar has been modified to include other flavors such as mint, mocha, and peanut butter, among others. Dress this dessert up or down as appropriate for your celebration.
2. Saskatoon Berry Pie
Some people prefer a flaky top crust and a sweet berry filling to kick off a life together. Saskatoon berries resemble blueberries, but they’re smaller and sweeter, with a slightly nutty flavor that is reminiscent of almonds. Also known as juneberries or prairie berries, Saskatoon berries are abundant during the summer months in Canada’s prairie region, including Saskatchewan. Serve whole pies to be cut into slices or individual pies.
3. BeaverTails
When it comes to Canadian desserts, you can’t go wrong with a treat named for the national animal. This sweet treat is made from hand-stretched, fried dough that is topped with chocolate, hazelnut spread, maple butter, and more. Shaped like the tail of a beaver, this fried snack has been a national favorite for over 40 years. Even former US President Barack Obama enjoys this Canadian treat whenever he visits. BeaverTails can also be served as savory snacks, topped with cheese, ham, and other proteins instead.
4. Butter Tarts
Butter tarts are some of the oldest Canadian confections around. Dating back to Canada’s pioneer days, these handheld tarts are almost like pecan pies without the pecans. Hugely popular on the east coast, these pastries are made of butter, cream, sugar, and eggs — everything we love in a dessert. The most common flavor is a filling made of maple and vanilla, but for your nuptials, you could opt for alternative fillings, especially flavors or colors that hold significance.
5. Tiger Tail Ice Cream Alternatives
Exclusive to Canada, this ice cream gets its name from its appearance. It is orange-flavored ice cream swirled with black licorice ribbons, resembling the signature orange and black-striped look of a tiger. While this ice cream peaked in popularity between the 1950s and 1970s, it is still available. Whether you serve it as a snack or as a complement to another dessert, you’re sure to score points with guests, especially those who are nostalgic.
6. Persian
Although the name might make you think otherwise, this dessert actually comes from the city of Thunder Bay in Northwest Ontario. The best way to think of a Persian is as a love child of a cinnamon bun and a donut. Persians are typically oval-shaped and cinnamon-flavored. They’re usually served covered in pink frosting with either a strawberry or raspberry flavor. Consider this treat for your reception menu, especially if pink is a part of your color scheme.
When you’re tying the knot in front of loved ones, you want to make sure that the event is one that everyone recollects fondly. Choosing a menu that makes you and your spouse-to-be happy goes a long way toward that goal. Canada offers several types of desserts that are sure to make your day of celebration extra sweet and super special.
There are a wealth of strange traditions surrounding the cake that you might be interested in including at your wedding reception.
The world has seen its fair share of bizarre wedding customs over the centuries. While some practices are going to appear odd to those who are not part of a specific culture, there are certain rituals even long-standing members of a group find weird. Interestingly, many of these acts have to do with the cake. While you might already be familiar with one or two of these customs, there are a wealth of strange traditions surrounding the cake that might take you by surprise.
Learning about some of these fascinating rituals can help you to determine whether or not you want to include any of them in your reception. Take a look at these cake-related customs, and discover the lengths people will go in the name of tradition.
Smash It Up
To kick things off, it can be fun to start with a more well-known custom: the smashing of the cake. At modern weddings, guests can often get a kick out of watching a couple cut the cake and then waiting in anticipation to see if the cake will get smashed in someone’s face. Some couples love this tradition and happily grab handfuls of cake to rub on their partner’s cheeks. Still, other couples are happier keeping their clothes free of sugar and frosting. Interestingly, the custom itself seems to have developed from another weird one.
According to certain European wedding traditions, it was common for a groom to take a few bites off of a loaf of bread baked specifically for the event. Upon biting off a tiny edge of the bread, the groom would then hold the loaf above the head of the bride and shower her with crumbs. After all the bread was crumbled above her, the guests of the wedding would be invited to come and collect crumbs from the ground. The crumbs collected symbolized good luck, and when cakes replaced bread as the preferred nuptial treat, smashing the cake became lucky.
Two-Cake Town
One cake at your reception might be a delicious idea, so why not make it two? Recent years have seen a shift in the number of cakes at weddings. The main reason behind this seems to be to allow both partners the chance to have a bit of creative freedom. Compromise is often the key to a happy relationship, but there are certain happy mediums that might be difficult to find. For example, you’re never going to win when you’re fighting against a partner who wants a chocolate cake. It just won’t happen.
Instead of fighting a losing battle, you can find a lot more joy in having two cakes. The beauty of this option is that you do not need to get two lavish options. You can get two wonderful cakes that are smaller in size and allow guests the option of trying whatever option appeals to them. This is a more modern practice, so there really aren’t any fascinating facts surrounding it. Still, you may find the choice of bringing a second cake into the picture to be too sweet to pass up.
Purity or Price?
The tradition of having a white cake at a wedding is also one with interesting roots. Though white is usually used at ceremonies to symbolize purity, the real reason cakes are white is because of cost. The purer the sugar used in the frosting, the whiter the results. White became the norm as people over the decades raced to see who could boast the whitest confection of the season.
Though there are many interesting traditions surrounding the cake, it is hard to imagine a wedding without one. Discover what customs are the most appealing for your own event by exploring the other fascinating stories out there.
A Croquembouche can be a unique wedding cake option.
With the number of French contributions to our culture, you probably won’t be surprised to find a croquembouche at a Canadian wedding. However, you might not be familiar with the history, details and preparation behind these fascinating pastry desserts. Whether you’ve adopted a French theme for your festivities or just want a different type of wedding cake for your reception, this delightful tower of goodness might be just right for your crowd.
Origins in 19th Century France
While much of Canada was still under British rule, a young Parisian baker began crafting a pastry creation that would become his enduring legacy. In January 2017, the U.S. media network National Public Radio website published a piece on legendary French chef Marie-Antoine Carême, the famed inventor of the croquembouche. Born to an impoverished family around 1783 or 1784, he was presumably orphaned by social turmoil resulting from the French revolution. Carême began working in a Paris kitchen at the age of eight, and by the time he was 15 years old, he’d landed a position as an apprentice to top-rated pastry chef Sylvain Bailly.
As Carême honed his craft during his late teen years, Bailly regularly displayed Carême’s stunningly elaborate pastries in his bakery shop window. By the late 1700s, this young sensation had fashioned a tower of small, round cream puffs called “choux” festooned with spun sugar. A recipe for this dessert, which he called a croquembouche, was published in his 1815 cookbook “Le Pâtissier royal parisien.” Meanwhile, Carême continued to rise to culinary stardom, designing lavish, beautiful sweets for the likes of Napoleon, Russia’s Czar Alexander I and prince regent George IV of England.
The Croquembouche in the Modern World
While there are many modern variations on this delicious pastry, they still follow the same basic format: a tall mountain of cream puffs covered in spun sugar and other wonderful edibles. You’ll probably have no difficulty finding bakers in any province to supply one for your special day, and it’s an appropriate wedding cake for many types of wedding themes. Wedding Bells Magazine showcased a French vintage matrimonial affair in a 2012 piece on its website, adding that the couple chose a croquembouche to add a delicate grandeur to their festivities.
If you think that such a spectacular wedding cake should get its own entrance and fanfare, you’re absolutely right. In fact, contributor Kim Petyt on The Good Life France blog revealed that a croquembouche is usually not presented until dessert time. With the lights dimmed and celebratory music playing, guests typically begin chanting “Le gateau! Le gateau!” as the star of the hour is brought out to the dining hall while decorated in small, sizzling fireworks. Once the display is over, the staff serves each guest three or four of the sweet, creamy choux to enjoy.
Flavorful Possibilities Abound
In both exterior decorative touches and inner fillings, the croquembouche presents a wide variety of lovely flavors. Traditionally, each choux contains vanilla-bourbon crème in the center. Nevertheless, bakeries offer several popular filling choices which can include favorites such as caramel and chocolate, or less common tastes like rose, pistachio or orange blossom. Besides spun sugar or pastel-tinted icing, a croquembouche wedding cake can be decked out in sugared almonds, chocolate, candied ribbons or even edible flowers.
A Delicious Wedding Cake Idea for Your Nuptial Affair
The croquembouche is a distinctive and delightful wedding cake that offers a complex combination of aesthetics, French culture and flavor. Its name appropriately translates to “crunch in the mouth,” and your guests will enjoy the taste and texture of this now-classic sweet treat. Add to that the customary celebratory fanfare with which it’s presented during your festivities, and your croquembouche will certainly be a memorable part of your wedding day.
A classic wedding cake will never go out of fashion, but it is certainly not a requirement for getting married. A wedding is often a unique expression of a couples’ personalities. Why should the cake be any different? Patricia Truchom, a Quebec bride-to-be, recently celebrated her bachelorette party with a custom-made poutine wedding cake.
Poutine
Poutine is a traditional Canadian snack food consisting of French fries and cheese curds topped with brown gravy. The dish originated in Quebec and is now served throughout Canada. It can also be found in the United States in the upper Midwest, New England and the Pacific Northwest.
Truchom originally ordered a poutine for 12 for her bachelorette party from the Quebec snack bar Patate Mallette. The cooks decided to go all out for the request and created a three-tiered poutine cake. The end creation weighed 12 kilograms (26 lbs.), the majority of which was French fries. Even a small portion of poutine is very fattening; Truchom’s poutine cake was estimated to have contained approximately 35,000 calories.
Other Wedding Cake Alternatives
While poutine is probably one of the more unusual choices, there are many alternatives to the conventional wedding cake.
Pancakes and Waffles
Pancake or waffle wedding cakes can be a delicious, fun choice. If you are planning a brunch reception, they are particularly appropriate. Berries, whipped cream, powered sugar and syrup are wonderful garnishes.
Croquembouche
A croquembouche is a tower of puff pastries topped with caramel threads. This French dessert is an elegant choice for any wedding. Strawberries can also be inserted among the pastries for a touch of color.
Cupcakes
Cupcakes can add a more personalized touch and are easy to serve. They are stunning when arranged in a tower. Incorporating flowers that match the bouquets of the bridal party are one way to decorate a cupcake stand.
Cake Pops
Cake pops are another popular and creative alternative to the standard wedding cake. Frosting them in the colors of the wedding party is one way to tie the dessert into the overall theme of the nuptials.
Donuts
Many guests probably have not attended a wedding where they get to pick from a stack of assorted gourmet donuts. If you like them with chocolate icing, sprinkles or filled with cream, this alternative can be a fun choice, particularly for more casual weddings.
Cannolis
What says love better than a cannoli? This delicious Italian dessert is made of tube-shaped, fried pastry shells stuffed with sweet filling.
Cheese
A variety of artisan cheese wheels stacked on top of each other and adorned with fruit can make a lovely wedding cake. For couples who are not huge fans of sweets, this is an alternative well worth considering.
Sushi
A cake made out of pieces of sushi is a sight to be seen. For lovers of seafood and Japanese cuisine, it can be the perfect substitute for a traditional wedding cake.
Cookies
Serving cookies instead of cake is another option. Consider having them decorated with tuxedos, the date of the wedding or the happy couple’s initials.
Pie Table
Pies are another great option for a wedding dessert and can be stacked in tiers in lieu of a cake. This dessert is more rustic and fits right in if your nuptials are in a more rural location.
S’mores
Desserts that guests can assemble themselves can be very fun; chocolate, graham cracker and marshmallow s’mores fit the bill. If your affair is more causal, you may even consider letting people roast their marshmallows over a campfire.
Dessert Bar
Some couples opt for a dessert bar of miniature sweet treats. Popular choices include petit fours, brownies, éclairs, macaroons, cookies, nonpareils and whoopie pies.
Some type of dessert is typically served at most weddings. Poutine may not be your first choice, but there are many other wonderful alternatives.
