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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder if anyone really saves the top tier of wedding cake...

94 replies

bringincrazyback · 12/06/2019 11:58

...for the christening of their first child?

Just came across a mention of this and it got me wondering. We opted not to have kids, so it didn't apply to us. I've never heard of anyone doing it in this day and age, which I imagine has as much to do with people having kids later into marriage as anyone else! Grin Curious to know if anyone has done it, though - and if so, how the heck did you keep the cake fresh all that time? Grin

OP posts:
checkeredredshorts · 12/06/2019 12:00

Nope we sliced up all three tiers, shared it with family and friends and put the rest in the freezer to eat as and when we fancied it.

We wanted to have pretty christening cakes made, not a left over bit from years earlier!

P1nkHeartLovesCake · 12/06/2019 12:05

I’ve never understood why you would? If I had christened my dc I would of wanted a nice new cake not the leftovers that had been frozen from my wedding.

I’ve never attended a wedding where they have kept it, in fact the last few weddings I went to they had cheese as the cake

LagunaBubbles · 12/06/2019 12:08

This more applies to years ago I think when wedding cake was traditionally a fruit cake that could be kept and get re iced. Most wedding cakes these days are sponge.

thecatsthecats · 12/06/2019 12:10

Surely it only works with fruit cake, which is rank anyway?

My chocolate ganache cake would never have survived the second freezing (apart from the fact we won't be christening any children). My mum did send cake to some people I didn't invite though. No idea what state it was in when it arrived!

AndNoneForGretchenWieners · 12/06/2019 12:10

We did, but then I lost the baby so we ditched the cake. I don't think it's as commonplace these days as it once was.

Falafel19 · 12/06/2019 12:12

This came from a time when christenings were 7-10 months after a wedding, no time in the life span of a well stored fruit cake. Not a good idea now with sponge cake tiers and babies being born often 2+ years later.

steff13 · 12/06/2019 12:14

That's not the tradition here. Here, you save the top tier and eat it on your first anniversary. Eating cake that's been frozen for a year is kind of gross, though, so most bakeries include a replica top tier of the cake in the price, and you get it baked fresh on your first anniversary.

XjustagirlX · 12/06/2019 12:15

I did. The top tier is currently in my freezer. No idea what state it will be in by the time we have a baby. I will get another cake as well just to make sure but I fully intend to eat the top tier at the christening.

jackparlabane · 12/06/2019 12:16

We did - well, for the birth of first child, being not religious.

However biology didn't oblige so after about four years we thought the icing was starting to go a bit brown, so cracked it open and ate it - it was excellent (very alcoholic fruit cake to start with).

Obviously I got pregnant immediately after!

Original poster
bringincrazyback · 12/06/2019 12:16

@AndNoneForGretchenWieners Sorry to hear of your loss. :flowers:

Interesting to hear how the convention of having fruit cake at a wedding is dwindling. We had one, but part of me wishes we'd had something different, especially as I can take or leave fruit cake! (although I made the mistake of saying that in front of MIL and then belatedly remembering she'd made our cake - oops Grin)

OP posts:
DownToTheSeaAgain · 12/06/2019 12:17

We did. Used next tier for second birth. Cake tasted ok. Icing less so.

CecilyP · 12/06/2019 12:19

A friend of ours did that and having divorced a few years later, she offered it to us to use as a Christmas cake. It was a traditional fruit cake but it was absolutely rank. We couldn’t eat it at all. Just lucky it wasn’t served to guests at a christening!

CuriousaboutSamphire · 12/06/2019 12:19

30 years ago we did. Didn't freeze it but wrapped it well. We didn't want kids but gave it to Dis when she gave birth - she didn't get marreied, so between us we did things 'right'.

We had it redecorated and it tasted great!

But the change in styles/types of cake would make that impossible nowadays. Back then an incredibly boozy heavy fruit cake would be just the thing to see you through any number of zombie apocolypses!

transformandriseup · 12/06/2019 12:21

Our wedding cake was so beautiful and we saved the top tier for our first child’s christening.

Sadly our wedding was in 2012 and our first child is only 6 weeks old due to fertility issues so I don’t think we will be eating the left over cake. I can’t bring myself to throw it away.

@steff13 I wish we’d just eaten it on our anniversary, that’s a much better tradition!!

steff13 · 12/06/2019 12:23

We don't have fruitcake as wedding cake here, either. Most people hate it and won't eat it.

tierraJ · 12/06/2019 12:24

One of my best friends saved it for her first child's christening but I didn't eat it as can't stand raisins so can't comment on how it tasted!

Thehokeycokeyiswhatsitsabout · 12/06/2019 12:25

We did. The top tier was fruit cake.

Wrapped it tightly in cling film and froze it. Dd came along and christened about 16 months later.

Defrosted the cake and stripped the icing and marizpan and re fed it with rum. Re iced and was perfectly lovely.

Made a second tier with sponge.

I wouldn't do it if the top was sponge though

BarbaraofSevillle · 12/06/2019 12:28

I had no idea people didn't have fruit wedding cake any more. But yes, fruit cake lasts for years without freezing and it used to be the case that a Christening cake would be required within a year or two of a wedding, so made more sense then. I have one I made for Christmas about 3-5 years ago that I didn't get round to eating and I keep meaning to have a look and a try and would expect it to be absolutely fine.

I think far fewer people Christen their DC these days too. A young relative of mine is being Christened soon and I have no idea why because none of her parents or grandparents have been inside a church, probably since their own Christenings, or perhaps for a school field trip.

Thehokeycokeyiswhatsitsabout · 12/06/2019 12:28

Oh and for those that say fruit cake is horrible... you haven't had my mums... I have people requesting it.

For my wedding I had 3 cakes. A 1 tier, a 2 tier and a 3 tier.

2 of the cakes were fruit, one as chocolate, one as lemon and the other cherry bakewell.

PanteneProV · 12/06/2019 12:29

My mum insisted on a top tier of fruit for this exact purpose and was most put out when we had it for a Christmas cake a year later with no sign of offspring in sight Grin

RedSheep73 · 12/06/2019 12:29

We didn't but were never going to do christenings anyway. Maybe it made sense during rationing?

mullyluo · 12/06/2019 12:35

We asked the lady to make the top tier of our wedding cake a fruircake and the bottom tier lemon sponge so we could keep the top tier for christening of first child. We never got to ear the cake at our wedding but the bottom tier was cut and served to guests, and the reception hotel wrapped the top tier in loads of cling film and foil. 2 year MIL kept the cake, then had it sent over to us in england, another year it stayed with us taking up room in the cupboard. Finally after the christening of ds1 gave the lady doing the food the cake to serve. She unwrapped and cut into a mouldy old sponge cake that looked rank.

Winegumaddict · 12/06/2019 12:37

We did. We had a fruit cake so it lasted in an air tight tin. I fed it with a bit more alcohol and re-iced it. It was still very nice. It was saved for 2 ish years I think. I wouldn't do it with sponge but fruit cake was fine.

cheeseislife8 · 12/06/2019 12:39

We ate ours Blush

Prawnofthepatriarchy · 12/06/2019 12:42

DM kept the top tier for us but then when I was pregnant she checked it and the mice had eaten all the cake, just leaving the icing shell.

She was mortified, but they live in an old farmhouse in the country and a certain number of mice seem inevitable so I just laughed.