The Cake

If you're holding a handfasting instead of a traditional wedding, you may want to do something special instead of just
having a traditional cake. Sharing a cake with your new spouse is a time-honored tradition that goes back man centuries, so if you're looking for something a bit different, you might want to try something that reflects that history. The idea of the big ostentatious white wedding cake is a relatively new one; in fact, in days gone by, the wedding or handfasting cake was actually quite simple and plain. Sometimes it was brushed with sugar or honey if the bride and groom were well-off, but often it was just a cake with little to no ornamentation.

Originally, wedding cakes were provided by the guests. Each person attending the ceremony brought a small cake, and they put them all in a big pile. Eventually, as enough people arrived, you ended up with a giant heap of cakes. Around the Victorian era, however, that changed, and it became the responsibility of the bride and groom to provide a cake for guests. Now, it seems that the bigger and more elaborate the cake is, the more impressive people see the wedding.

An important part of any circle or group ritual is the "cakes and ale" served at the end. The sharing of food and drink
serves a twofold purpose: to help "ground" the celebrants after intense energy work, and the simple plain fun it is to bask in the "afterglow" of ritual in the spirit of good fellowship and celebration. Certain foods, of course, should be featured a certain sabbats: Bread at Lammas, Eggs at Ostara, and Apples at Samhain to name a few. However, seasonal celebrations are not the only celebrations that warrant special foods.

Food and drink often played an integral part in the wedding ceremonies of old. In ancient Macedonia, weddings were solemnized when the bride and groom ate from the same loaf of bread, symbolizing their unity. In some traditions, it was customary for the happy couple to share a "loving cup" (two-handled goblet) as part of the ceremony. In Scotland, a round of shortbread was broken over the bride's head, no doubt symbolizing wealth and fertility in the rich pastry. But the symbology did not end with the ceremony or wedding feast -- newly wed couples were fed dishes and beverages that featured honey for the first month of their married life to encourage love and fertility. The surviving vestige of this tradition lives on in the name given to the holiday immediately after the ceremony: The Honeymoon.

When planning a handfasting feast or bringing a dish to a potluck, it is always a good idea to include foods that promote good luck, happiness, prosperity, and fertility. Sweet foods such as honey (mentioned above) and chocolate (which is considered a powerful aphrodisiac!) should be featured, as they symbolize the sweetness of a loving union. Likewise, fruits (Love) and nuts (prosperity) are welcome. Beneficial herbs and spices include basil, cinnamon, cloves and saffron, to name a few.

Last but not least, every handfasting feast should feature a special loaf of bread or cake, that should be cut and served by the bridal couple to symbolize the beginning of their life together. Granted, a cake can be bought from any bakery. However, there is something wonderfully magickal in a cake produced by the hands of the bride (or the Groom, for that matter). Or, at very least, by someone close to the couple, who has taken the time to incorporate good luck wishes and magicks into the cake batter!!

Traditionally, a handfasting cake is laden with fruit and nuts and spices. Unfortunately, the trouble with Grandma's Victorian Wedding Fruitcake recipe, is that fruitcake is either really, really good, or really, really bad, with not a lot in between. Not to mention the fact many modern tastebuds do not find the heavy spiciness of dark fruitcake at all palatable. That being the case, white cakes, chocolate cakes, and cakes such as the one below now find themselves as an integral part of handfasting ritual.

Here are a few recipes for your handfasting cake.


Wiccan Handfasting Cake
Recipe by Gerina Dunwich

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup
honey
5 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons grated lemon rind
2-1/2
teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon rose water
pinch of basil
6 fresh
rose geranium leaves

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy an light. Add the honey and mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition. Gradually add the flour and blen thoroughly with a large wooden spoon after each addition. Stir in the lemon rind, lemon juice, rose water and a pinch of basil --- the her of love. Line the bottom of a greased nine-by-five-by-three-inch loa pan with the rose geranium leaves and then pour in the batter. Bak the cake in a preheated 350 degree oven for one hour and fiftee minutes. Remove from oven when done and let stand on a rack
for twenty minutes before unmolding. Spread icing or sprinkle sugar on top of the Handfasting Cake just before serving.

{The above recipe for "Wiccan Handfasting Cake" is quoted directly from Gerina Dunwich's book "Wicca Craft: The Modern Witch's Book of Herbs, Magick, and Dreams", page 147, A Citadel Press Book, Carol Publishing Group, 1991/1995)


Handfasting Cake
(Scotland) adapted from Kitchen Witch's Cookbook

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups currents
1 1/2 cups white raisins
4 cups flour
2 1/2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup Drambule Liqueur
12 medium eggs
2 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1 cup almonds ground
1 T lemon rind powdered
1 cup almond slivers
5 cups maripan
icing of any kind

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. grease and line 2 or 3 spring form pans with waxed paper. Mix the currants, raisins and /4 cup flour in medium sized bowl. Beat the butter, sugar, and liqueur, then add eggs one at a time. combine flour, baking powder,cinnamon and nutmeg, in another bowl. Mix the flour into the egg mixture on low speed. Then beat on high for 2 minutes scraping the bowl constantly. Fold in the raisin mixture, ground almonds and powdered lemon rind. Pour into the pans. Sprinkle with slivered almonds, bake until done about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Cool. Spread each cake with marzipan and stack cakes on top of each other. Frost Magical Attributes: Love, joy, fidelity, patience, blessing Celebrations: Weddings, vow renewals, engagements.