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----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, February 04, 2001 8:06 PM

> ...Son
> is getting married in September....How have some of you dealt with the
> issue of wedding cakes?....Has anyone tried to incorporate gluten free
> cake with the wedding cake?

The people on this talklist are amazing.  To date, I have received over 50
replies and all were great responses, including a couple from some well
known and highly respected people in our celiac world.  Dealing with the
special problems celiac poses is so much easier when one receives the kind
of support and caring that the people on this list provide.  Thank you all!
Because many of the responses were similiar suggestions, I will paraphrase
only a few.

"we had a dessert table.  It incorporated the bride and groom's favorite
delicacies as they were partial to chocolate!  Our caterer was very
aware of the celiac that runs in my family, so most items were prepared
sans gluten."

"When my daughter got married, it was also our wedding anniversary so we had
an anniversary cake & a wedding cake.  There are many wedding specialists
that will make your cake GF if you supply the mixes."

"when my son was married in a simple ceremony in our backyard, we made
individual mini-loaf cakes, dusted them with powdered sugar & served them
with farm fresh peaches and blueberries in season with frozen custard on the
side."

"Lots of wedding cakes are made in layers, separated by trays on
decorative columns. As long as one of the layers is gluten free and you
are ensured a slice from that layer, you are home free. No one even has
to know that there is anything special about the gf layer - there are
lots of gf frostings, so it could be the same frosting on the entire
cake. Just be sure the gf layer is cut first or with a separate set of
cake slicing tools."

"You can use any genoise recipe which calls for cake flour...just sub
cornstarch, cup for cup...this comes from Julia Child....they work!"

"I attended a wedding whereby the father of the groom was celiac.  His wife
furnished ice cream for him and for me.  Although not cake, it allowed us to
not feel left out."

"-a main, tiered cake with some smaller satellite cakes that could be
connected by decorations and have one of them be your GF cake. That would
also give them the chance to make a special one for any possible diabetics
as well."

"Don't forget you then need 2 knives to cut and 2 cake lifters to serve..I
used one from each side of the family. "

"There are several good bakeries out there that could work with you to
handle this, I am sure, including Mr. Ritt's in Philly, PA. I only
suggest them because I have tasted most of their cakes and they taste
truly like a gourmet bakery cake, delicious. They also do cake blanks
(which means without the frosting).  Perhaps you could work with them
and a local bakery to do the frosting/decorating?"

"At my brother's wedding, I had the chef's serve my celiac dad a beautiful
tray of chocolate covered longstemed strawberries that I had made myself, so
I was SURE they were GF- I brought them in a cooler to hand over to the
chef."

"In 'The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy' it is on page 113 and
is called the Featherlight Yellow Cake.  Contrary to it's name it is NOT
light and tastes very much like traditional wedding cake. In 'More from the
Gluten Free Gourmet' there is another recipe on page 97  for a Yellow Velvet
Cake that would also work."

"-we made and brought with us the morning of the wedding a wonderful and
easy smaller wedding cake, which was on a beautiful raised cake plate and
which was what my daughter cut. It was right next to the guest's large cake
on the main table."

"I've been thinking about your dilemma over the wedding cake, and I keep
coming up with this same answer.  Forget about the cake.  If you bring
your own cake, you will be eating your own cake -- not your son's
wedding cake.  You can't eat his, and that's that.  But you can be with
him and share his joy. Celebrate that you are at the wedding, and don't
make a fuss over a trivial detail.  Your son and his future wife will
have enough to worry about without accommodating your special need (and
having a Celiac daughter, I do appreciate what you and the rest of us go
through, so I do not mean in any way to minimize the struggle.)"