The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1914-11-26
STRANGE SUPERSTITIONS con-
NECTED WITH WEDDING CAKE

An wedding cakes are fearfnlly
and wonderfully made, but some are
more wonderful than others. The big,
: ger the cake the more mysteries il
can contain, hence the seeker after
; novelties in wedding cakes would Dc
well'to make tour of the bakeries
: in the foreign colonies, where a gil
tgantic cake is an accessory to every
|, marriage. Or, if he has not time to
go the rounds, he can concentrate his
Iattention upon certain representa-
tive bakeshop.
The proprietor of that shop is chock-
full of wedding cake lore. He divides
ibis cakes into classes, first according
to nationality. This is not hard 70
do. for while a wedding cake is a
welding cake the world over, it. run
off in many different editions@ and
the architecture of the more pIeten-
tious ones is frequently modelled afker
famous edifices in the Fatherlands and
ldoctored up with ingredients that give
the CONNECTION decidedly national
tang.
For example, there are Russian tow
ers, Turkish minarets, and Gothic fa-
cades and quadrangles done in sugar,
all favored with peculiar essence
that tells the initiated to what land
the brides family belongs.
The largest wedding cakes turned
out in that particular shop are those
built in Russian style. The designs
therein employed call for generous
proportions, and by the time the vari-
GUS sections of the cake have been
joined together the whole is thi,s
at which to marvel.
When you bake cakes OF unusual
size and shape, who is resp, ,nsible for
the designs?" Inquired a -,istor who
had been adniiring one such gigantic
product of the bakers skill
Sometimes l study Them out for
myself, sometimes the wedding party
offers suggestions. i prefer to do all
the planning, however, for, if do say
lit, ! know how to put UP an artistic
cake, at least so far as. externala go.
On. the other hand, my customers
ideas on the subject are often per,
fectly crazy, and if Try to follow
their instructions / am sure to ,urn
out real freak in confectionery, and
that is painful to professional price.
1T is at other peoples suggestion.
too, that l mix in all the sentimental
gimcracks with which / sometimes
spoil an otherwise good cake Being
an old hand at the business, know
what liberties can be properly taken
with the internal arrangement cf al
wedding cake, so. of course, always
attend to the rings and the china dolls
and the other conventional supe.I lui-
ties; but if you ever get hold CT 81
piece of cake baked at this shop and
break your teeth on an old coin, or "a
queer charm, or something Of thu
kind, you may rest assured that am
not responsible for the accident The
customer ordered the thing put in.
Those amulets and heirlooms are a
part Of the family superstition
Just because a man has emigrated
and settled down in this matteF4ofe
factecity is no sign that he has Iefti
his fourteenth century superstitions in
the old country. The chances are that
he did not, or even if he did, his wife
is pretty sure to hold on to them, and
as a number of those absurd fancies
are conferred in wedding cake. / am
bound to humor whims when mixing
the batter.
Many foreigners have their queer
beliefs so deeply ingrained that they |
make their own cakes, but If they1
have not the facilities for baking, they
are oblige to intrust it to the sacri-
legious hands of mere baker; In |
which case they come down here in al
bunch to superintend the mixing pro-
cess.
They do that because at certain
point in the proceedings it is desira-
bic to perform certain curious mean
tations. Those outlandish signs and |
gibberish are supposed to bestow up4l
on the cake certain virtues that will
be impaired to all who eat it. and the
bride would rather live an old maid |
to the end of the chapter than omit
these queer observances Naturally II
don't approve of any such tonfoolery. |
and it gets dreadfully on the nerves
of my men to have all those outsiders
dawdling around. droning and whiningl
while they are at work beating eggs
and Dreaming butter and sugar. but
since wedding cake is quite an ex-
pensive luxury, can afford to make
a few concessions to purchasers
How about recipes?" the visitor said
DO you use your own in these special
cases or dc the customers provide
them, as well as the minor sugges-
tions?s
They generally leave that part of
the business to me. he replied. while
there are no hard and fast rules in
re gard 10 the composition OF wedding
eaL.es, they really do not differ much,