Wedding Cakes in France

The French lay claim to starting the tradition of the wedding cake. There are two main styles of wedding cake in France. Regarded as more traditional is the croquembouche, a cone made of round cream-filled pastries which is dipped in hot toffee. Croquembouche comes from the French words "croquant" meaning crunchy and "bouche" for mouth or "cracks in your mouth." A cone of cream puffs is filled with French pastry cream coated with carmelized sugar and decorated with elegant marzipan roses made petal by petal. The croquembouche is often the dessert at a French wedding, baptism, christening, and other family gatherings. Its origins date back to the medieval tables of the French Royalty and Nobility.

The second style involves multiple round sponge cakes each cake a smaller size than its predecessor. These are placed on a stand with the smaller cakes on top. The number of layers can go up to ten, and often a support which cuts through the middle of the cakes is used. The tiered cake symbolizes prosperity.
In Anglo Saxon times guests brought little cakes to the wedding and piled them into a heap over which the
Wedding couple would try to kiss. This was later turned into tiered cakes in France. The European tradition in
Wedding cakes is mostly white, as a symbol of purity. Wedding cakes in other cultures are often more colorful.