The 25th Anniversary is called the “silver wedding” (Silber Hochzeit) in Germany. My husband and I just reached this milestone and I surprised him with … our wedding cake! Of course, I didn’t keep a slice for 25 years. Instead, I re-baked it!
In order for it to be a surprise, I teamed up with my youngest daughter. I baked while my husband was upstairs, working, and she would film the steps with my phone. Therefore, this time my video is a bit different from others.
How I baked my Wedding Cake
The Meaning of Nuts and Marzipan
Marzipan is made from bittersweet almonds, sugar, and rosewater. Almond and sugar symbolize the ups and downs of a marriage: Facing and overcoming the bitter times and also enjoying the good times together. The rosewater symbolizes the love in the relationship.
Tipp:
Make your own marzipan!
Nuts symbolize prosperity in some regions, so nuts in the wedding cake are often a must. In my case, I went easy on the nuts because my daughter doesn’t like them and I wanted everyone to eat from this cake. Usually, the nuts are mixed into the cream.
Other Traditions Around the Wedding Cake
Tiers
The wedding cake usually has three or five tiers. Three tiers symbolize either the trinity or the stages of a relationship: Love, wedding, marriage.
A five-tier cake symbolizes the five milestones of life: childhood, adolescents, marriage, family, and senior life.
Baking The Wedding Cake
One of the many superstitions around the wedding is that if the bride bakes the wedding cake, it brings bad luck. I actually put my inlaws in charge of getting the cake. However, I am not superstitious at all, so I COULD have baked it myself and I won’t keep anyone from doing it.
Who’s the Boss?
As I mentioned in the video: The bride and groom cut the cake together and the one who has the top hand is thought of to be the boss in the house. I think the one who grabs the knife first is the boss but that’s probably just me. Either way: We don’t boss each other around, we cooperate.
The “cutting together” is symbolic to overcome obstacles together.
Our Wedding Cake
I had no involvement in our wedding cake and left it to my inlaws to order it. They had to pick it up before the wedding and were running late. With the cake on my mother-in-law’s lap, they raced through Hamburg, were running a red light (!), and dropped off the cake at the venue, then headed over to the church and barely made it there before us. The pastor gave them a reproving glance, they claim.
About this Recipe
In the recipe there are two ingredients that you might not be familiar with:
Vanilla Sugar: You can make it yourself with this recipe or buy it at amazon https://amzn.to/3JS10BP . Since this is our wedding cake, I used a special vanilla sugar that has even more taste, equivalent to this: https://amzn.to/3Ace0ht. If you don’t want to use vanilla sugar, just use a teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Stabilizer: Here in the US known as “Whip It” but the same brand (Dr. Oetker) you can by it here https://amzn.to/3SJvRod .
German Marzipan Wedding Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
The Cake
- 4 Eggs medium size
- 150 g Sugar
- 1 sachet Vanilla Sugar
- 90 g Flour
- 35 g Corn Starch
- 2 tsp baking powder
The Filling
- 600 ml Heavy Cream
- 60 g Sugar optional
- 100 g Marzipan
- 40 ml Rum or Amaretto
- 3 sachets Stabilizer i.e. "Sahnesteif"
- 60 g chopped Nuts i.e. Walnuts, Hazelnuts, Almonds, …
For the Cover
- some Corn Starch to sprinkle on surface
- 600 g Marzipan
Decoration
- some of the Filling to pipe on top
- 8 Walnuts
Instructions
The Cake
- Whisk the eggs with the sugar and vanilla sugar for 10 minutes on high.4 Eggs, 150 g Sugar, 1 sachet Vanilla Sugar
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.
- In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder.90 g Flour, 35 g Corn Starch, 2 tsp baking powder
- Sieve the flour mix onto the egg mix and carefully fold it in.
- Prepare an 8- or 9-inch baking pan, fill the batter into the pan and bake for about 30 minutes (convection oven … adjust according to your oven!)
- Let the cake cool completely and then cut into three layers.
The Filling
- Whisk the cream with the stabilizer and the (optional) sugar.600 ml Heavy Cream, 3 sachets Stabilizer, 60 g Sugar
- Crumble the marzipan into a bowl, then add the rum and mix.100 g Marzipan, 40 ml Rum or Amaretto
- Take some of the whipped cream and add it to the marzipan, then mix these ingredients until smooth.
- Add the marzipan mixture to the remaining whipped cream and mix in.
- Optional: Add the chopped nuts to the cream and mix in.60 g chopped Nuts
Assembling the Cake
- Put the first layer into a cake ring (if you have one) and top with ⅓ of the cream. Smooth out until even.
- Add the next layer of cake and repeat with the cream.
- Put the bottom layer of the cake upside down on top and add a thinner layer of cream on top. Then remove the cake ring and add a thin layer of cream around the sides of the cake, just enough to make the marzipan stick on it later. Keep some of the cream for the decoration later.
- Put the cake into the freezer for at least an hour, better two hours.
The Decoration / Topping
- Sprinkle corn starch onto your surface and rolling pin. Then roll out the marzipan to the size of the cake including the sides.some Corn Starch, 600 g Marzipan
- Take the cake out of the freezer and set it close next to the rolled marzipan.
- With flat hands and palms down, go under the rolled marzipan, lift it carefully and place it into the cake.
- Smooth out, remove marzipan on the bottom and patch ripped areas if needed.
- Pipe the remaining cream onto the cake and decorate with the walnuts.some of the Filling to pipe on top
- Chill until serving.8 Walnuts
That cake looks lovely and delicious. Thank you for the video and recipe. I need to make this cake.
❤️❤️❤️ Enjoy the baking and the cake as much as we did!
love looking at wedding pictures. you are still beautiful. your husband looks so young. happy silver anniversary.
Thank you! :-) My husband is a few years younger than I ;-)
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, Barbara und ? Thank you for the cake recipe! That will be saved and used in the near future here. Danke!
Thank you :-) I hope your cake will make you as happy as we are!