STYROFOAM cake!? Strange, but have you seen worse?

Question

My fiancee not long ago went to a wedding where the bride and groom wanted a chocolate cake, but wanted to look traditional. So the bride came up with the idea of icing and decorating a styrofoam block cut out which appeared to the guests, but after slicing it together, they went out back and served up the pre cut chocolate cake from the fridge.

Answer 1

yes ive seen worse.

a cake made of plaster. we had it last year at an office party. 3 people died of internal blockages...

Answer 2

It's not strange at all. You'd be surprised to find out how many cakes are like that. For instance, if the bride wants a big wedding cake that will feed 200, and is only having 100 guests, she might choose to have one layer be styrofoam decorated to look like the other layers. Or, they might make the whole cake out of styrofoam-just decorated styrofoam- and have some sheet cakes in the back waiting to be cut, and this is A LOT cheaper. The scariest part of making a wedding cake is assembling it, and with styrofoam you don't have to worry nearly as much. Also if you don't have to worry about the cakes getting dried out, it makes life a lot easier.
I love yellow cake with milk chocolate icing, but I would not want a brown wedding cake. So if I were to have that kind of cake, I would have a fake cake too. The styrofoam cakes are called dummy cakes. And you know what else? Those cakes you see at bakery's, in the front windows, and on display for people to look at- all dummy cakes.
Wedding cakes from bakeries take about a week to make, assemble and decorate, so if you've had dry wedding cake, that's why. I try to do it in 2 or 3 days with the cakes I make to reduce that dryness, because I think it's disgusting.

To sum all of this up, Styrofoam cakes really aren't that weird, they cost less, and they are easier to work with for the decorator.

Answer 3

That is a common practice since sheet cakes are much, much cheaper than a fully decorated wedding cake to serve all the guests.

Now, how you knew it was styrofoam in the first place I don't know. If it was done correctly the layer they cut would be made out of cake and the styrafoam would never be seen unless someone stuck their finger in it.

strangest thing I've seen was a 30,000 wedding yet they used paper plates....I'm sure it was supposed to be part of the theme but just came across as really tacky as the bride swanned from table to table in her 3k dress holding a spork.

Answer 4

it sounds a bit weird but looking at how the wedding cake originated,its not that weird after all.
Wedding Cake Traditions
The origins of the tradition of the wedding cake date back to the Roman era.

The Romans were not in the habit of baking elaborate or elegant wedding cakes with icing and custom wedding cake toppers. Usually they used loaves of wheat bread. The loaf of bread was broken over the heads of the newlyweds to bring them luck and prosperity. Sometimes it was broken only over the bride’s head, usually by the groom.

The crumbs of wedding cake that landed on the floor symbolized good luck and fertility for the bride and groom, and it was considered good luck for guests to eat the crumbs of "wedding cake". Single women scrambled for the grains to ensure their own betrothals.

http://www.sweetstarweddings.com.au/weddingcaketraditions.html
Distributing pieces of cake to one's guests is a tradition that also dates back to the Roman Empire. The first piece of cake is cut by the bride with the "help" of the groom. This task originally was delegated exclusively to the bride. It was she who cut the cake for sharing with her guests but now it is a joint task completed by both bride and groom.

After the cake cutting ceremony, the couple proceed to feed one other from the first slice. This provides another lovely piece of symbolism, the mutual commitment of bride and groom to provide for one another.

sounds a lot more romantic this way I think.

Answer 5

I've heard of it. If you are renting one you don't get a choice on style. If you can style it - you might as well buy a cake. The decorating is the hard part and for a few extra bucks you'll have a whole cake.

Answer 6

I heard about this on the radio. You can actually rent the foam fake cake, and it has a little spot where you insert a real piece of cake for the "cake cutting". Then it gets wheeled in the back , and you serve your guests cheaper cake instead.

To me, it's a lot of trouble to lie to your guests, and it insults their intelligence. I just don't think it's a good idea. Get a real cake...you can get very nice one's decorated from some grocery stores for very cheap.

Answer 7

I have seen questions on here about these fake cakes. I just dont get it. I think the delight in a wedding cake lies in the fact that... its a REAL CAKE! If it was fake, I just would not be satisfied (even if no one could tell- I would know). Fake cakes just go against the whole notion of what a Wedding Cake is!!

Answer 8

Yes, stop right away! #1 why the he** are you eating styrodoam in the first place, #2 you should NEVER eat it because the chemicals to make it can harm you digestive system causeing ruptors in you stomach and intestines and #3 AGAIN... why the he** are you eating styrofoam!?

Answer 9

Actually this is not so strange. You can even rent these pre decorated styrofoam cakes, if real they would cost thousands, but doing it this way is more economical and most people wouldn't know unless you told them.

http://www.rentacake.net/index.html

Answer 10

I've seen that alot lately..You can actually get the sheet of icing to go over it, and make it look super sleek and nice. It makes a great center piece, and picture prop, and having a precut cakes takes less time away form the event, and gets the new couple off to their honeymoon faster!

Answer 11

Actually, lots of people have fake cakes.