Sweet treats had been a part of nuptial feasts for centuries, but Queen Victoria's tiered white cake took the tradition to new heights.

幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以來(lái)，甜食一直是婚禮宴席的一部分，但維多利亞女王的分層白色蛋糕將這一傳統(tǒng)推向了新的高度。

BYINéS ANTóN

作者：伊內(nèi)斯·安東

Layers of cake, each one ornately decorated with piped icing and stacked atop each other, is a staple of many modern weddings. The moment when the newlyweds cut their first slice of wedding cake is a popular photo op, a tradition that goes back to British royalty. By the 19th century cake at wedding celebrations was nothing new; it had been a part of the marriage ceremony since ancient times. The Romans crumbled a cereal cake over the bride’s head, and in medi England the bride and groom would kiss over a confection made of small, stacked buns.

多層蛋糕是許多現(xiàn)代婚禮的重要食物，每一層都用滾邊糖衣裝飾著，層層堆疊，盡顯華麗。新婚夫婦共同切下第一塊婚禮蛋糕的瞬間是一個(gè)廣受歡迎的留影時(shí)刻，這一傳統(tǒng)可以追溯到英國(guó)皇室。到了19世紀(jì)，婚禮蛋糕已經(jīng)不是什么新鮮事了; 因?yàn)樽怨乓詠?lái)，婚禮蛋糕就是婚禮儀式的一部分。羅馬人會(huì)在新娘的頭上撒上麥片蛋糕，在中世紀(jì)的英國(guó)，新娘和新郎會(huì)在由堆疊起來(lái)的小面包做成的甜點(diǎn)上接吻。

The 1840 wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha took this old tradition and turned it into something new. Their cake was big: three tiers of English plum cake that stood 14 inches tall, measured nearly 10 feet across, and weighed 300 pounds.

1840年，維多利亞女王和薩克森-科堡-哥達(dá)的阿爾伯特王子舉行了婚禮，婚禮上他們對(duì)這一古老的傳統(tǒng)進(jìn)行了創(chuàng)新。他們的蛋糕很大，那是一個(gè)三層的英國(guó)梅子蛋糕，14英寸高，近10英尺寬，300磅重。

A drawing of a bride cutting a wedding cake
A bride cuts the cake in a British colorplate illustration from 1900.

在一幅1900年的英國(guó)彩色插圖中，一位新娘正在切蛋糕。

Standing tall

高高地站立著

The height of Queen Victoria’s cake was a novelty: Most traditional English cakes were one layer at that time. Food historians believe that the queen wanted her cake to reflect a French influence, which had become popular in England. The origins of the high-rise cake go back to prerevolutionary France, when chefs began cooking ever more ornamentally and vertically. After the revolution, fancy confectioners and patissiers left France for England, where they and their craft were embraced by the British upper classes.

維多利亞女王的婚禮蛋糕的高度很新奇，畢竟當(dāng)時(shí)大多數(shù)傳統(tǒng)的英國(guó)蛋糕都是一層的。食品歷史學(xué)家認(rèn)為，當(dāng)時(shí)法國(guó)文化對(duì)英國(guó)有著很大的影響，女王是希望她的婚禮蛋糕能夠反映法國(guó)的這種影響。多層蛋糕的起源可以追溯到法國(guó)大革命前，那時(shí)的廚師們開始更加注重食物的裝飾性和垂直性。法國(guó)大革命后，一些制作精美糖果的手藝人和糕點(diǎn)師傅離開法國(guó)前往英國(guó)，在那里，他們和他們的手藝受到了英國(guó)上層階級(jí)的歡迎。

Some have speculated that these taller cakes were made in the early 18th century by a London baker, inspired to re-create the steeple of St. Bride’s Church designed by the architect Christopher Wren. In his book Wedding Cakes and Cultural History, Simon R. Charsley casts doubt on that idea: “It Anglicizes the history of the vertical cake, placing its origin . . . before the influx of continental confectioners at the end of the 18th century.”

有人猜測(cè)，這些更高的蛋糕是在18世紀(jì)早期由倫敦的一位面包師制作的，他的靈感來(lái)自于對(duì)建筑師克里斯托弗·雷恩(Christopher Wren)設(shè)計(jì)的圣布賴德教堂(St. Bride’s Church)的尖塔的改造。不過在《婚禮蛋糕和文化歷史》一書中，作者西蒙·查斯利（Simon R. Charsley）對(duì)這個(gè)觀點(diǎn)提出了質(zhì)疑:“它使多層蛋糕的歷史英國(guó)化了，至于其起源……在18世紀(jì)末大陸糖果商涌入英國(guó)之前英國(guó)就已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)了多層蛋糕。”

Adding to the spectacle (and height) was one of the world’s first cake toppers. Victoria and Albert’s cake featured several miniature statues, including Britannia, a female personification of Great Britain, on top, blessing the royal couple clad in Roman costume. It soon became popular for small figurines of a bride and groom to appear on top of commoners’ cakes.

這個(gè)蛋糕是世界上第一個(gè)帶有繁復(fù)裝飾的蛋糕，這更增加了觀感(和高度)。維多利亞和阿爾伯特的蛋糕上有幾個(gè)微型雕像，雕像內(nèi)容包括大不列顛島，在島上，一個(gè)身著羅馬服裝的英國(guó)女性形象在為這對(duì)新婚的王室夫婦送上祝福。不久，裝飾著新郎新娘的小雕像的蛋糕開始出現(xiàn)在平民的婚禮上，隨之這種蛋糕變得流行起來(lái)。

Perhaps the most enduring legacy of Victoria’s wedding cake was the use of pure white royal icing to cover the entire confection. Refined white sugar, which is used to create the iconic look, was very expensive in the 1840s, making the wedding cake a true statement piece. The cake caused a sensation. A detailed print of it reportedly hung in windows around London before the ceremony. Newspapers published images of Victoria’s cake—and every royal wedding cake thereafter—giving everyone a glimpse into the feast.

也許維多利亞的婚禮蛋糕最持久的影響是用純白色的皇室糖霜覆蓋整個(gè)蛋糕。這種用來(lái)打造標(biāo)志性造型的精制白糖在19世紀(jì)40年代非常昂貴，這使得婚禮蛋糕成為名副其實(shí)的點(diǎn)睛單品。這個(gè)蛋糕在當(dāng)時(shí)引起了轟動(dòng)。據(jù)報(bào)道，婚禮前，一幅詳細(xì)的蛋糕版畫就掛在了倫敦各地的窗戶上。報(bào)紙上也刊登了維多利亞婚禮蛋糕的照片，這讓每個(gè)人都有機(jī)會(huì)一窺這場(chǎng)盛宴。自此之后，皇室婚禮的蛋糕登報(bào)也成為一種流行。

By the late 19th century, however, thanks to the drop in sugar prices, tiered cakes with royal icing caught on among a middle class eager to emulate royal splendor on a humbler scale.

然而，到了19世紀(jì)后期，由于糖價(jià)的下跌，用皇家糖衣制作的分層蛋糕在渴望以較低的規(guī)模模仿皇室榮耀的中產(chǎn)階級(jí)中流行起來(lái)。

Queen Victoria’s wedding cake set trends, but it also stuck to tradition. Rather than a delicate sponge cake, it was a fruitcake, loaded with sugar, spirits, and dried fruit. Because of all the sugar and alcohol, fruitcake preserves well, and Queen Victoria’s cake is still around to prove it. The bride gave guests boxed slices as a memento, which were tucked away and saved.

維多利亞女王的婚禮蛋糕引領(lǐng)了潮流，但它也堅(jiān)持了傳統(tǒng)。這不是一個(gè)精致的海綿蛋糕，而是一個(gè)混合著了糖、烈酒和干果的水果蛋糕。正是由于所有的糖和酒精，水果蛋糕才得以保存良好，維多利亞女王的蛋糕直到今天仍然在證明這一點(diǎn)。新娘送給賓客們盒裝的切片蛋糕作為紀(jì)念，然后這些賓客將它們藏起來(lái)或保存下來(lái)。

Today those royal cake slices are now collector’s items. Two pieces are in the collection of the Royal Trust, while others may sell at auction for thousands of dollars. One preserved slice, still with its elegant box from 1840 (below), sold in 2016 for ￡1,500 (about $2,000).

如今，這些皇家蛋糕片已成為收藏家們的藏品。其中兩件是皇家信托的收藏品，而其他的可以在拍賣會(huì)上賣到數(shù)千美元。2016年，一塊保存好的切片就以1500英鎊(約2000美元)的價(jià)格售出，保存該切片的1840年的精美包裝盒也還在。

Growing Big

尺寸越來(lái)越大

If commoners were marrying with tiered cakes, royal wedding cakes had to get taller if they were still to convey authority and prestige. Pastry chefs set new royal standards when Queen Victoria’s eldest child, Princess Victoria, married Prince Frederick William of Prussia in 1858.

如果平民要用多層蛋糕結(jié)婚，那么皇室婚禮蛋糕必須要再高一些才能顯示其權(quán)威和威望。1858年，維多利亞女王的長(zhǎng)女維多利亞公主嫁給了普魯士王子弗雷德里克·威廉，婚禮糕點(diǎn)師為王室制定了新的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

They created a triple-layer columned cake that stood more than six feet tall. When Prince George (later King George V) married in 1893, his wedding cake also featured columns, but supported three tiers and reached a height of seven feet. Not to be outdone, Lady Elizabeth (bride of the future King George VI) had a 10-foot-tall, nine-tiered cake.

他們制作了一個(gè)超過六英尺高的三層圓柱蛋糕。喬治王子(后來(lái)的國(guó)王喬治五世)在1893年結(jié)婚時(shí)，他的婚禮蛋糕也有由三層蛋糕模型支撐的柱子，蛋糕高度達(dá)到了7英尺。伊麗莎白夫人(未來(lái)國(guó)王喬治六世的新娘)的婚禮蛋糕也不甘落人后，糕點(diǎn)師做了一個(gè)10英尺高的9層蛋糕。

Cakes have continued to be a popular part of a royal wedding’s spectacle, but the trend spread to the masses, making it more than a central prop in a dramatic celebration of the monarchy and state power.

蛋糕一直是皇室婚禮中很受歡迎的一部分，但這一潮流也蔓延到了大眾，蛋糕不再僅僅是王室和國(guó)家盛大慶典的主要道具。