mrs2be.ie

[yumyumcake]

Sorry to be pedantic here but fruit cake as a tradition is all of the above as mentioned but it pre-dates freezers, the reason fruit cake was used is because it doesn't need any other form of preservative as the sugar in the cake and fruit preserves it so keeping it for first christening was never a problem. The tradition is more English than Irish in origin.

I actually opened a fruit cake yesterday that I made for Christmas 2010 but didn't use, needed some fruit cake for this weekend so remembered I had that one, it is fine, lovely actually, had a slice of it with my tea last night. People think it is the booze poured on the cake that preserves it but its actually the sugar content.

[Sept11bride]

We briefly covered the HAACP standard in my college course (too many years ago!). The hotel is probably covering themselves by saying Fruit cake only. Aside from the HAACP cert they need from the bakery for the cake, they will also need to ensure they store the cake properly in the hotel before it is used. Fruit cake doesnt really need much proper storage, whereas cakes with cream or buttercream will need to be stored properly (in a fridge I presume) and if frozen, need to be properly thawed before serving. Its more work / responsibility for the hotel so maybe thats why they are sticking to fruit only? I have heard of this a couple of times before.

[MrsEnglish]

Id never have a fruit cake Id tell the hotel where to go (even tell them its fruit cake) they wont do anything on the day!
Hubby and I have a mutual dislike for fruit cake so NO hotel would tell us what cake WE would be getting! In the same way they wouldn't tell us what favour / shoes we would have!

[yumyumcake]

It is kinda unreal for them to specify just fruit cake, do they do many weddings? Very very few wedding cakes are all fruit any more, in fact I would say only they ones who go for the cheapy cheapy option of M&S 3 for 2 fruit cakes. It would be hard to believe that if they regularly do weddings that they would not have come across other types of cakes.

[MrsD2be2012]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't want only fruit cake! It's a four star hotel. I emailed them back and they said it's a standard clause for hotels, but as long as it doesn't have fresh cream in it, then there's no problem.

[Mrs Brideog]

So, does that mean you don't HAVE to have fruit cake then? You're allowed any cake just as long as it doesn't have fresh cream??

[MrsD2be2012]

Yeah it seems so, though the T&Cs quite clearly say "due to HACCAP regulations we can only accept fruit cake". Weird.

[Mrs Brideog]

They probably have to put that in there just in case there is food poisoning but are probably willing to turn a blind eye if you don't bring a fruitcake. They just care about covering themselves but probably also realise it's highly unlikely that your cake, whatever it is, would cause food poisoning. I'd get whatever cake you want and like MrsEnglish said, just tell them it's fruit and say nothing or just come clean. From what you've said, I think they'll let you have what you want as long as the HACCP standards are assured.

[ImpactCakes]

CAn I please let you lovely ladies know Fresh Cream is not used inside an iced cake. Icing cracks in a fridge, and wedding cakes take hours to decorate so you can't have a fresh cream cake sitting on the counter while it is decorated. It is completely against HSE regulations, anyone suggesting or recommending fresh cream inside an iced cake is a dangerous amatuer