While there certainly are countless over-the-top cakes — like the cakes of Princess Diana or Grace Kelly — one of the most iconic wedding cakes is that of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Wagner. With an array of luxurious flavors and ample decorations, it’s no surprise that the cake had a price of $3,700 (or $23,000 with adjusted inflation). So when push comes to shove, is this cake worth trying to recreate? Do the cake flavors really stand the test of time?
It may not have been $23,000 worth of a wedding cake, but even without baking every single tier, the process was still equally miserable for the YouTube channel Mythical Kitchen. There on the channel hosts Josh and Emily went about baking, decorating, and stacking a replica of the famous couple’s cake. Throughout the video, you get great tidbits of historical information, entertainment, and baking. With all of this wrapped into one program, you get the feeling of watching an actual television show.
Despite Elvis and Priscilla being in a relationship for six years prior, no expenses were spared for this 1967 Las Vegas wedding. The pastry chef at the Aladdin Hotel constructed a towering six-tier wedding cake that had (by today’s standards) uncommon flavors. The flavor profile started with a basic vanilla butter cake. However, then the filling and coating turn towards a European, very Old World direction with a kirsch-flavored Bavarian cream, double-coated layers of apricot jam, and miles of rolled fondant.
The hosts worked on making the middle layer which, while not as wide as the base, was still a whopping eighteen inches in diameter. It called for hefty portions of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. Even though most butter cakes come out dry, this cake looked unusually moist for this sort of recipe. No sugar syrup soaking was needed, which is quite unusual for a cake made way in advance.
The whipped cream was folded into the booze-infused pudding, creating a lighter, airier texture.
Most tiered cakes need a little bit of engineering behind them, but this cake needed a structural plan worthy of a city zoning proposal. This butter-based cake crumb is heavy, but the filling and frosting are light. An imbalance like that can lead to the filling shifting the layers or oozing out of the sides of the cake. Luckily for the hosts, the filling stayed put.
The weight of this 18-inch three-layered cake was massively heavy, sagging around the rods and cups supporting the cake in the tier. As they sliced into the cake, you could see the structural integrity of the cake collapse into itself.
Despite the literal labor of love, the combination of vanilla cake, kirsch-infused cream, and apricot jam got a thumbs up. The hosts were surprised that the rich ingredients didn’t feel overwhelmingly heavy on the palate, tasting worthy of a $23,000 price tag.
Even if you don’t make all six layers, do you think you’ll have a go at baking up this flavor combination?