The History of the Wedding Cake
Culinary Historians of San Diego will present “The History of the Wedding Cake,” featuring Jill O’Connor, at 10:30 am May 19, in the Neil Morgan Auditorium of the San Diego Central Library, 330 Park Blvd. Is it true that Queen Victoria began the tradition of the tiered white cake along with the trend for the all-white wedding gown? Why is the wedding cake such a revered part of a modern wedding celebration? What does the cake represent and why do the bride and groom feed it to each other? O’Connor will answer these questions and address the new choices of alternative sweets, from cupcakes to donut towers to a French Croquembouche. Jill O’Connor is a pastry chef, food writer, and author of seven cookbooks. She trained at the Cordon Bleu Cooking School in London and studied with the late pastry chef Albert Kumin at The International Pastry Arts Center in Elmsford, New York. As former pastry chef at the famous Golden Door Spa, she created new recipes as well as recreating classic European dessert into low-fat, low-calorie treats. This work inspired her first cookbook, Sweet Nothings. Her Sticky, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth, is currently in its 8th printing and was named one of the top 25 cookbooks of the year by Food & Wine Magazine. Her other books include Phyllo, Easter Treats, Simple French Desserts, and her latest, Cake, I Love You, released in May, 2017. O’Connor is a member of the International Association of Cooking Professionals (IACP) and attended the Greenbrier Symposium for Professional Food Writers where she won the Greenbrier Award for excellence in food writing in 2007. She holds a B.A. in English from Santa Clara University. The event is free and open to the public. www.CulinaryHistoriansofSanDiego.com Facebook.com/Culinary Historians of San Diego [email protected]