Gary Allan Davis is a Master Chef and journeyman baker who lives
in Kelowna, British Columbia.
“I have known Mr. Davis as a diligent, hard-working individual
[who] also is a very creative and hands on” chef, said Marcel Kuenzler, an
Executive Chef for the Calgary Flames hockey team, and former employer. Guy
Allan Davis, he went on, has supplied a full range of cakes, pastries,
chocolates, and artisan breads.
Among the many culinary interests of Guy Allan Davis is the
creation of wedding cakes. Wedding cakes, of course, are the centerpiece to
wedding celebrations. The classic wedding cake is multi-tiered and well-ornamented,
with figurines representing the newlyweds placed at the top. Wedding cakes are
the focal point of the celebration; the moment the newly married couple share a
piece is greatly anticipated.
Wedding cakes, remarkably enough, can be traced as far back as
the ancient Roman Empire. By today’s standards those cakes must have been quite
humble, but the meaning and symbolism is the same. A custom of that day was to
break pieces of the wedding cake over the bride’s head, and for relatives and
guests to eat them.
Those ancient Roman wedding cakes were typically made of whole
wheat flour, and were unlike the sweet cakes of today. By Medieval times they
were more like we’re accustomed to today, though not as sweet. According to
legend, the tradition of the bride and groom figurines began about a hundred
years ago, and was so popular that it quickly became an established part of the
classic wedding cake.
