Sweethearts

In the window of a cake shop was the most beautiful display of wedding cakes. The centrepiece was a five-tiered cake with an old-fashioned bride and groom, who looked as though they were about to step into a dance. Every night, the Master Sugar Chef covered them with a special glass case.

But one night he forgot. It was spring and everyone had fallen in love and wanted to get married immediately. The Master Sugar Chef locked up his shop and dashed home to prepare his ingredients.

When the clock chimed twelve o’clock, all the little brides and grooms on the wedding cakes came to life.

“Look at that,” one groom said, “The master forgot his little angels.”

On top of the five-tiered wedding cake the old-fashioned groom said, “My dear, you look beautiful this evening,” as he usually did and she replied, “You look so handsome, my love,” as she usually did and they exchanged a sweet kiss.

Then they realized that their glass prison was gone!

“Look at this my dear,” he said, sweeping off his white top hat and running a white sugar hand through gilt curls.

He wore a white suit with long tails, delicately trimmed in gilt. He had gilt buttons and a gold stripe in his waistcoat. Even his shoes were white with small gold buttons. He had a white cane with a gold tip in one hand. In his buttonhole was a tiny, perfect red rose.

His bride smiled, “Hello neighbours,” she said.

Her strawberry-blonde hair was scooped up with little sugar seed pearls under a delicious white hat. Her sugar complexion was flawless, her eyes shining blue with love and on her cheeks a soft sugar blush. She wore a sugar pearl necklace.

“Just think! A five-tiered cake!” one of the grooms said very loudly, “We could have had five tiers if we wanted, couldn’t we dear?”

And his wife replied: “We thought three tiers were quite enough. Anything more is just showing off,” and she turned her back.

The strawberry blonde blushed and said, “We’re just pleased to meet you.”

Her husband said, “I think I can climb down some of the layers and pick you some roses.”

 “I hope he falls and breaks a leg,” one of the sugar grooms muttered, “Let the Master try to fix that!”

The golden groom took off his white dress coat and climbed down some sugar fretwork in his waistcoat and shirtsleeves. He picked a tiny rose for his wife and handed it up to her. She blew him a kiss.

“I’m so curious about the other layers,” he said.

So he climbed down and saw a marzipan kitten. It was smoky-grey and playing with a soft red ball of yarn. But when it saw him, the kitten dropped the yarn and pounced on his shoe, making him laugh. He stroked the kitten’s soft head, she purred and he laughed again.

“She’s purring darling,” he said with delight.

“Oh how sweet!” his bride said, peeping over the edge, “Let me hold her.”

One of the other brides nearly turned green. “Ugh, it’s sickening,” she said, “I don’t have flowers on my cake!”

Then the golden groom found a puppy. It pulled at his trouser legs and chewed on his shoe buttons. It was brown and white with floppy ears and a lolloping tongue.

“I hope it chews his buttons off,” muttered another groom.

The puppy brought a ball to the groom to throw for him.

“Come down my dear,” the golden groom called to his little bride, “Play with us.”

“I’m concerned about my skirts,” she said looking down anxiously.

The bride’s dress was scattered with white rosebuds and her lace petticoats were intricately designed.

“Maybe she’ll fall off,” another bitter bride said.

But the strawberry-blonde bride managed her hat and skirts admirably, despite showing flashes of bloomers as she climbed down. And her husband helped her and averted his eyes – all at the same time.

She stroked the kitten and played with the puppy, throwing the ball into a tangle of marzipan flowers.

On the next layer, they saw lovebirds nesting in tangled branches and on the last, butterflies landed like jewels on marzipan fruits.

“What a beautiful cake the Master made,” the little bride said, standing on the cake board.

“And just look at the others,” her husband said.

The two-tiered cake was a waterfall of crystals. The Master had designed a winter wonderland, glittering with ice and snow and the couple at the top were swathed in soft sugar furs.

The three-tiered cake was an aquamarine and indigo ocean with dolphins frolicking in the waves. There were marzipan shells, pebbles and sand. The couple on this cake wore bright swim and surf gear, and he held a surfboard. They had golden tans and blonde-streaked hair and sunglasses.

The four-tiered cake was multi-flavoured, with fudge-chocolate at the bottom, then very-strawberry, passion fruit and lightest-lemon. The whole cake was decorated with crystallized fruits dipped in chocolate. The couple on top were fruit sellers with baskets of marzipan fruits.

“See darling,” the golden groom said to his strawberry blonde wife, “Every single cake is a masterpiece!”

He bowed to his little wife and they began to dance around their cake, stopping every now and then to untangle a puppy or kitten from her skirts or his shoes.

The other couples had been so busy hating the centrepiece that they had never really looked at their own cakes.

The winter couple found that behind the waterfall of crystals was a secret cave - full of rainbows and echoes. They laughed and played with the sugar crystals.

The surf bride decided to swim with the dolphins and her husband tried out his surfboard. He dived into the aquamarine and indigo icing waves, flicking sun-streaked sugar hair out of his eyes. The dolphins chirped and squeaked excitedly.

The fruit seller groom became mischievous and threw an apricot at the old-fashioned golden couple. But the golden groom caught it and took a bite.

“Delicious!” he said, winking. “Have a bite dear?”

Then the fruit sellers threw apples, mangoes and cherries at all the couples. There was an all-in fruit fight until everyone was panting for breath.

Then they found they could jump across to each other’s cake boards and visit.

“Do you think the Master would make me a puppy?” the suntanned bride asked, as she cuddled the marzipan pets.

“I’m sure he can,” the old fashioned bride said, “But you can pet ours anytime.”

They sat together and looked at the stars shining through the shop window. They whispered stories until they fell asleep. The winter couple dreamed of rainbows, the ocean couple of the sounds of the surf, the fruit sellers of the perfect peach and the old-fashioned couple of new friends.

When the Master Chef came in the next morning and found all the sweethearts asleep at the foot of the five-tiered cake, he did not say a word, nor did he change a thing. He was a very wise Master Chef and knew that everyone who came into his shop would say:

“What a wonderful wedding!”