There’s been quite a bit of news out there about the wedding cake that will be served at William and Kate’s royal wedding.

What’s most interesting to me is that the official wedding cake will be a fruit cake. Literally, the type of cake that people — maybe just us Americans? — make jokes about every Christmas. Apparently, its not really a joke to Britons — they really love their fruit cake and it is a Christmas tradition for them. I don’t know how it became a joke in America, but maybe it was just lost in translation.

Check out this interview with the baker who will design the official, multi-tiered wedding fruit cake:

Kate apparently had extensive plans for this cake. It will feature hers and William’s new cipher — their logo, if you will — which will probably include their entwined initials. The multi-tiered cake (and apparently, most royal cakes are, but that make sense, if you think about it — since a royal wedding cake will probably feed many, many people) will also feature a British floral theme. Each tier will feature English roses, Scottish thistles, Welsh daffodils and Irish shamrocks.

Now, I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a fruit wedding cake. Sure, I’ve had wedding cakes with strawberries in between layers, but dried fruit soaked in brandy and baked right into the cake? Can’t say I’ve had the pleasure. So I can’t imagine how it might look. So I looked it up, and I found one lovely example, complete with method:

Photo from cakes-you-can-bake.com

This is a fruit cake? Beautiful! Consider me sold, although I’m still not sure about that part where Patricia from London said she laced the cake layers with Cointreau over the four months she stored them for maturing. Tell you what, just make me try it, don’t tell me about the cooking method.

But what about the second cake? Apparently, Prince William is pulling some favors and is having a special treat made for his wedding as well — a chocolate biscuit cake. Again, this must be another English creation and involves rich tea biscuits, dark chocolate and being set in a freezer, rather than in the oven. And actually, if the recipe at the end of this Daily Mail article is correct, this sounds more like a pudding (like bread pudding?) than a cake.