‘How Do I Love Thee?’ Pink Wedding Cake

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Brooke

Sonnet 43 Elizabeth Barrett Browning Cake

This is the part of the blog where I confess that I am a total English Lit geek. Like, so much, that I studied it for four years, and contemplated grad school and teaching. However, other opportunities presented themselves (like making, and then writing about, wedding cakes) that were far more family friendly…and here I am.

Where was I?

Oh yes. My deep and abiding love for the British written word. Well, any written word, actually. As long as it’s well-written.

However, this happens to be one of my ab fave poems, Sonnet 43 from Sonnets from the Portuguese, by Elizabeth Barret Browning. That’s a pretty generic title, but you are sure to recognize the poem:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints!—I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

I find myself quoting it frequently.

When I saw a beautiful cake that used this particular sonnet, I knew I needed to share it with you. This is the second time we’ve featured a “poem” cake; Christen fell in love with this ee cummings hand-piped cake previously.

This simple, pink fondant-covered cake is trimmed with paper bands containing the beautiful words hand written in calligraphy. The motif is repeated in a swag that captures the same words. It also incorporates a double-height layer, something that we love around here. An old-fashioned nosegay tops the cake perfectly. It is truly one of my all- time favorite cakes, created by Wendy Kromer for Martha Stewart Weddings.

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