Sweet Tradition: 3 tips to picking the perfect Guo Da Li cake

Guo Da Li Cakes are an integral part of a traditional Guo Da Li ceremony, also known as the Betrothal Ceremony. Alongside the Wedding Xi Bings, the Guo Da Li cakes are sent with your wedding invitation cards to family and friends, and also form part of the dowry during the Guo Da Li ceremony. Ranging from elaborate showpieces to cutesy cupcakes, there may many options for Guo Da Li cakes. But we at 603 Tau Sar Piah specialise in the traditional Guo Da Li cake – the rustic and charming cake that people of earlier generations know and love, and which we would love to share with you.

What is a traditional Guo Da Li Cake?

The traditional option for the Guo Da Li cake is a marble cake. While visually simple, a lot of care and attention is put in to ensure that the cakes are delectably soft, flavourful (despite the simple classic ingredients), and with beautiful marbling.

It is also iconic to feature on the cake the word 囍, representing double happiness, to symbolize well wishes for the wedding couple. While some bakeries may have this in the form of a simple printed cake topper, our masterful bakers skilfully use red buttercream to pipe out the 囍 onto each Guo Da Li cake, showing sincerity behind the handwritten well wishes and in preserving the traditional craft.

What to consider when choosing a Guo Da Li cake?

1. Choose from flavour and style options, and consider the symbolism behind them.

As a local heartland bakery, we focus on the traditional choice of Guo Da Li cakes. While marble cakes may be the most popular due to their beautiful marbling effect, some couples may opt for the butter cake option if they prefer a plain look.

Another popular option would be our traditional Walnut Cake, for its added symbolism and meaning. In Chinese, Walnut is 核桃 (hé tao) and is homonym to 和和气气 (hé hé qì qì), which represents harmony. Thus, Walnut Cakes are also a great option to consider for its symbolism (and also its lovely nutty fragrance, alongside the health benefits it brings)!

2. Consider the storage requirements

Whether your Guo Da Li cakes are intended as gifts to announce your wedding in style, or as part of the dowry during the Guo Da Li ceremony, one thing we can be certain of is that they may have to remain unrefrigerated for an extended period. This would typically already exclude cakes which require refrigeration, such as cream cakes and mousse cakes.

Having considered your storage considerations, we have taken special care in crafting our recipes such that the Guo Da Li cakes are stable with easily manageable storage requirements. Instead of requiring prompt refrigeration, we make our cakes suitable for storage in a cool indoor area for some time, such that they can be beautifully displayed at your Guo Da Li ceremony, without having to worry about concerns like them melting. To learn about the storage requirements for our Guo Da Li cakes, please read the section on “Cakes and Tarts” at our FAQ page.

3. Consider the packaging design

Another key point for consideration is the packaging design of your Guo Da Li cake – it is important to know if there is a giftbox provided? Whether as a gift or as dowry, we think presentation and style are both important points to consider and as such, we commissioned the design of our celebratory gift box to reflect happiness and abundance of well wishes. With our giftbox in an auspicious shade of red, and featuring stylised elements of blooming flowers, the traditional reunion lantern, and celebrative fireworks – our giftbox is a great choice to share the joy of this happy occasion!

With many boxes displayed onto the table, it certainly makes for an impressive sight. And what’s more, for weddings and betrothal ceremonies we will feature our specially-designed 囍label onto the giftbox itself – further adding to the joyous atmosphere.

Order your Traditional Guo Da Li Cakes

As a traditional and proudly Singaporean bakery with decades of experience, it has been our immense privilege to have prepared our bakes for the Guo Da Li ceremonies of countless couples throughout the years.

We know well that preparing for the Guo Da Li ceremony requires significant preparation – as such, we want to help make the process of ordering your Guo Da Li cakes easy and yet, still being reflective of your unique taste and preferences. With our estore, you can easily customise your preferred options, place your orders in advance, and not have to worry!

Guo Da Li Cake delivery

To further make it more convenient for you, our estore allows for easy self-collection or delivery of your orders! As such, even Guo Da Li Cake delivery need not be a hassle – we can assist with your delivery requirements!

Make the perfect choice

At 603 Tau Sar Piah, we understand the importance of your Guo Da Li ceremony and we put our heart and attention towards preparing for your order requirements. As a small family-run bakery, we love and keenly understand the significance of each and every wedding – if you have any questions or special requirements, please do not hesitate to contact us.