Hometown Homage
July 7th, 2008 @ 12:49 pm by Mrs. Cupcake
Most people like to brag about their hometown and its unique delicacies or traditions that make it stand out from the rest. Here in Philly (no one from here actually calls it “Philadelphia” 
), we’ve got Rocky, the Art Museum, the Iggles (that’s “Eagles” to you non-Philadelphians), soft pretzels, The Declaration of Independence, the Mummers Parade (a strange but absolutely fabulous New Year’s day tradition), the Liberty Bell, Tastykakes, da Phightin’ Phils (the baseball wielding Phillies), and, of course, the mouth-watering Philly cheese steak (I like to call it a “heart attack on a roll”).
While our wedding isn’t actually in the city of Philadelphia, I have lived in the area my entire life, and it’s just, well, home. The city is also where Mr. Cupcake and I met, it’s where we fell in love, and it’s where we got engaged…so it’s only natural that we would try to incorporate some aspects of Philly culture into our wedding, particularly with a little tasty late-night treat for our guests.
Friends of ours served yummy soft pretzels as a late-night snack at their wedding, but I’m picky about my soft pretzels and I insist that they be served warm, straight out of the brown paper bag that they come in. This would be a little difficult to coordinate at the wedding, as the pretzels would need to be bought fresh that day, and then reheated immediately before serving, and they’d just get cool too quickly.
Mmm, they sure do look yummy, though, don’t they?
Mr. Cupcake and I decided that the perfect treat to serve to our guests late in the evening would also be the easiest to coordinate: TASTYKAKES! Let’s face it, people: nobody bakes a cake as tasty as a Tastykake (hardy har har, I couldn’t resist). For those of you who are not lucky enough to know what a Tastykake is, it’s basically the greatest brand ever of scrumptious, snack-sized desserts, and they’re made right here in the City of Brotherly Love. There’s a huge variety of choices, including the delectable Koffee Kake:
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The scrumptious Butterscotch Krimpet:
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And, my personal fave, the melt-in-your-mouth Peanut Butter Kandy Kake:
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Tastykake products usually have a shelf life of 1-2 weeks, so we will be able to stock up a few days before the wedding without having to worry about making anyone buy them the day of, and we certainly don’t have to worry about heating them up. They are pre-packaged in individual servings, so our work will be done. Our guests’ bellies will be happy! We can’t possibly serve the Tastykakes all by their lonesome, so we’ll have some milk to accommodate the sweet goodness. At first I thought shot glasses of milk would be perfectly adorable, like this:
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But since we wouldn’t be sitting the Tastykakes on top of the shot glasses (because that would just look kind of ridiculous and not nearly as cute as the cookies), my mom had the great idea of putting out a tray of individual milk cartons, just like you’d get in grade school:
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Kitschy, cute, and — depending on how easy it is to find these in a store — super simple to just keep cold and serve to our guests as-is. Perfect to wash down the Tastykake treats!
Are you adding a little hometown flavor to your wedding with a late-night snack? Or are you infusing your city’s culture in some other way?
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25 Responses to “Hometown Homage”
Color me 110% jealous of your wedding guests. My mom’s family is from just outside Philly, and I grew up with a box of Tastycakes in some form perpetually in the cupboard (okay, who am I kidding? Usually 3 or 4…or 5 boxes…). When I went to school in VA, I would call my family and put in requests to have them shipped to me! What a great, cute idea.
Now I need a Krimpet…
We had a friend who is originally from the Philly area visit us recently and we all went to the grocery store and he had to have the Tastykakes. Fi adn I didn’t know it was such a big deal in Philly. The Peanut butter chocolate one. Wow are those good!
Ironic my friends and I always say those who don’t live here and suburbs folk call Philadelphia “Philly”, not Philadelphians
Oh, and a side note: I was the happiest little MagPie when TastyKakes turned up in my Boston supermarket during grad school. Any Beantown bees find the Philly treat up your way?
I hear you with the tastykakes. My husband is from Allentown and his mom is always mailing them down to us. (Being from Long Island I prefer Entenmann’s!)
mmmmmmmmmmmmm tastycakes. I love having a fellow Philly bee around to discuss the awesomeness of all things Philly This idea is too cute and I have a feeling the guests will be talking about it for years to come!
You can order 4oz containers of milk from Rosenbergers http://www.rosenbergers.com/company.html they are local too so it would go great with your tastykakes.
I grew up in a Philly suburb and just adore the city. I am currently living in Harrisburg, sniff, sniff. However, I am lucky enough to be getting married in the area where I grew up and to honor Philly we are doing a whole station during cocktail hour devoted to my favorites. It will have mini cheese steaks with whiz, mini hoagies (not subs), mini Philly style soft pretzels, and lemon and cherry wooder ice (for those of you unfamiliar with this you may call it water ice or more likely Italian ice in your area).
We are also putting tastykakes in the OOT bags. I just had to include them too!
i love being a philly girl at heart! great idea to incorporate the pretzels and tasty cakes! my parents were at a wedding about a month ago and they had chocolates shaped like the liberty bell and soft pretzels in the shape of the couple’s new monogram!
@leyla: that’s too funny…. well, I DO live in the ‘burbs but at least in my family (many of whom grew up in the city), people rarely say the full name of the city!! To each his own I guess
@NoveBride08: that is such a great idea, thanks so much for the recommendation! I have already emailed them to see about buying in bulk!
Ooh - I like the milk carton idea. You could serve them atop buckets of ice. I’m searching for a photo - but I can’t seem to find one!
Oh you are making me miss home!! I like the Tastykake Chocolate Kreamies the best!
Our wedding is in Cooperstown, NY (location chosen for the Art Museum there, not because of the Baseball Hall of Fame), but still I think we may have to incorporate the Phillies Hall of Famers into the reception somehow. Perhaps for table names. I can just picture it: “I’m sitting at the Mike Schmidt table. Where are you sitting?” “I”m at the Steve Carlton table”! I suppose we’d have to throw in some Red Sox as well for FI’s family… (sigh).
My mom is from the Philly area, and for a few years, my grandparents would send us a big sampler package from Tastykake for the holidays. I love the Butterscotch Krimpets myself. We always have to go to Wawa when we visit too!
I’m getting married in Hawaii, where I used to live. That being said, we’re giving Hawaiian OOT bags for the guests flying to Hawaii. I have a few friends that live in Hawaii, so rather than give them Hawaiian OOT bags, we’re giving them Pennsylvania OOT bags. I’m thinking whoopie pies, hershey’s chocolate, turkey hill tea cooler…I’ll have to add tastykake to the list!
mmm — but my preferred method of eating a butterscotch krimpet (peeling the icing off, rolling it into a cigar, eating the icing, then snarfing the cake) isn’t exactly wedding dress-appropriate…
TASTYKAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG, I miss those little pies full of fruity goodness (apple and peach were my favoirite, my dad <3s blueberry and cherry) and that strangely delicious crust. I thing they’re made out of pure empty calories, but YUM!
My family owns a dairy and I’m having milk cartons out at the end of the night with cookies for a bedtime snack. Great brides think alike!
You MUST get the small cartons from Wawa to tie in the Philly thing! We too are debating Tastykakes vs. soft pretzel late-night snacky-poo.
I LOVE THIS IDEA. the pre-wrapped snack cake is perfect and would take minimal effort to be served…brilliant.
OOOh wonderful idea! Just to let you know (in case, unlike me, you haven’t completely killed your budget by this point!) when my cousin got married 3 years ago, she managed to talk a few Mummers into playing at her wedding as a surprise to her husband at the end of the night. Apparently, one of their first dates was a Mummers parade so it meant a lot to the couple. They came in costume and everything, and people still talk about how sweet it was - even people who had never heard of the Mummers loved it. The best part was that she later told me that she basically just paid them a trivial sum for the travel - they were so excited to do it they refused to take any money. I don’t know how close you are to Philly, but you may want to call around - maybe you can find the same group of happy Mummers who would be willing to play at your wedding for free!
i love tastycakes! too bad they aren’t sold down south…..sigh….
I’m a Jersey girl who grew up with tastycakes and Drakes stuff. I likey Drakes VERY much! If I could get my hands on Sunny Doodles and Yankee Doodles I would totally serve those as a late night snack but I can’t so I won’t 
super cute!
we sent my RHODEY family home from our engagement party in Philly (my fiance’s family is from there) with tastycakes and fresh hot pretzels! such a cute idea to do tastycakes and milk!
[...] up our Tastykake dessert display towards the end of the [...]
Mrs. Cupcake, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 27, Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Construction Project Manager
Engagement Date: February 10, 2007
Wedding Date: September, 2008
Blogging Since: December 7, 2007
Venue: The Desmond Hotel in Malvern, PA
About Me: Mr. Cupcake and I hit it off at a Halloween party and immediately began a long-distance relationship. After two years, he moved to my neck of the woods, and a year and a half after that, he proposed at the “place we fell in love.” I am a true perfectionist who enjoys designing and creating more work for myself, so wedding planning is my perfect outlet. Mr. Cupcake and I are both old souls, and we hope to weave that aspect of our personalities into our wedding day.
Cute idea, Cupcake! I love me some krimpets and kandy kakes! You’ve already got my mind swirling for a sweet treat to further Philly-ize my wedding. Peanut chews, maybe?