Divorce Cakes Growing in Popularity as Couples Look for Unique Ways to Bring Closure

Along with wedding cakes and the growing popularity of groom’s cakes, a new reason for cake is here and it’s a bit less expected — meet the divorce cake. Bakers, lawyers and event planners with a first-hand perspective of the issue have brought attention to the fact that people aren’t just bringing out the cake for a happy experience anymore.

“We wanted to do something that expressed the fact that we were doing the divorce not so much as an end of our relationship, but as us moving into things like co-parenting and co-business management,” explains Steve Wolf, who recently had a divorce party with his ex-wife that included a gluten-free divorce cake.

Wolf says that such parties can give closure to friends and family, and help to smooth the ruffled ends that occur when a couple splits.

Not surprisingly, common themes for divorce cakes are a little different from traditional wedding cakes. Upside down tiers are popular, and black frosting is a frequent request. One cake designer in Florida, Larry Bach, has baked several divorce cakes over the past two years, and says that one popular design has the upside-down cake landing on a groom figure. “I think it’s a healthy thing,” says Bach, pointing out that it helps take away some of the embarrassment people feel about divorce. “When my sister got divorced years ago, she and my mother went into mourning.”

It would be over-hyping to say that divorce parties and their corresponding cakes are “popular,” but many bakeries do report selling at least one such cake each month. Currently, about 2.4 million Americans get divorced each year. Considering that divorce is one of the three most stressful life events people experience on average… why not “let them eat cake”?