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Florida Couple Offer Secret Of 60-Year Marriage: Eating Wedding Cake Each Year

By Anne Sewell
Published on: 08:22 PST, Aug 25, 2015

It has been 60 years since Ann and Ken Fredericks of Florida tied the knot, and they now offer up the secret of the longevity of their marriage. That reason quite literally takes the cake. What they do is to eat a piece of their original wedding cake every year on their anniversary.

The only thing is, that wedding cake has been kept in a Maxwell House coffee can and stored away in a cupboard at room temperature in their kitchen for the 60 years of their happy marriage.

According to You Magazine, while the cake might sound rather stale, their marriage is reportedly kept fresh this way, although to some it might sound rather unusual.

There have been stories of other couples freezing a portion of their wedding cake to thaw out and enjoy on their first anniversary. However, in this case, the cake has been sitting in that old coffee can wrapped in plastic this whole time.

Ann Fredericks, 81, explains in the video below, “I mean, dark fruit cake keeps.”

“We just never thought of this as being unusual.

“It’s a little dry, and it doesn’t taste bad.”

Apparently it tastes, well, like cake. However, one would think after 60 years, that wedding cake would be more than just a little dry. What they do every wedding anniversary is to take out a portion of their wedding cake and then moisten it with a little brandy before eating it.

As the icing on the cake, so to speak, they then toast each other with a bottle of champagne while listening to a recording of their wedding ceremony, which was given to them as a gift.

Speaking of the wedding cake, Ann said, “Believe me; it’s quite tasty, as long as it’s got enough brandy on it. And it’s never made us sick.”

Ken, 85, said that maybe this is why they have been around so long, to which Ann replied, “A little brandy never hurt anyone.”

When the story of their marriage success hit the media, the couple were very surprised, as they thought nothing of what they are doing and thought it was quite the normal thing. They said that in some cultures, keeping a slice of wedding cake brings good luck.

However, under normal circumstances, of course, the cake would be refrigerated or frozen all that time, ready to enjoy on the first anniversary, not kept in a coffee tin to be enjoyed every year for 60 years.

The fruit wedding cake was originally made by Ann’s grandmother and was a three layer cake. The couple retained the top tier to enjoy every year of their married life.

According to the Huffington Post, a spokesperson from the food safety chat service Ask Karen, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was concerned over the safety of eating the now-very old wedding cake. The spokesperson said that they would not recommend eating practically any food that old.

However, despite the warning, Ann and Ken Fredericks intend to keep up their rather unique tradition and will keep on eating that wedding cake every year until the cake is finished.

[Image: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Sarah R]

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