Some media outlets speculated that the wedding cake was also dairy-free because the bride is a vegetarian of long standing. But Frances Steenman said that was not the case.
"Instead of flour, we used a special brown rice blend that contains no barley, rye, oats, or wheat," she said. "But no, it was not a vegan cake."
Gluten-free baking is not easy, said Monica Glass, pastry chef at 10Arts on the Avenue of the Arts here in Philadelphia. Glass also has a gluten allergy, so she knows the difficulties firsthand.
"A lot of gluten-free recipes are more dense, but you need a recipe that's moist enough to be tasty," Glass said.
At a wedding ceremony, all eyes are on the bride, but at a reception, the cake takes center stage. So it has to look good.
"But taste," Glass says, "is foremost."
The popular bridal website TheKnot.com estimated the cost of the Clinton cake at over $11,000. But Steenman said that too was incorrect.
"I can't speak to the price directly, but what the media speculated was not true."
"We work with all budgets and all kinds of dietary requests due to allergies or religion," Steenman said, "so we were definitely qualified to do this."
And how did they transport their 500-pound masterpiece from the bakery in Mount Kisco to Astor Courts, the beaux-arts mansion built for John Jacob Astor IV, about 50 miles away?
"There was a lot of engineering behind it, and a lot of practice," said Steenman, whose husband Maarten does the designing and baking.
"Throughout the years," she said, transporting cakes "has always been the most stress for pastry chefs."
"You can't possibly travel with a cake that big stacked up," said Steenman, so she assembled it on-site and left.
