This Couple's Celebrating 61 Years Of Marriage With Their Original Wedding Cake

Couple is celebrating 61 years of wedded bliss with their dark fruit cake

This Florida couple is celebrating 61 years as husband and wife by eating their original wedding cake. Prepare to meet the most adorable couple, Ann and Ken Fredericks.

“Here we are in our 80s and we still love each other. We still go to bed at night and we snuggle,” Ann shared. It’s a common tradition – couples all over the world preserve the top tier of their wedding cake and eat it a year later as an omen for good luck. Since the Fredericks have kept their precious dessert for several decades, it’s safe to assume they’ve had a long streak of luck.

And with both husband and wife in good health, it’s looking like they might outlive their unique tradition. “I’m 82 and my husband is 86 and this year was our 61st wedding anniversary. I’m torn between eating and having it over with or making it last,” Ann told ABC News. “And then we said, ‘You know, it would be fun if we outlive it.’ That would be a goal for us.” The dark fruit cake commemorated their nuptials on Aug. 19, 1955, and was made by Ann’s grandmother, who was apparently an amazing cook.

We know what you’re thinking, how big was the monstrous cake and does it actually taste good? Well, it’s unclear how large it was on their special day, but Ann said “the cake [now] is only like 3 inches by 4 inches, what we have left of it. So we both enjoyed a very small piece.” And it’s allegedly still edible. “It tastes fine. It’s never been in the refrigerator or the freezer. I keep it wrapped in saran wrap. When we started the tradition it used to be wax paper because that’s all we had back then. It doesn’t spoil,” she explained. We never met a cake we didn’t like so we’ll trust Ann that it’s still tasty.

Ann said her grandmother’s recipe is to thank for the cake’s long life. “Dark fruit cake is made with brandy and it’s made with enough alcohol in it so it doesn’t spoil. But let me tell you — it looks black. It’s that dark now after all these years,” she shared. “She used her recipe and I wish I had that recipe. It hung in her cellar in cheesecloth to age and then it was taken to a baker and sealed with an almond glaze. Dark fruit cake is moist and it will bleed through regular white frosting.”

After the almond glaze Ann said the baker topped it with white icing, but you couldn’t tell from looking at it nowadays. It’s so dark we assumed it was some kind of chocolate cake. Still having a hard time swallowing the idea of aged cake? Take a note from the Fredericks, who pour a shot of brandy over their precious slice to re-moisten it every year.

The Fredericks don’t know if the cake or the brandy kept their marriage healthy for all those years, but thankfully they’ve still got plenty of both to celebrate with next year. “We’ve raised three children, put them all through college and we’ve got nine grandchildren,” Ann explained. “We’ve had a really fortunate life.”

See the adorable couple and their wedding cake in the video below.