Vanilla cake, raspberry filling and buttercream sound like an easy choice for a celebration. Add a Kennedy connection, and dessert becomes a conversation starter. For Dallas readers who enjoy a little history with their dinner parties, the cake sold as JFK’s Wedding Cake offers two possibilities: order the bakery version from Massachusetts, or bake a raspberry-and-vanilla layer cake at home.
The idea comes from Taste of Home’s feature on ordering JFK’s wedding cake. Before choosing a delivery date or reaching for the mixer, though, it helps to separate the cake available today from the historical wedding centerpiece and the recipes circulating under its name.
A wedding story worth getting right
John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier married on September 12, 1953, at St. Mary’s Church in Newport, Rhode Island, according to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Kennedy was then a Massachusetts senator. Photographs of the couple cutting their elaborate wedding cake have become part of the visual record of that day.
The bakery history deserves a little care. In a 1967 oral-history interview preserved by the JFK Library, Kennedy’s Fall River campaign organizer Edward C. Berube recalled introducing him to baker Babe Plourde. Berube said Jacqueline later contacted him to arrange the wedding cake with Plourde.
Montilio’s, meanwhile, sells a vanilla-and-raspberry cake through Goldbelly under the JFK wedding-cake name. Goldbelly connects it to the 1953 wedding and subsequent presidential celebrations. Those accounts should not be collapsed into a claim that today’s shipped cake reproduces every detail of the photographed centerpiece. The product’s documented appeal is its combination of vanilla sponge, raspberry and buttercream.
How Dallas readers can order it
The Goldbelly listing for Montilio’s JFK’s Wedding Cake showed a price of $89.95 with free shipping when checked on October 9, 2026. It describes an approximately seven-inch cake serving eight, shipped frozen with dry ice for nationwide delivery. Decorations may vary.
Enter your Dallas delivery address and check the available arrival dates before paying. Nationwide shipping is advertised, but this article has not verified a particular Dallas address or delivery day. Confirm the final total and any applicable taxes at checkout, especially if you are planning around a birthday, anniversary or dinner reservation.
Montilio’s own website directs customers to Goldbelly for shipped orders. Its separate flavor menu lists Presidential White among its traditional cakes and European Raspberry among its fruit fillings. Dallas readers should use the shipping route rather than assume the bakery’s local pickup options include Texas.
Prefer to bake?
A home version gives you control over the presentation and turns dessert into a weekend project. The recipe below is a published home adaptation. We did not find a verified public release of Montilio’s original production formula, and Dallas Registry has not kitchen-tested this version. Treat it as a way to enjoy the vanilla-and-raspberry pairing, with its own proportions and appearance.
For an occasion where the bakery connection is the point, order the named product. For an afternoon spent baking and an informal celebration afterward, the home recipe offers a practical alternative. Either way, tell guests which version is on the table.
Vanilla-Raspberry Celebration Cake
Adapted from Rose Heichelbech’s 12 Tomatoes recipe. Yield: 16 slices.
Cake
- ¾ cup softened salted butter
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 5 eggs
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon milk
Filling and frosting
- 1½ cups softened unsalted butter
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Seeds of one vanilla bean
- 12 ounces seedless raspberry preserves
Method
- Heat oven to 350°F. Grease two eight-inch round pans; line bottoms with parchment.
- Cream cake butter and sugar until pale. Incorporate vanilla and eggs individually. Combine flour with baking powder; mix into batter, then add milk.
- Divide between pans. Bake 20–22 minutes, checking that a tester emerges clean. Cool 15 minutes, turn out and cool completely.
- Whip frosting butter until pale. Beat in powdered sugar gradually, then vanilla, cream, salt and bean seeds. Blend in ¼ cup preserves.
- Sandwich cakes with remaining preserves and some frosting. Cover with remaining frosting; chill if too soft to decorate.
