FORT WORTH, Texas » Bob and Leann Adams expected the top of their wedding cake to be a hard, nasty lump of black dough.

The last time they had seen it was at their wedding reception at North Fort Worth Baptist Church on June 29, 1963. There was just enough cake for the 250 or so guests that day, so the happy couple decided to save the top tier with its tiny bride and groom, lovely little flowers and all, wrap it in aluminum foil and put it in the freezer.

Over 50 years, the cake has been stored in three freezers in three houses and has endured occasional defrosting during power outages and unrefrigerated transportation.

Imagine the couple’s shock when they unwrapped the cake last month and found it as beautiful as the day they wrapped it up a half-century ago.

"We were amazed," Leann said.

The frozen cake is just one more happy memory for the Adamses, who were introduced in Sunday school. Bob says he had his eye on Leann every time he walked into the downtown Leonard Bros. store, where she worked.

She was a 16-year-old high school student and he was a 24-year-old Army veteran with a good job. It was 1961.

"I was home from the Army and working at Preston Geren Associates as an architect," he said. "I would go to Leonard Bros. for lunch and right after work. That’s where everyone went back then to hang out. She worked in the jewelry department right inside the front door."

Bob caught Leann’s eye, "because he was older, out of school and more interesting than the other boys," she said.

After two years of dating, they wed.

Their golden anniversary was celebrated this year with an Alaskan cruise. That’s when they decided to check out the 50-year cake.

"The icing in the middle was so hard I couldn’t cut it," Bob said. "But the cake looked as fresh as if it was baked yesterday."

The cake was rewrapped in its original foil wrapper and put back in the freezer. Neither of the Adamses was tempted to take a taste.

"We’ll save it for the next 50," Bob said.

–Terry Evans / Fort Worth Star-Telegram