Thursday, July 1, 2010

location: Brock House Restaurant, Vancouver (where is that?)

Passionfruit & Buttercream, with faux base tier

Michelle marries Steven

Saturday, March 27, 2010

location: Brock House Restaurant, Vancouver (where is that?)

Black & White (chocolate and vanilla) with Fresh Raspberries

Princess Elizabeth had just become a teenager when she met the dashing 18-year old Philip at Dartmouth in 1939; over the next few years they grew closer and closer, until rumors of their engagement began to circulate as early as 1945, no doubt abetted by their obvious enthusiasm whenever they went dancing (‘People Will Say We’re In Love’, from the hit stage play ‘Oklahoma’, seemed to follow them everywhere they went).  It took fretful years for all the complications to be resolved – Philip was, despite his noble background, from a Greek family and a different Church.

(Archive.org has the full text of the book “Her Majesty The Queen The Story Of Elizabeth II” by Helen Catheart online here if you want more details)

Princess Elizabeth had been a devoted member of the Girl Guides all her life, and, when the engagement was announced, there was much discussion among Guide groups around the world about how they could pitch in and help celebrate.  Rationing was still a patriotic duty in many countries, and concerned groups rallied to the task of collecting scarce materials for the event.

The Australian Girl Guides decided they wanted to send Elizabeth a wedding present, and Irene Fairbairn, Secretary of the Girl Guides of Australia, had a suggestion – a Wedding Cake.  ‘Would they like to do that?’ she asked, and the response is part of Australian guide lore – ‘Could they? WOULD THEY ! ! ! and THEY COULD ! ! !’

The most difficult ingredients to obtain would be butter and sugar, both of which were in such short supply (especially in England) that ration coupons were still in effect, allowing each person a few ounces of butter each week, and even less sugar.  Many Australian Guides sacrificed their rations, went door-to-door for contributions, while newspapers got in the spirit. Pennies and shillings came trickling in.

There were many hurdles.  Fairbairn had to get permission from Buckingham Palace to donate the cake, and arrange for a baker once the ingredients arrived.  Arranging for transportation for the ingredients was also tricky, with few ships making the voyage and cargo space at a premium; Mrs. Fairbairn managed both.  Next she needed a recipe, and the caterer for one of Australia’s biggest hotels came up with one suitable for such a royal occasion.

Cake Ingredients

56 lb. bag icing sugar
79 lb. castor sugar
50 lb. bag flour
6 tins powdered milk, 6 lb.
10 oz. ground cinnamon
10 oz. mixed spice
6 bottles essence lemon
1 tin almond meal, 28 lb.
60 lb. sultanas
10 lb. lemon peel
15 lb. seeded raisins
10 lb. crystallised cherries
12 lb. currants
7 lb. self raising flour
1 bottle Australian brandy
20 lb. brown sugar
10 lb. almond kernels
12 dozen eggs
30 lb. butter

Mrs. Fairbairn got all the permits in order on a Monday – a ship was leaving for England on Wednesday that week, with not further shipments scheduled – and so once again the Guides flew into action, boxing up the ingredients in a whirlwind of activity, breathlessly documented by the local press.  This photo was printed in every Australian newspaper that week, of happy Guides taking the boxes to the ship:

Girl Guides loading Wedding Cake Ingredients

In England, Guides received the boxes, and delivered them to an Edinburgh baker, which baked the cake delivered it to the wedding banquet.  It stood out among the collected ceremonial cakes – a 9 feet high,  500 pound fruitcake, decorated with intricate sugarwork, including both their armorial bearings and scenes from their lives.

There were 11 other cakes given to the 21-year old Princess and her 26-year old groom;   the ‘Australian’ cake was considered the main wedding cake, and was cut using the Duke’s Mountbatten sword, a present from the King.  One tier was eaten at the banquet, and one a year later, for the christening of Charles; a third was sent back to Australia, and presumably eaten by Guides there. The heroic Mrs. Fairbairn continue to have an outstanding career in the Guides, and later in life was given the prestigious awards of Order of the British Empire and Commander of the British Empire; although she did ruefully note that she never tasted a slice of the most famous cake in Australian history.

On this day last year, a piece of wedding cake from the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 was sold for $1,000 UK pounds (approx $1,830 US).

The cake had been sent to the Queen Mother at Clarence House.  The auctioned nine-inch slice had been wrapped in cling film in an attic for 27 years.

the £1000 slice

Marzipan with white icing, with sugar work of the royal coat-of-arms in gold, blue, and silver, with a small silver horseshoe and leaf spray, the cake had been given to Mrs. Moyra Smith, a Scottish servant at Clarence House; it was her wish that the cake be sold after her death for charity.

The buyer, a collector of royal memorabilia, remains anonymous.

In other Princess Di news, a comic book based on her life was published this April; part of a comic book series called Female Force, which has also done issues about Caroline Kennedy, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton. Other books planned include Condoleeza Rice and Michelle Obama.

Just thought you would like to know.

RIP Princess Di.

Buganda is one of 4 Kingdoms in the country of Uganda, which most westerners know only through the dictatorship of Idi Amin.  It was the most powerful kingdom – ‘Uganda’ is it’s Swahili name – but it’s social and political structure, including the 600-year-old monarchy, was dismantled by the British (the monarchy was restored in 1993).

The first royal wedding in Uganda in 50 years took place in Kampala (where is that?), and was marked by a lavish ceremony and great celebration throughout the country – not just for the wedding, but because the King gave everyone permission to break a tribal tradition – that no one but the royal couple should have sex on his wedding night! (Tradition has it that any man who fails to resist temptation on the Kabaka’s wedding day will be attacked by a sheep and become impotent).

The King controversially did follow another tradition – he symbolically married a 13 year-old virgin girl before the main wedding ceremony. The virgin bride usually remains a virgin for life, with some ceremonial functions, such as announcing the king’s death and calling an end to the communal mourning period.  However Bugandan officials say teenager Sarah Nsobya’s life will be unchanged.

Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II was 45 on his wedding day, and many citizens had despaired that he would not leave an heir.  His choice of a bride was controversial – Sylvia Nagginda Luswata, an 38-year old aristocratic Ugandan who graduated from New York University, comes from a clan called ‘Edible Rat’, whose traditional role has been caring for washrooms; worse yet, she was considered ‘American’.  Born in Britain, she had spent the last 18 years in the United States, mostly in New York. She had worked as a research consultant at the United Nations and at the World Bank in Washington.

Joy and cultural pride carried the day, however, and the country went cuckoo for the royal wedding.  The royal couple’s faces were printed on beer cans, sponsors fell all over themselves trying to get involved, and men with leopard skins and spears danced outside the Anglican church. Two people were suffocated to death in the large crowds trying to get close to the ceremony, but they weren’t particularly lamented in the general jubilation.

Bugandans have since taken Sylvia to their heart, and Ronald has used his status to encourage his people to participate in immunization and AIDS programs, and has been outspoken in encouraging public and private education.  Superstars in their troubled homeland (Ronald’s position is more ceremonial than political), people prostrate themselves on the roadside when they pass, and follow their every word and action closely in the Ugandan tabloids.

They now have four children, one son and three daughters.

Happy anniversary, Ronald and Sylvia.

Mette-Marit is an unlikely princess – a single mother whose ex-husband was in prison for assault and cocaine possession when she married Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, 9 years ago today.

A week before the wedding they had both gone on national television to talk about her wild past, to make sure it did not become an issue after they were married. Mette-Marit, an exchange student in Australia for six months during high school, apologized for her past and spoke out against drug use.

Haakon and Mette-Marit met at the Quart Festival, Norway’s largest rock concert, where they were both checking out such Festival headliners as the Roots, Fatboy Slim, Happy Mondays, Garbage, Massive Attack, and Blur.

Mette-Marit has had two more children, a daughter and a son, with Haakon. In 2008 she released a CD, ‘Sorgen og gleden’, of religious psalms, and has given much of her time to campaigning for Aids research.

There is a great article about Haakon here and a nice account of their wedding here if you are interested in reading more!

David & Reynante

August 12, 2009

Base tier is flourless chocolate and raspberries, middle tier is passionfruit and raspberry, top pier passionfruit.  Decorated in Sampaguita and Scotch Thistle.

location: Brock House Restaurant, Vancouver (where is that?)

Congratulations to a wonderful couple!

According to various sources, there were 22 or 23 different Wedding Cakes made to celebrate the day.

Here is a photo of one of them -

Chief petty officer cook David Avery with the royal wedding cake made for Prince Charles and Princess Diana's 1981 wedding

RIP Diana.

We received this lovely note from Erica on Monday: Thea, Thanks again for the cake. It was both lovely and delicious! Jamie and I absolutely loved it, and we both heard compliments from many of our guests. The cake certainly added to the beauty of the room. Fantastic job!!! Erica

Erica Segec marries Jamie Mullen

Location: Marine Drive Golf Club, Vancouver, B.C. (where is that?)

Date: Saturday July 18, 2009

100 guests

Passionfruit slab cake served; fake cake with draped swag

Photos by: Sweet Thea

Thank you Erica & Jamie – and congratulations to both of you!!

Unfortunately I had the camera settings wrong, so you cannot really see all of the detailing – Adway is a beautiful fake cake – good luck Jas and Guri!

Adway