How the Sugarcraft Guild made an historic cake replica

When then-Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip in 1947, the entire world watched. The post-war euphoria, combined with a first-ever televised ceremony, created an atmosphere of celebration that reverberated around the globe. To honor the couple, bakeries from near and far sent cakes to London. One of the most elaborate came from the now-defunct Peek Freans biscuit company. As Gastro Obscura explains, bakers there made a six-tiered fruitcake that weighed in at 630 pounds and was topped with a solid silver statue of Saint George. Because the cake was so gorgeous, bakers at Peek Freans decided to create a sugar paste replica, which was displayed for years in the company’s lobby.

After the company ceased to operate, the replica was moved to the nearby Rotherhithe Pumphouse, which served as a local museum of sorts. That too closed, shuttering its doors in 2011. When a curious resident wormed his way into the closed pumphouse, he discovered that the cake replica, which was too fragile to be moved to a suite of rooms (now the Biscuit Museum) that contained the remainder of the Peek Freans display, had been smashed and doused in red paint. A volunteer at the Biscuit Museum learned of the destruction and decided that he would attempt to have another replica made.

He reached out to the British Sugarcraft Guild, which sprang into action, calling on many of its members to create pieces of the stunning cake. Volunteers worked for the better part of two years to make delicate flowers and lattice work, copied from photographs and remnants of the demolished replica. Members of the team even travelled to Buckingham Palace to take photos of the silver cake topper so a 3-D printed model could be created. You can read about the entire painstaking process at Gastro Obscura.

Photo of the decidedly less elaborate but still gorgeous Royal wedding cake from Delicious (UK)