The Urban Foodie: The 'Miss Havisham' wedding cake

Tuesday 26 May 2009

The 'Miss Havisham' wedding cake

I have to admit that even though I am a fairly good cook, and was lucky enough to win Masterchef, but baking and me aren't the easiest of friends. I know every good cook should be able to bake well, but I think it's either a knack you have, or you don't, and I certainly belong to the latter. Now Hannah on the other hand, who was with me on the show http://hannahscountrykitchen.blogspot.com is an ace and a genius. Her cakes are really out of this world. So with this scepticism about my baking abilities in my head, I was asked by a friend to create a cake for a very cool vintage store in London's Queen's Park. The brief was 'Miss Havisham' the Dickens character who lived in opulent decay, the doyenne of faded glamour. The cake was for a vintage shop called Merchant Archive in Queen's Park, who were having a party and needed a cake and various canapes. I have to admit it was fun to do, especially as I had full artistic license to go crazy with dyes, gold paint and fresh (but fading) flowers. Here's the result....

Commissions upon request.

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MUSINGS AND QUOTES ON FOOD

"My weaknesses have always been food and men, in that order."

Dolly Parton

"Fish, to taste right, must swim three times - in water, in butter, and in wine."

Polish Proverb

"A fruit is a vegetable with looks and money. Plus, if you let fruit rot, it turns into wine, something Brussels sprouts never do."

P.J. O'Rourke

"An empty belly is the best cook."

Estonian Proverb

"A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch."

James Beard

"The smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls, ready to remind us...."
Marcel Proust

"When the girl returned, some hours later, she carried a tray, with a cup of fragrant tea steaming on it; and a plate piled up with very hot buttered toast, cut thick, very brown on both sides, with the butter running through the holes in it in great golden drops, like honey from the honeycomb. The smell of that buttered toast simply talked to Toad, and with no uncertain voice; talked of warm kitchens, of breakfasts on bright frosty mornings, of cosy parlour firesides on winter evenings, when one's ramble was over and slippered feet were propped on the fender, of the purring of contented cats, and the twitter of sleepy canaries."
The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame

"People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it is safer to harrass rich women than motorcycle gangs."
Unknown

"Scallops are expensive, so they should be treated with some class. But then, I suppose that every creature that gives his life for our table should be treated with class."
Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet

"Never eat more than you can lift.."
Miss Piggy, Diva.

"The squid is so cooperative. Its body forms a tube that can be stuffed with marvelous fillings. You don't have to be Greek to enjoy this one. "
Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet

"The joys of the table belong equally to all ages, conditions, countries and times; they mix with all other pleasures, and remain the last to console us for their loss."
Jean Antheleme Brillet-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste