Friday, July 13, 2012

Union Jack flag cake

After my US flag cake, I couldn't wait to try this BBC cake for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

This cake was much harder than the US one, because it requires being more precise. I followed the above recipe but next time would make some modifications to the technique.

I used the cake recipe listed on the BBC site & made this recipe for homemade marzipan. I would add almond extract next time, because frankly I do love a little of that fakey almond taste. This recipe makes a delicious natural tasting recipe, which (as usual) is much better than store bought overly sweet marzipan. It also makes a lot, not sure if you can freeze marzipan so I had some waste.

Overall, it's very impressive & I love it!

Pretty blue batter:

Cake cut into 2 rectangles:

I used my normal buttercream recipe here. Here's 2 sides frosted:

add jam to one of those sides & sandwich together, wrap in saran -
freeze or refrigerate until frosting is hard:

unwrap, slice vertically into 2 equal halves:

apply buttercream & jam as before, wrap & chill:

Now slice diagonally, this part gets really messy & where my shape got a bit distorted.
Next time I would cut the diagonal first then the horizontal & vertical cuts. Wrap & chill again.

Roll out marzipan about 1/4" thick, place cake on it.

wrapped & ready

TA-DA! I covered my board with union jack cupcake wrappers my UK Aunty-in-law sent me.

What a beauty. The fact that my diagonals are not perfect really irks me.

Happy Diamond Jubilee, HRH Queen Elizabeth!

mmm, tasty