
“So Prince William and his bride are to have not one but two wedding cakes. The main attraction will be a traditional fruit cake, decorated with flowers.
Nothing unusual there – but I was intrigued though by the second wedding cake, which will be made by McVities, home of HobNobs and Chocolate Digestives. This will be a Chocolate Biscuit cake – apparently a great childhood favourite of William.
McVities will be making a few hundred extra slices – just as well as apparently they will be using 1,700 Rich Tea biscuits and 17 kilos of dark chocolate. And according to their ‘Cake Design and Development Head Chef’, it will be decorated with ‘contemporary and modern chocolate display work’. So no flowers on that one, I suppose.
There’s a McVities factory in Harlesden – easily identified as you pass by the delicious baking smells wafting on the air. But the Royal Cake is being made in Stockport – or rather, assembled, as no cooking is required.
McVities are keen to point out that they’ve made wedding cakes for the Royal Family for many years – including the cake for William’s grandmother. The firm started in Edinburgh in 1830 as McVitie & Price, and eventually merged with another Scottish bakery to become United Biscuits. Rich Tea biscuits are said to have first been baked in the 17th Century by the chef to Thomas Wentworth – who ended up having his head chopped off on the orders of Charles the First. But back to the 21st century.
Darren McGrady, at one time chef to the Queen and to Princess Diana, gives a recipe for Royal Chocolate Biscuit Cake in his book, Eating Royally:
4 oz each of dark chocolate, sugar and butter
1 egg
8 oz of Rich Tea biscuits
8 oz. chocolate.
Melt chocolate, crush biscuits, mix with the rest, leave to set.
Most of us must have a soft spot for chocolate biscuit cake, or chocolate refrigerator cake, which you can dress up with candied cherries, brandy, nuts and anything else you have lying around. And you don’t need to use Rich Tea – anything else you have in the biscuit line is probably fine. Just the cake to serve for your Royal Wedding street party.”
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