How To Make A Princess Cake

Prince William's Chocolate Biscuit Cake

By Kathryn Rem

Like many cash-strapped brides and grooms, Prince William and Kate Middleton are skimping on the reception food.

Instead of a traditional sit-down meal following their Friday nuptials in London, the prince and his new princess have arranged for finger food at their lunchtime wedding reception.

The reason for the toothpick cuisine isn’t clear, but it may be more politically correct to forego a lavish feast when so many English commoners are suffering economically. With so many heads of state and other VIPs in attendance, it also may be a way to sidestep sticky diplomatic wickets created when a pecking order-based seating chart comes into play.

Or, it simply may be a matter of logistics. Buckingham Palace doesn’t have room for a sit-down dinner for the 650 royal wedding guests, according to Darren McGrady, who worked in the palace kitchen for 11 years and then transferred to Kensington Palace, where he was private chef to Princess Diana and her two sons, William and Harry.

In a telephone interview, McGrady said that after Diana died in 1997, he moved to Dallas. He’s still there, working as a cooking teacher, event planner and author.

McGrady expects the reception menu to feature hot and cold canapes, which may include palace kitchen classics such as smoked salmon, herbed crepes, Cornish pasties and English sausage rolls. Protocol requires the nibbles to be presented on trays by uniformed footmen. Champagne, of course, will flow.

The palace has announced that the official wedding cake will be a multilayered fruitcake with white icing and a floral design. The recipe includes raisins, golden raisins, walnuts, cherries, grated oranges and lemons, French brandy and free-range eggs.

But William also has requested a chocolate groom’s cake made of cookies (“biscuits” in Brit-speak). It’s a no-bake cake (pictured above with Jam and Cream Cake) that is a favorite of Queen Elizabeth, and one that McGrady often made for her.

“The recipe came from Buckingham Palace. I bet it’s been in the family for 40 to 50 years,” he said about Chocolate Biscuit Cake.

“When William was at Eton (College, for boys 13-18), he would come home and have tea with Granny and I would make it for them.”

The chef said afternoon tea at the palace is served at 4 p.m. Besides Earl Grey tea, it often includes fruit tarts, éclairs, scones with clotted cream, sandwiches, sponge or ginger cake and, of course, the Chocolate Biscuit Cake.

[WATCH]: Princess cake – How to make a princess doll birthday cake

Bit.ly Any little birthday girl would love this magical unique princess doll cake for her party, decorated with a real doll she can play with later. How to make the princess cake instructions (some may say this is similar to a Bratz or Barbie birthday cake) Assembling the princess birthday cake: 1. Bake three cakes in 8-inch round cake pans and one cake in a medium ovenproof glass bowl. Let cakes cool. 2. Cut off the dome off all of the 8-inch round cakes with a serrated knife. (Freezing the cake for about 45 minutes before you cut them will reduce the crumbs). 3. Cut a small hole in the middle of each layer; this is where the princes doll will go. 4. To keep your decorating surface clean while you frost, slide pieces of parchment paper underneath the bottom layer. 5. Using your offset spatula, place a dollop of frosting on one of the layers of cake, and spread it evenly. Place another layer on top, frost it, and place the last layer on top. Frost the top of the last 8-inch round cake and top with the cake baked in the overproof glass bowl (domed side up). 6. Make a crumb coat. This is a thin layer of frosting that seals in the crumbs and keeps the frosting clean and neat. Spread the frosting over the entire surface of the cake. To make the frosting smooth, take a strip of paper, cup it and place it at the bottom of the cake, sliding it evenly to the top of the cake. 7. Spread the frosting smooth around the hole in the top. 8.

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