| The diamond wedding, 60th wedding anniversary of | | | | pattern in place. It helps when piping fine detail to keep |
| Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip is on the 20th | | | | the elbow close to the body. This prevents the arm |
| November 2007 Little did I dream when enrolling for a | | | | moving. Supporting the icing bag with the finger of the |
| course on Advanced Royal Icing many years ago, that | | | | opposite hand is also a good idea - it makes sure the |
| I would be copying the design of the Queen's wedding | | | | piping goes exactly where you want it. Talking about |
| cake. When she married in 1947, McVitie and Price of | | | | icing bags reminds me to say that for a task such as |
| Edinburgh presented the Queen (then Princess | | | | the one above, only use a small icing bag. The larger |
| Elizabeth) with a wedding cake. The breathtaking | | | | the bag the more difficult it is to control. And a bag |
| four-tiered cake stood nine feet high, and was | | | | made from baking parchment is stronger than one |
| decorated with hundreds of filigree-like pieces of royal | | | | made from greaseproof paper and much more |
| icing. Around the sides of the cakes were delicate, | | | | 'user-friendly than a nylon bag. These are difficult to |
| curved 'galleries', reminiscent of the turrets on Scottish | | | | grip and are usually far too large for working with royal |
| castles - so loved by the royal family. And I am sure | | | | icing. And so we spent two intensive days piping. It |
| you can imagine how we felt when told we were | | | | didn't help that we were advised not to talk! Not that |
| decorating a cake in the same design. Luckily, our | | | | we felt much like chatting, we needed all our |
| cake, already covered in marzipan, was only six inches | | | | concentration for the task in hand. Eventually all the |
| across. So with the weekend in front of us, and the | | | | pieces were finished. Now came the job of |
| guidance of an experienced tutor, we set to work. | | | | constructing the design. Again the consistency of the |
| First, the royal icing had to be beaten to the correct | | | | icing was changed. We needed a stiffer icing. Using a |
| consistency - not too stiff, or it would not spread easily, | | | | wooden spoon we re-beat the icing (this alone made it |
| or too soft otherwise it would run down the sides of | | | | slightly stiffer) and then added sieved icing sugar. A |
| the cake. It had to be the consistency of beaten | | | | slightly larger nozzle (tip) was chosen, and we set |
| double cream - soft enough to give a smooth, even | | | | about positioning the delicate sections in place. Once |
| layer. Each layer had to dry before the next was | | | | the paper had been gently peeled away from the |
| applied, and the cake given three layers, Next we | | | | back of each piece, a line of icing was piped on it, and |
| started to pipe the dainty lace-like pieces of royal icing. | | | | it was carefully placed in position. Eventually we were |
| Everything had to be ready in advance - the designs | | | | able to sit back and admire our work. Cameras came |
| for the cake were laid out, each under separate | | | | out and everyone relaxed and agreed it had been a |
| pieces of transparent, non-stick paper. Curved moulds | | | | weekend well worth the effort. Our next worry was |
| of differing sizes were placed ready to receive each | | | | how to get the cakes home in one piece! Some years |
| section immediately it was piped. This time the icing | | | | later I decided to decorate our son's wedding cake in |
| had to be another consistency. Well beaten, so it | | | | the same design. This time it was on a three-tiered |
| would hold its shape, but soft enough to go through a | | | | cake - but that's another story. Still, as Shakespeare |
| fine nozzle (tip). And to make sure the nozzle did not | | | | wrote 'All's well that ends well' and it did. |
| become blocked, we pressed the icing through a | | | | Pat Lock is a cake decorating expert with over 25 |
| square of nylon. Then began the task of piping dozens | | | | years experience who runs the excellent Cake |
| of filigree pieces. As each piece was finished, it was | | | | Decorating Tips website. She has won awards at the |
| carefully placed over the right sized curved mould - a | | | | prestigious international competition at Hotel Olympia, |
| dot of icing under each corner of the paper kept the | | | | London and is also an accomplished author. |