Didn't get invited to the Queen's reception? Here's the menu and CAKE!

[Deb in IA]

The Lunchtime Reception
29th April 2011

The Queen is giving a lunchtime Reception at Buckingham Palace for around 650 guests drawn from the Wedding Service congregation, representing the Couple’s official and private lives.

Guests will be served a selection of canapés, including:

Cornish Crab Salad on Lemon Blini
Pressed Duck Terrine with Fruit Chutney
Roulade of Goats Cheese with Caramelised Walnuts
Assortment of Palmiers and Cheese Straws
Scottish Smoked Salmon Rose on Beetroot Blini
Miniature Watercress and Asparagus Tart
Poached Asparagus spears with Hollandaise Sauce for Dipping
Quails Eggs with Celery Salt
Scottish Langoustines with Lemon Mayonnaise Pressed Confit of Pork Belly with Crayfish and Crackling
Wild Mushroom and Celeriac Chausson
Bubble and Squeak with Confit Shoulder of Lamb
Grain Mustard and honey-glazed Chipolatas
Smoked Haddock Fishcake with Pea Guacamole
Miniature Yorkshire Pudding with Roast Fillet of Beef and Horseradish Mousse
Gateau Opera
Blood Orange Pate de Fruit
Raspberry Financier
Rhubarb Crème Brulee Tartlet
Passion Fruit Praline
White Chocolate Ganache Truffle
Milk Chocolate Praline with Nuts
Dark Chocolate Ganache Truffle
Guests will be served Pol Roger NV Brut Réserve Champagne with a selection of other soft and alcoholic drinks.

The wedding cake and a chocolate biscuit cake will also be served at the Reception. The wedding cake, designed by Fiona Cairns, is made from 17 individual fruit cakes (12 of which form the base) and has eight tiers. The cake has been decorated with cream and white icing using the Joseph Lambeth technique. There are up to 900 individually iced flowers and leaves of 17 different varieties decorated on the cake. A garland design around the middle of the cake matches the architectural garlands decorated around the top of the Picture Gallery in Buckingham Palace, the room in which the cake will be displayed. The chocolate biscuit cake was created by Mcvitie’s Cake Company using a Royal Family recipe at the special request of Prince William.

During the course of the Reception, Governors-General and Prime Ministers of Realm Countries will be presented to The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall and the Bridal Couple. The Reception will include the cutting of the wedding cake and some speeches.

Guests at the reception will be entertained by Claire Jones, the official Harpist to HRH The Prince of Wales.

Notes to Editors

All the ingredients for the canapés have been carefully sourced from Royal Warrant holding companies using UK-based ingredients. These include:

Gressingham Duck
English Goats cheese from Paxton and Whitfield
English Asparagus
Welsh organic Celery Salt
Langoustines from the North West Coast of Scotland
Pork from the Cotswolds
English Crayfish
Windsor Estate Lamb
Smoked Haddock from the East Coast of Scotland
Beef from the Castle of Mey Selections in the North Highlands of Scotland
English Rhubarb
Approximately 10,000 canapés have been prepared by a team of 21 chefs, led by Royal Chef Mark Flanagan.

The Joseph Lambeth Method is derived from a style of decorating that was popular in England where chefs and decorators would use intricate piping to create 3-D scrollwork, leaves, flowers, and other decorations on a cake. A cake decorated in the Lambeth Method and accented with fresh fruit or flowers is the wedding cake of choice for anyone who wants a traditional looking, elegant wedding cake.

Each of the 17 different flower designs on the official wedding cake has their own individual meaning according to the Language of Flowers. They include:

White Rose - National symbol of England
Daffodil – National symbol of Wales, new beginnings
Shamrock – National symbol of Ireland
Thistle – National symbol of Scotland
Acorns, Oak Leaf – Strength, endurance
Myrtle – Love
Ivy – Wedded Love, Marriage
Lily-of-the-Valley – Sweetness, Humility
Rose (Bridal) – Happiness, Love.
Sweet William – Grant me one smile
Honeysuckle – The Bond of Love
Apple Blossom – Preference, Good Fortune
White Heather – Protection, Wishes will come true
Jasmine (White) – Amiability
Daisy – Innocence, Beauty, Simplicity
Orange Blossom – Marriage, Eternal Love, Fruitfulness
Lavender – ardent attachment, devotion, success, and luck.

http://www.officialroyalwedding2011.org/blog/2011/April/29/The-Lunchtime-Reception


And to top it off, here's the wedding fruitcake:

 

[Missy1961]

It's a good thing I wasn't invited - most of that doesn't appeal to me!

 

[minniecarousel]

OK - by "fruitcake" - do they mean the kind we have around here at Christmastime? Or is it another kind of fruitcake?

 

[Cat0727]

The cake is amazing. I love all the flower detail.

 

[7165red]

Thanks so much for posting. it very interesting.

 

[Uncle Remus]

Dang, I wish I'd been invited.

 

[maggs]

OK - by "fruitcake" - do they mean the kind we have around here at Christmastime? Or is it another kind of fruitcake?

It is a rich fruit cake. Here in the UK, this has been the traditional wedding cake since Victorian times. The cake is usually iced with marzipan and royal icing. We also make the same type of cake at Christmas time. My kids wouldnt survive Christmas without one.
A lot of weddings here now tend to have a sponge cake or chocolate cake. This is the chocolate biscuit (cookie cake) by the way.

Maggs

 

[Jeafl]

With my luck I would spill all of that on my dress.

Both cakes are very beautiful, The former pastry chef who used to make that chocolate biscuit cake was on Oprah today. Supposedly the recipe is floating around somewhere, maybe on her website??

Found it!



CHOCOLATE BISCUIT CAKE

Recipe courtesy of Darren McGradyThis cake is so good that Prince William chose it as his groom's cake for the royal wedding.


Servings: Makes one 6-inch round cake (8 portions)
Ingredients
1/2 tsp. butter , for greasing
8 ounces Rich tea biscuits
4 ounces unsalted butter , softened
4 ounces granulated sugar
4 ounces dark chocolate , for the cake
1 egg
8 ounces dark chocolate , for coating
1 ounce chocolate , for decorating
Directions
To make cake: Lightly grease a 6" x 2 1/2" cake ring and place on a tray on a sheet of parchment paper.

Break each of the biscuits into almond-size pieces by hand and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until the mixture starts to lighten.

Melt the 4 ounces of dark chocolate and add to the butter mixture while constantly stirring.

Beat the egg into the mixture.

Fold in the biscuit pieces until they are all coated with the chocolate mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake ring. Try to fill all of the gaps on the bottom of the ring because this will be the top when it is unmolded.

Chill the cake in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

To coat and decorate: Remove the cake from the refrigerator and let it stand while you melt the 8 ounces of dark chocolate.

Slide the ring off the cake and turn it upside down onto a cake wire.

Pour the melted chocolate over the cake and smooth the top and sides using a palette knife.

Allow the chocolate to set at room temperature.

Carefully run a knife around the bottom of the cake where the chocolate has stuck to the cake wire and lift it onto a tea plate.

Melt the remaining 1 ounce of chocolate and use to decorate the top of the cake.

 

[Missy1961]

It is a rich fruit cake. Here in the UK, this has been the traditional wedding cake since Victorian times. The cake is usually iced with marzipan and royal icing. We also make the same type of cake at Christmas time. My kids wouldnt survive Christmas without one.
A lot of weddings here now tend to have a sponge cake or chocolate cake. This is the chocolate biscuit (cookie cake) by the way.

Maggs

Now that I'd eat!

 

[akhenaten]

I'd rather go to Harry's party... LOL

 

[DrCavin]

And to top it off, here's the wedding fruitcake:

Nay this is the wedding fruitcake!!

 

[maggs]

With my luck I would spill all of that on my dress.

Both cakes are very beautiful, The former pastry chef who used to make that chocolate biscuit cake was on Oprah today. Supposedly the recipe is floating around somewhere, maybe on her website??

Found it!



CHOCOLATE BISCUIT CAKE

Recipe courtesy of Darren McGradyThis cake is so good that Prince William chose it as his groom's cake for the royal wedding.


Servings: Makes one 6-inch round cake (8 portions)
Ingredients
1/2 tsp. butter , for greasing
8 ounces Rich tea biscuits
4 ounces unsalted butter , softened
4 ounces granulated sugar
4 ounces dark chocolate , for the cake
1 egg
8 ounces dark chocolate , for coating
1 ounce chocolate , for decorating
Directions
To make cake: Lightly grease a 6" x 2 1/2" cake ring and place on a tray on a sheet of parchment paper.

Break each of the biscuits into almond-size pieces by hand and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until the mixture starts to lighten.

Melt the 4 ounces of dark chocolate and add to the butter mixture while constantly stirring.

Beat the egg into the mixture.

Fold in the biscuit pieces until they are all coated with the chocolate mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake ring. Try to fill all of the gaps on the bottom of the ring because this will be the top when it is unmolded.

Chill the cake in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

To coat and decorate: Remove the cake from the refrigerator and let it stand while you melt the 8 ounces of dark chocolate.

Slide the ring off the cake and turn it upside down onto a cake wire.

Pour the melted chocolate over the cake and smooth the top and sides using a palette knife.

Allow the chocolate to set at room temperature.

Carefully run a knife around the bottom of the cake where the chocolate has stuck to the cake wire and lift it onto a tea plate.

Melt the remaining 1 ounce of chocolate and use to decorate the top of the cake.

That is the same recipe I use for one that I make for the kids! It is so moreish and is made in a sheet tin. I dont know how to describe Rich Tea biscuits to those outside the UK except that they are very plain crisp biscuits that break quite easily. They are quite an old fashioned biscuit and are often used in recipes. This is definitely the best one.

Maggs

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yum and yum. Thanks for sharing. That cake is stunning!!!!

 

[happygirl]

I don't think there is one thing on that list I would want to eat. I would hate the fruitcake wedding cake, I HATE fruitcake

 

[AustinTink]

Nay this is the wedding fruitcake!!

That's the funniest thing I've read all week!

 

[LuvLDM]

From the list of canapés..what is "bubble and squeak"?

 

[Harley Quinn]

Bubble and squeak traditionally is the left over veggies and potato from a Sunday Lunch fried in a pan. If done well is delicious.

It now means something like a veggie and potato cake almost like a hash brown.

Very stodgy and rib sticking.

 

[CurlyGirl]

One of the tv shows stated that the reason canapes were served at the Queen's reception was because you can take one bite and be ready to speak to the Queen if she should come your way. You can just down them really fast and not be stuck with a huge mouthful of food!

 

[Swan4Me]

I don't think there is one thing on that list I would want to eat. I would hate the fruitcake wedding cake, I HATE fruitcake

I wonder if the British version of Fruit cake is more like a carrot cake than the HEAVY-impossible to cut with a fork Fruit Cake that Americans are used to?

 

[Harley Quinn]

I wonder if the British version of Fruit cake is more like a carrot cake than the HEAVY-impossible to cut with a fork Fruit Cake that Americans are used to?

A fruitcake in England is not a Carrot Cake. It's laden with dried fruits usually currants, raisins, sultanas, dried cherries it's a strange cake both very rich and very crumbly at the same time. They are again normally covered in marzipan and royal icing. It's not the kind of cake you would eat with a fork.

My Grandmother makes them and they are fabulous.