One of the best things about being a cake designer is discovering wonderful stories about people and the things they have done. Some stories are well known, some are private and others get lost in the past. The story of Elizabeth Raffald was one I had never heard before but as soon as I found it, I was hooked. 250 years ago in Manchester, Elizabeth, a former housekeeper at Arley Hall in Cheshire first advertised her book of original recipes called The Experienced English Housekeeper. Amongst her many innovative recipes, the book contained her recipe for Bride Cake, the blueprint of the modern wedding cake - a rich fruit cake decorated with two types of icing, almond icing (marzipan) and what later, when used to decorate Queen Victoria’s wedding cake became known as royal icing. The book was published many times and was so influential, The Queen herself is known to have copied sections of it into her diaries. This is what first intrigued me but there is much more to Elizabeth’s story, for as well as being a cook and a mother, she was an enterprising woman who achieved many things during her life and had a huge impact on Mancunian Society. Yet reading her story, I was struck that I, born in Greater Manchester and a student of cake decorating at Salford College was not aware of her; sadly even in Manchester she is a largely forgotten figure, with little in the way of commemoration. Perhaps her influence is why the cities of Manchester, and it’s neighbour Salford have such a strong association with the development of cake decorating. Pioneers of the art of royal icing such as Audrey Holding, Lindsay John Bradshaw, Nadene Hurst and Ernest Schulbe all studied or worked in the area. The Confectionery School of Art in Withington (run by Ernest Schulbe), Salford College and Tameside College have all held reputations as being outstanding places for learning sugarcraft. It seems fitting that the wedding cake itself originated in this area! She is truly one of Manchester’s greats and deserves much more notoriety than she currently enjoys; fortunately, thanks to the tireless work of local writer, researcher and founder of the Elizabeth Raffald Society, Suze Appleton she has a chance of being remembered by future generations. One of my missions as a modern cake designer is to make sure the traditional skills of sugarcraft continue to be used, practised and passed on and I just couldn’t let the 250th anniversary of Elizabeth’s book and her original wedding cake recipe, pass by without commemorating her with a cake of her own! So with the help of Suze Appleton and the generosity of Arley Hall, a celebration of her remarkable achievements was held earlier this year. We were delighted that Channel 4 agreed to send The Extreme Cake Makers crew along to film the making of the cake and the subsequent event which has given us a chance to introduce more people to this formidable woman. If you want to find out more about the fascinating life of Elizabeth Raffald then head to The Elizabeth Raffald Society
2 Comments
Joanne
23/5/2019 11:38:57
Interesting read and a great picture.
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23/5/2019 18:09:22
Thank you Suzanne for a great day and a fabulous cake! It was lovely to mark the 250th anniversary of Elizabeth Raffald's wedding cake recipe which changed the style of cakes for centuries after. Arley Hall was an integral part of Elizabeth's story, where she was housekeeper and where she married the gardener, and it was wonderful to hold the celebration there. I can't wait to see the programme!
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