The diamond wedding, 60th wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, is onto the 20th November 2007.

Little did I dream when enrolling for a course onto Advanced Royal Icing a lot years ago, that I would be copying the design of the Queen’s wedding cake.

When she wed within 1947, McVitie and Price of Edinburgh showed the Queen (then Princess Elizabeth) with a wedding cake. The breathtaking four-tiered cookie stood nine feet tall, and was emblazoned with hundreds of filigree-like pieces of royal icing. Around the sides of the cakes were delicate, rounded ‘galleries’, reminiscent of the turrets onto Scottish castles – so relished via the royal family.

And I am sure you can reckon how we felt when told we were decorating a cookie within the equivalent design. Luckily, our cookie, already coated within marzipan, was alone six inches across. So with the weekend within front of ourselves, and the guidance of an experienced teacher, we predetermined towards work.

First, the royal icing had towards be beaten towards the exact consistency – not too stiff, or it would not transmit easily, or too gentle alternatively it would operate down the sides of the cake. It had towards be the consistency of beaten replicate cream – gentle adequate towards grant a smooth, even layer. Each layer had towards dry ahead of the next was applied, and the cookie granted three layers,

Next we activated towards pipe the dainty lace-like pieces of royal icing. Everything had towards be ready within approach – the designs for the cookie were laid out, each below discern pieces of transparent, non-stick paper. Curved moulds of conflicting scales were spaced ready towards obtain each section immediately it was piped.

This moment the icing had towards be another consistency. Well beaten, so it would hold its shape, but gentle adequate towards go across a fine nozzle (tip). And towards earn sure the nozzle did not become clogged, we pressed the icing across a square of nylon. Then began the labor of piping dozens of filigree pieces. As each chip was ceased, it was cautiously spaced again the right sized rounded mould – a dot of icing below each corner of the paper kept the pattern within place.

It serves when piping fine item towards keep the elbow approaching the body. This deters the arm moving. Supporting the icing pack with the finger of the opposite hand is also a nice suggestion – it earns sure the piping goes precisely whereas you need it.

Talking approximately icing packs reminds me towards say that for a labor such as the one above, alone consume a low icing bag. The taller the pack the many difficult it is towards control. And a pack made from baking parchment is stronger than one made from greaseproof paper and much many ‘user-friendly than a nylon bag. These are difficult towards grip and are habitually far too wide for working with royal icing.

And so we spent two intensive days piping. It didn’t assistance that we were told not towards talk! Not that we felt much want speaking, we necessary everybody our concentration for the labor within hand. Eventually everybody the pieces were finished. Now arrived the role of constructing the design.

Again the consistency of the icing was changed. We necessary a stiffer icing. Using a wooden spoon we re-beat the icing (this independently made it slightly stiffer) and otherwise added sieved icing sugar. A slightly taller nozzle (tip) was picked, and we predetermined approximately deploying the delicate departments within place. Once the paper had been gently peeled away from the back of each chip, a rope of icing was piped onto it, and it was cautiously spaced within position.

Eventually we were able towards sit back and compliment our work. Cameras arrived out and everyone relaxed and conceded it had been a weekend well quality the effort. Our next concern was how towards get the cakes house within one piece!

Some years afterwards I decided towards decorate our son’s wedding cookie within the equivalent design. This moment it was onto a three-tiered cookie – but that’s another story. Still, as Shakespeare wrote ‘All’s well that ends well’ and it did.