FELL FROM CAKE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19941, 27 October 1934, Page 2

FELL FROM CAKE

CENTENARY “ACCIDENT” Probably the strangest accident that has ever happened befell Mr D. Stormint, of Auckland, who fell from the second tier of the Melbourne Centenary birthday cake. He was helping to decorate the huge cake when he slipped on a piece of soft icing and crashed to the ground. The cake cost £2OOO. It was 16ft high and 14 ft in diameter at the base, tl weighed 10 tons even before two tons of icing sugar had been plastered on it. It took Mr Stormont and a German a fortnight to do the writing on the cake ,and a fortnight more to do the decorating. When the cake was ready, it was cut with much ceremony by Lord Huntingfield, Governor-General of Victoria, with a huge silver knife. The first week 10,000 pieces of cake were eaten by people who paid 1/- to see it in Batman Avenue. Fifty per cent of the money received for each piece of cake goes to the Lord Mayor of Melbourne’s Hospital Fund. It has been planned to cut the cake into 350,000 pieces and sell each piece at 1/-. Originally, it was intended that 500 sovereigns should be scattered through the cake, but it was found that the placing of coins in cakes was against the health regulations of Victoria, and the idea was abandoned. Another scheme was introduced whereby each person who buys a piece of caek is issued with a stamp, and when the cake is finished the person with the largest number of stamps (or the person who has eaten the most cake) will receive a solid silver clock, valued at £SOO.

The quantities of ingredients for the cake were astonishing. There were 15 tons of butter, 15 tons of sugar, 15 tons of flour, 45 tons of mixed dried fruits, 15cwt of almonds and 36,000 eggs. The cake was baked in sections and assembled tier on tier. The work of decorating was commenced at the top, and it was necessary to use specially made slings of ropes and leather straps to give the men elasticity of movement. Putting on the icing with an out-size in trowels, and smoothing down with unwieldly palette knives, some of them sft in length, called for more than ordinary dexterity and strength of wrist.

Mr Duncan Stormont, who returned from Melbourne by the Monterey, which arrived at Auckland on Saturday, said special ornamental carrying lettering and designs, were fixed into place with stout wires. The colouring of the cake was white with sepia tonings.. Around the top of each tier Were fitted candles, electrically lit. There were a hundred candles in all, and icing was used to give the effect of dripping wax.

The huge cake was made under the supervision of Mr George Rath, a Melbourne pastrycook. It is one of the biggest ever made in the world.