Evening journal., 1893-02-09
CHRISTMAS CAKES.
ENGLISH PUGDlNes AND CAKES GO
ALL OVER THE WORLD.

A Glance at the Interior of Big Cake
store-Cakes of Many Kinds.
Christmas cakes, New Years cakes, |
Twelfth cakes, christening cakes, birthday |
cakes and wedding cakes all come of the
same wealthy family-that is to say, they
are as rich as rich can be- A high author
ity upon the whole subject chatted day or
two ago about them. It,was painfully
appetizing conversation, for il took place In
a showroom OF palatial proportions in
which were to be seen specimens Of every
kind Of cake which mankind has invented
for social consumption. A cake, it must be
promised, cannot be eaten in strict seclu
sion. 1t must be enjoyed in pleasant com
pany or it becomes indigestible, and with
out cake the Christmas board would be
incomplete.
I'VE sell thousands Of Christmas cakes"
said the gentleman whose firm has prob
ably produced more cakes of every variety
than any one house in the world. "1hey
closely resemble the wedding cake, which
is a recognized institution. BY the way, l
think wedding cakes are getting larger and
heavier, and certainly the sugar work orna-
mentation is more elaborate and artistically
executed. Necessarily the decoration must
be in white and silver, but sometimes real
hothouse flowers are used TO adorn the
cake"
"What is the largest size wedding cake?'
1--WE sell some weighing five hundred
weight or six hundredweight, and the
largest-for royalties--has been about ten
hundredweight A saw edged knife is sup
piled for the ceremonyof cutting the cake
which is frequently done, however, in adj
vance, and silver trowel is used by the
bride to withdraw the segment easily"
On all sides were wedding cakes on
shelves, some of them with light deposit
of almond icing upon their tops. They
were all ordered for forthcoming marriages.
"The icing,n remarked the guide, sis
done as required. A very large cake is
baked in sections and afterward fitted to-
gether. That man there is busy cutting
smaller cakes in halves, for you can never
tell from the outside appearance whether
the cake is thoroughly well baked inside.
/ We therefore test every one"
NOW what is the real difference between
a wedding cake and a Christmas plum
cakeg"
ut is generally in the ornamentation.
! The top Of Christmas cake is coated with
sugar icing and picked out with colors-
say pink-and there is also an inscription.
A Father Christmas stands in the center,
and there are small fancy ornaments around
the figure. Some, too, have holly on the
top, but people now and then prefer sweet
meats instead"
And you say that there is a great de
mand for them"
1--WE send them all over the world. We
occasionally export cakes and puddings TO
people abroad sufficient to last them the
whole year round They 90 to India, AT
rioa, China, Egypt-in fact, everywhere. A
New Years cake is similar to a Christmas
cake, with fancy decoration and figures"
DO you find that Twelfth cakes are de
clining in popularity"
"Well, perhaps we do net sell quite SO
many. They are rs you know decorated
with figures, and a sheet Of characters and
conundrums accompanies each cake, ac
cording to the old custom. They are drawn
for"
"Is the plan still followed of embedding
various articles in the cakei"
''Yes, that is still done People bring us
rings, coins and buttons TO put in the cake
In fact, we have inclosed in the cake gold
watches and diamond rings. But it ha.
generally been arranged beforehand whers
they should cut for such a prize-a littl,
rosette or colored ribbon I'm the decoration
would be a sufficient guide"
Conversation then turned upon schoo
cakes which are as full of currants ant
sultanas as can be desired. But for peo
pie of maturer years the fashion in cakes
except on festival occasions, when the rul,
may be broken through, runs upon light
er and most digestible cake Here in thl
: neat cardboard boxes are piles Of Dundel
cakes, made of butter, flour and eggs anl
better than a dough cake of the schoolbo,
kind. A Dundee cake has its due proper
1 ton of sultanas and peel, and il is rathe
richer in quality than the popular Scotcl
Madeira. There are other varieties of ligh
r pound cakes, such as seed and almond, anC
, if the taste inclines to heavier articl
currant cake in various degrees Of richnes
q can be had, and it is remarkable how con
D servative successive generations are il
a their liking for good substantial cake.
Before glancing at a few of the astonish
ing array of delicacies in the way of biscuits
b attention is attracted to a huge store o
plum puddings. Each pudding is in its owl
d neat white basin and securely tied up in it
C cloth.
{ 1--WE are making 1900 this year" say
the gentleman who is acting as guild
z through this palace Of dainties. "a grea
q many are sent abroad. They are dispatche
: in tin lined cases, sometimes thirty to fort
/ in a case"
'But can you tell me who it is who buy
your puddingsY
Regular customers come year after yeai
for twenty OF more at a time, to give ava
as Christmas presents. Most army Officers
and those Of the navy, too, want pudding.
4 The puddings which are sent abroad ar
- not packed in basins, but in cloths, for the
I. travel better. Thepuddings in these basin
:. are for home consumption. They are read
:. boiled"
"And are Of all sizes?n
1.-THE largest pudding costs say, ten guiI
4 eas, and it would be sufficient for 500 OF 60
y men. ."-London Telegraph
T, How He Made Them Talk.
2 A youth on a bicycle trip through Ii
L