The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1897-04-03

~ says the Florida
Times-Unlon. An eminent English
writer has described Il as historic
hride-cake-makers TO the royal family"
and the designation is true. He might
have included all OF the English aris-
tocracy In the title. for the benefit Of
the alien mind. although II would be
an unnecessary addition here. as II is
well understood that the aristoeraey
follows faithfully In the footsteps Of
royalty In all things. even In the matter
OF wedding cakes
In one Of the old buildings which
bear the architectural imprint OF Queen
Anne's time IL a bakeshop. Not an or
binary bakeahop. for the royal arms tut
out from the second story and lmme-
diately above IL sign bearing the
name hollands" And the proxlnity
Of the sign TO the royal arms is no idle
commercial myth to ensnare new Gus
toners.
In tie annals OF tho tradesiolk Of
Chester there never was a greater man
than Richard Bolland. the original
owner OF the bakeahop. sixty-one years
ago the Duchess Of Kent and her young
daughter, the Princess Victoria. visited
the city for the purpose OF oaielally
opening a new bridge that was 10 bring
al kinds Of importance and prosperity
70 the town. OF course. It was an i'm.
mense event for Chester. and every one
did something 10 make the visit OF the
great folk memorable.
Richard Bolland was ambitious but
poor. and be ehurned his brains might.
ny to devise some attractive method Of
showing hn loyal appreciation Of the
visit In a happy moment he decided
70 make some small cakes OF transcend.
ent excellence. put them In a box and
presented them to the young princess.
Tho next year the little princess.
Naose palate had been enchanted By
The favor Of the Chester cakes. became
Queen OF England. and one Of Der ars,
acts after her accession IN 1887 was the
appointment Of Bolland a. one OF the
Queens warrant holders SO much for
the power Of a box OF small cakes.
How long the favor Of those cakes
fingered In the royal memory IL shown
BY the fact that twenty-fv years later
when the Prince OF Wales was 10 Be
married. Victoria gave a commission
TO Bolland 10 prepare the wedding cake
TOR the great event II was no, ordln.
AIRY wedding cake that Mr.. Bolland
produced. eithor. and ia exhibition
earned him such tremendous fame that
every English bride Of wealth and
prominence who was married since
then has had the Chester baker prepare
wedding cake.
Descendants OF the original Bolland
now conduct the shop. but they use the
sane recipe that proved 20 successful
h the days OF victorias childhood.
Even Al that time the recipe was an old
one. az Il was used by the ancestors OF
the great Bolland for many previous
generations Il Ia almost needless 10
add that Il Il regarded as a family heir
loom Of immense value. and Is treas.
ured AZ a secret. All that can be- said
regarding tie component parts Of the
cake IL that they include butter. sugar
-four. eggs. dried cherries. almonds
mixed pcels. spice and champagne
brandy. The proportion OF each, how.
ever. Il a secret which not even the
employees Of the hakeshop know.
No cake Il sent out until 10 has ma.
turod for At least six months. and bet,
Ter results are attained when Il Ia tw,
years old. a. the favor. like good wine
becomes mellowor and richer with N,
passage OF time. This system necesal
tatea the keeping OF a big stock Of IN,
cake. and there Ia never less than 100
pounds on hand. Unfortunately. N,
average bride cannot order her cak,
two yeErs In advance Of the weddlnl
feast. but n she could the Bolland
would produce something superlatlvel!
nne.
In tie busiest OF seasons. for In
stance. when they are preparing a ionl
time In advance for the June crop O
brldcs. there Il never more than tw,
bakings In a week In this shop. Tn
oven - ~ large a. the average kitchen
and each cake Is baked much In IN
shape In which Il viii finally appear OF
the wedding feast table. This result /
achieved BY pouring the mixture int
round tins. each containing from sevol
10 sixty pounds In weight The bakln
lasts from ave 10 seven hours. accord
ing 10 the size OF the tin. One Of "a
arts OF the baking lies In the fact N
heat Of the oven "a maintained az
surprisingly even temperature,
some Of the cakes are prodIglousl
heavy. that for the Prince o. Vale
weighing almos, 800 pounds Tha
made last summer FOR the Princes
Maud Of wales. on her marriage {
Prince Charles OF Denmark. was nd
al heavy. but its delicate ornaments
tlons made Il an exceedingly barnard
Gus commodity 20 send on a railwa
journey.
These cakes are Invariably packc
and shipped IN sections An assiaiaI
accompanies them on a journey an
then puts the divisions together. Yer
often the bride cuts out large pieS
and returns Il 20 the Chester bakers
keep IN their alright vaults for u
different wedding anniversaries {
course Il Is pleasant thing al silv'
weddlng for the old folk 10 exhibit an
eat Of their wedding cake a quarter
century old.