Cakes have been a popular dessert for centuries, and there’s no better way to mark an occasion than with a delicious homemade cake! But while many of us can only bake small cakes in our own kitchens, one bakery in the United Kingdom made a cake that was truly out of this world. So how big was the biggest cake ever made? In 1989, the event management company Ralphs Group set about making history by baking the world’s largest Victoria sponge cake.
It all started when Glynn Christian, a noted chef and food historian from Cornwall, got together with his friend Karen Chauhan and chef Ian Dowding to create this truly remarkable feat. After months of planning and preparation, and with assistance from local businesses such as Bartlett Mitchell Bakery from Romsey, England, the team managed to create an enormous 50ft (15 meters) Victoria sponge cake! The actual baking process lasted 3 whole days, using close to 5 tonnes of ingredients – including 1.5 tonnes of eggs alone – plus special equipment such as giant pastry cases and huge ovens.
In total it was estimated that around 10 people were involved in making this masterpiece! To transport it safely through London streets, the cake had to be cut into parts; however once assembled on site at Hyde Park before being transported back to London’s St Pancras Station later that day. Even after being broken up into its separate components, this spectacular cake still weighed 2 tonnes! This incredible-tasting confectionary treat quickly achieved its place in history books for being so large; however it isn’t officially recognised by Guinness World Records as none was present on scene during its assembly. Nonetheless it remains one of Britain’s favourite stories about cakes. Fortunately for those who were lucky enough to sample some of this mammoth creation over two decades ago now agree that its taste was just as good as its looks – probably even more so thanks to the sheer amount of icing sugar used!
