Well we had the lambeth method cake I made last night....even if you didn't want it...you got it!! When I cut the cake it flew all over the place, kind of like confetti hahaha Hubby said should we be wearing safetly glasses??LOL 
Anyway...I learned that some royal icing can be removed but there are areas of this method that I'm not sure about removing before cutting/serving...like the curtain (?)
Can this lambeth method be done with regular butter cream or snow white icing? Considerig the layers/rows....I wonder how well it would stand up?
Just wondering your thoughts on this.
By the way....the cake was OVERWHELMINGLY sweet!!! I'll never do those combinations again!!!
This first cake was done in buttercream, the second in Royal icing. As you can see, the royal makes much cleaner lines and you can build it up higher. Yes, royal is extremely sweet and not something I would want to eat, just too hard.
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&meta=allby&uname=ShirleyW&cat=0&pos=108
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&meta=allby&uname=ShirleyW&cat=0&pos=106
Shirley
Shirley...there is quite a difference...I'm surprised! Your cakes are wonderful though....and thanks again for all the tips you gave me. I really enjoyed doing the method and want to try the finer tips next time.
I guess the next time I would take off ALL the royal before cutting/serving.
But it was a good laugh!!!
Thanks again 
Shirley....haha I was born in England and yes, every year we had a large fruit cake (dark and wonderful!!....I so wish I had THAT recipe) I do remember the royal icing well, but it was over the entire cake and therefore didn't "shatter" around the table hahaha It was actually the curtains on this cake that just went everywhere....I'm still finding pieces today
Sounds like Easter basket grass, you find little bits about the house for months. I have a good cake friend in North Hampshire, (Ferrensby, Knaresborough) I'll ask her if she has a good dark fruitcake recipe. Although she does so many cakes I know she has been buying her fruit cakes and sponges readymade for awhile. Makes me laugh, I always think about Helen Mirren in Calendar Girls entering the cake show with a Victoria sponge that she bought, and then winning first prize.
Thanks. My understanding is that in England this type of cake was made of fruitcake, covered in rolled marzipan and then iced in royal icing. At serving time the cake was taken into the kitchen and all of the royal is chipped away.
No the icing isn't chipped away. The curtains do tend to shatter but the icing covering the cake doesn't. To stop it setting rock hard we add a little glycerine to the the icing. It is only served in small fingers and because the cake is very rich and dark that small amount of marzipan and royal are needed to cut through the richness. The other advantage is that fruitcake gets better with keeping so we can take our time to do this really elaborate piping and still have the cake finished well before it's needed
Heres the link to my fruitcake recipe
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2255-0-English-Fruit-Cake-spice-cake.html
Also don't mean to be rude but Knaresborough is nowhere near North Hampshire. It's in North Yorkshire about an hours drive from where I live.
[quote="MissBaritone"]
Also don't mean to be rude but Knaresborough is nowhere near North Hampshire. It's in North Yorkshire about an hours drive from where I live.
No, I didn't take it as rudeness. I just typed Hampshire by mistake, Gaynor lives in North Yorkshire.
A little story though to make you laugh. I lived on a street named Derbyshire at one time. Took my cat to the vet's and at check in the office manager asked my address, I told her and pronounced it DURBY SHYER, thought this little British lady was going to have a stroke, she drew herself up and snarled 'Madam that is pronounced DARBY SHEER!"
Miss Barritone.....Thank you sooooo much for the recipe!!! As soon as I saw the ingredients I knew it was the same one....thank you!! Bit late to try and make it this year (mom used to do hers in Sept) but at least I have the recipe that I thought was gone. Black treacle (one of my brothers favorite things!) may be a challenge to get here now, we used to have a Marks & sparks but they closed many years ago. I'll check around for it.
Two questions though, if you don't mind, what is "mixed spice" I'm in Canada and not sure what the would be here.
Also about the glycerin, I hadn't heard that before. How much would you add? And thank you for the tip. I did add a bit of corn syrup for the curtain work.
Shirley....Cute story!!! I was born in England, came to Canada at 7 but my parents took me back there at 15. I had a hard time with some of the pronounciations too I miss the food most of all, you just can't beat it!!
Also wanted to let you know I checked my tips and I do have the #14 you suggested for the initial lambeth work. Thanks again
Just checked my jar of mixed spice. According to the label it contains cinnamon, coriander seed, caraway seed, nutmeg, ginger, cloves all ground up finely together. For the black treacle try looking for molasses. and for the royal use 1 teaspoon of glycerine to every 1lb of icing sugar
Thank you again Miss Baratone....much appreciated You'll get a laugh out of this but I used to visit a site "Helen's British Cooking" to get the old recipes.....but for some reason I can no longer access it 
I did get the recipe for carawy seed cake (my nana used to make it) and make it last year....kids wouldn't even try it! FIgured I better not try them with "fly traps" hahaha Thank you again for your kindess.
Jan H....yeah it's really fun to learn all the diffrent stories etc. Nice group of folks here. I enjoy it.
Taigen, I know that in the Toronto area there are some British shops that sell all the goodies such as black treacle, Lyle's Golden Syrup (the best syrup ever, IMHO, have to figure out a way to use i in a cake filling!), custard powders, English crisps etc.....might there be a similar shop in the Maritimes?..if not we'll figure a way and I'll mail you one via Canada Post!
Maureen
Jan H....Caraway seed cake recipe....enjoy
6 ozs (170g) butter
6 ozs (170g) castor sugar
3 eggs, free-range if possible
8 ozs (225g) plain white flour
1 tablespoon ground almonds, optional
2 dessertspoons caraway seeds
3 teaspoon baking powder
some caraway seeds to sprinkle on top
Round cake tin 7 inches wide x 3 inches deep (18cm x 7.5cm)
Line the cake tin with greaseproof paper.
Cream the butter, add the sugar and beat until very soft and light. Whisk the eggs and gradually beat into the creamed mixture. Stir in the flour and ground almonds. Add the baking powder and 2 dessertspoons of caraway seeds with the last of the flour. Turn the mixture into the prepared cake tin, scatter a few caraway seeds on top and bake in a moderate oven, 180C/350F/regulo 4 for 50-60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Keeps well in an airtight tin.
I didn't sprinkle the top with seeds. I hope you enjoy it
Missy....what is the name of the store you have? We used to have Marks & Spencer (marks & sparks was the nickname) I loved going in there, they even had the crisps with the little blue bag of salt!! And pork pies, cornish pastries, and soooo many things I remember. We used to also have a "Pete's Frootique" he was from England and would stock a limited supply of items but no longer
Why couldn't you just add some of the lions syrup to BC and adjust the sugar? That's what I just did with the Nutella filling.
Missy.....would you mind checking to see if they have something called a Cadbury Flake? It is a chocolate bar, they used to use them in ice creams cones called 99's. At times I have been able to get them but the last two years I haven't. When I could I would put them at each place setting at the Christmas table. They just brought back so many memories. It is long and narrow and has a yellow wrap with blue writing. Oh and Marmite!!! Marmite on toast.........oh you have really got me going now!!!
Okay...gotta stop this now hahaha (((thanks everyone)))
Hi Taigen - yes we can get Cadbury Flakes individually or in a large tin at the Bay in Toronto. The little British stores here are all family owned, no chains...I miss Marks n Sparks as well, they had a chocolate eclair candy that was my all time fave. There's a little candy shop in the beach area where I live that sells Cadb Flakes, plus all the UK goodies, licorice allsorts, crisps, rock candy, Polo Mints!!....let me know and I will price the treacle, and if its reasonable to pop it in the mail to you, no problem. You can email me at [email protected].
Maureen
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