From Bacon Butty to Biscuit Cake – Buckingham Palace Prepares for the Wedding

Bacon Butty?   This, a favorite of Prince Harry, is on the menu for the post wedding party which will rock Buckingham Palace into the pre-dawn hours of Saturday.  The Queen and Prince Philip will head to Windsor Castle around tea-time, leaving the younger set – about 300 of them – to dance to a favorite DJ hired by Harry, so rumor has it. What is for sure is that lots of bacon butties and platters of fry-up will be served at the end of the night.

Bacon Butty and Fry Up?

So what exactly is a Bacon butty?  Several slices of cooked bacon served sandwich-style between slices of buttered bread or rolls with liberal quantities of HP Steak Sauce. The fry-up is classic English breakfast food – eggs, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, sausages,  and fried

bread.  This traditional post-party fare in England, a counterpart to pizza and sliders US side of the pond, is often served at the conclusion of wedding festivities in the UK.

Chocolate Biscuit Cake

Earlier in the day, at the formal reception for 660 after the Westminster Abbey ceremony, there will be two multi tier cakes.  One designed by the bride and the other chosen by the groom.  Kate’s cake is a traditional marzipan-wrapped fruit cake with white icing created by Fiona Cairns.  It will be decorated with sugar flowers chosen by Kate for their significance. There will be roses for happiness, oak and acorn for strength and endurance and lily of the valley for sweetness and humility.   Prince William’s cake is a favorite chocolate biscuit cake.   This is a special Buckingham Palace recipe made from McVitie’s rich tea biscuits, and covered in chocolate.  The Queen had a chocolate biscuit cake for her Jubilee and it has been served at other Royal Weddings.

What else will be on the Menu

Canapes (or hors d’oeuvres) will be the fare at the reception, cold, hot savory and sweet. Buckingham Palace has about 150 in its repertoire – which are referred to as two-bite size.   Wedding guests should probably remember that code and try to avoid the chipmunk look.  Ingredients will be from all over the British Isles and likely be organic given Prince Charles organic principles.

Jelly, trifle and Eton mess

When Prince Edward (later King Edward VII) married Princess Alexandra of Denmark there were elaborate jelly (jello) concoctions served at the Buckingham Palace reception.  Jelly molds were made with  an inner liner so a different color of jelly could be put in the center.  That was a traditional seated Wedding Breakfast with many formal courses.   The shops are full of souvenirs and traditional English food to help celebrate the day.  Waitrose grocery store is selling trifle and Eton Mess.  English trifle is layers of cake laced with sherry, fruit, custard and cream.  Eton mess – named after the school William attended – is a summer favorite of the Brits, a mixture of whipped cream, crumbled meringue and strawberries. Strawberries and Cream are standard at the summer garden parties at Buckingham Palace sometimes given the moniker Buck House Bun Fight – but that is another story.

TTFN

PS  Buns in England are something you eat.  The word has a different connotation this side of the pond.