Becky Nankivell Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 O.k., it's nearly a year later, but here it is. My Wheatstone tenor English concertina has its birthday on April 30, one day before mine. The concertina was born in the same year as my mother, however, 1924. That meant that last year was its 80th birthday, so I threw a party, to which some concertina friends came (Dan Madden and David Cornell) as well as others. And I made a cake. Here are the pics. I must confess that the cake did not get cut until after midnight, much to the disappointment of the kids at the party, who wanted it cut as soon as it appeared. The party was at 7:30 pm, and that's just when the cake was finished, having been started some 7 or 8 hours of labor (and one day) before. It had four sponge cake layers with natural colored mocha mousse frosting between (this is what shows through the cutwork). The sculpted outer frosting was colored chocolate buttercream frosting. The thin cutwork layer, thumbstrap, and "metal hardware" were sculpted from colored packaged rolled fondant. (If I hadn't been running so late, I would have made the cutwork more lovely...) The buttons are "Tic Tac" mint candies. I also made a big trifle and had strawberries to dip in the leftover icing, so the folks who didn't stay up 'til midnight singing did get something... also leftover cake (yes there was some!) was consumed the next day. ~ Becky in Tucson, Arizona Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Nankivell Posted March 19, 2005 Author Share Posted March 19, 2005 Oh, and there were various concertina naive folks who had not heard much before the event who didn't realize that there weren't two real concertinas on the table (since the once was not being cut...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Evans Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 BRAVO! That is a work of art. It must have been hard to cut it. I must confess to being slack-jawed in admiration. Thunderstruck actually. Thank you for sharing this ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henk van Aalten Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 Becky I'm impressed!!! Please consider to use your talents for building the real stuff. I'm convinced that you will succeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 WOW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Barnert Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 Incredible. But I thought you were supposed to slice concertinas the other way ("...marked for easy slicing" as per the joke). Sorry. Hi, Becky. We met in 1997 when Julie and I went to Tucson for a conference and we showed up at your contradance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Jowaisas Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 Well done! You are hired to cater my birthday. Each year I ask for a concertina instead of a party and presents. No one ever listens, but with your help I'd at least have my concertina cake and get to eat it too! Many happy returns. Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animaterra Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 Wow, Becky! I tend to be rather proud of my chocolate cake abilities, but you leave me in awe. What a beauty! And how did it taste?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_Coles Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 It is nice to see Becky finally post this story. She wrote nearly a year ago asking if it would be of interest. I strongly encouraged her to post it here, so I am glad she has done so. Happy birthday, all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 20, 2005 Share Posted March 20, 2005 Wow! I am seriously impressed! Well done! *insert thunderous applause here* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Nankivell Posted March 20, 2005 Author Share Posted March 20, 2005 (edited) Yes, it did taste pretty good, too! (Lots of butter and chocolate involved; a high icing to cake ratio overall.) Edited March 20, 2005 by Becky Nankivell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted March 20, 2005 Share Posted March 20, 2005 Congrats, Becky, I can't believe you were willing to cut it. Yum. Helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellowbelle Posted March 20, 2005 Share Posted March 20, 2005 I have an old book called, 'The World's Sweetest Melodies,' but... that TAKES THE CAKE for sweetness! Looks yummy, and what a great creation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted March 20, 2005 Share Posted March 20, 2005 I can't believe you were willing to cut it.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> The chocolate made her do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Madden Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Yes, it did taste pretty good, too! (Lots of butter and chocolate involved; a high icing to cake ratio overall.) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I will second that. It was as good tasting as it was good looking. I remember thinking that it was a shame to cut it; well, right up until I had my first fork-full and then I had an abrupt change in attitude. All in all it was a wonderful party, good people and good music til the wee hours. Dan Madden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Day Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 An absolute work of art Becky and what a shame to cut into it. Knocks my scrambled egg on toast into second place. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrik Müller Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Hey, Becky - I am out of words (except for the below lines) What an incredible, eatable piece of art. I'll show the photos to the youngsters in the house when they are back - I know they will appreciate it. Henrik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh, Arizona, I was trying to figure out how to wrangle an invitation to the party next year. How about having a roving party. The midwest next year. Helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now