Return of the 5-foot wedding cake

You may remember this phenomenal 5-foot wedding cake from my last post.

In discovering this cake, I was distracted by the man who designed it - Albert Hastings Markham (1841-1918):

It transpires that he was a brilliant character who seems to embody much of the Victorian spirit of adventure and discovery. For your perusal, here follow the results of my research, presented in an internet-friendly Buzzfeed-esque listicle:

5 Things I Bet You Didn't Know About Albert Hastings Markham:

1. Despite suffering from crippling seasickness, he joined the Navy at the age of 15.
He spent the next 8 years fighting Chinese pirates.

2. He broke the record for most northerly point reached at the time.
Having left the Navy after they refused to let him undertake an official research expedition to the Arctic, Markham displayed some classic Victorian chutzpah and went anyway. He and his sledge team made it all the way to (83° 20' N), but sadly didn't make it all the way to the Pole. They did get this lovely souvenir painting made though!

3. He has a bird named after him in recognition of his contributions to science.
Markham’s Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma markhami) was named after he published a list of Pacific Gulls in 1882.

4. He designed the flag of New Zealand.
Markham came up with the distinctive design, which was then authorised by Governor Bowden - who is often credited with the design as well. Outrageous.

5. His father captained ships with awesome names.
John Markham was variously in control of HMS Phoenix, HMS Volcano, HMS Zebra, HMS Sphinx, and HMS Blonde, among others. He was promoted to command the Volcano by Sir Peter Parker, who sadly was not some sort of Georgian Spiderman. As far as I can tell.


In short: Rear-Admiral A. H. Markham was awesome. He managed to achieve most of the classic schoolboy career aspirations: pirate-hunter, ship's captain, explorer... and still had time to design his own wedding cake.


This post doesn't particularly help anyone to live 21st-century life as a Victorian, but it was so interesting I thought I'd share it anyway. I can't promise that there will be no more wild tangents in future posts...!
The Secret Victorian


(Many thanks to this lovely website, where I got most of the information in this post from, and where you can find even more information about Markham if you so wish!)

Bake Off is back! And it's more Victorian than you'd think.

Spectacular bakes are nothing new - the Victorians had showstoppers down to a fine art.

The records of the Great Exhibition of 1851 show that among thousands of cakes, buns and biscuits served to visitors was the humble macaroon, perhaps the most prolific of Bake Off staples:

 

And yet Mary and Paul can’t even begin to compete with the Victorians, who managed to consume an impressive 1500 lbs (around 680 kg) of macaroons at the Great Exhibition.

If you assume that one weighs approximately 20g, I think this means they got through around 34,000 macaroons. Blimey. I wonder if you could fit them all into the Bake Off tent?!

 

Many of the images included in Mrs Beeton’s 1861 Book of Household Management look worthy of a Bake Off showstopper. I’d like to see this year’s contestants attempt this glorious trifle, for example. Wouldn't it be wonderful if those were little macaroons around the side?

 

The Victorians were also crazy about wedding cakes, which were of course the technical challenge in Bake Off's series 4 final. While Frances’ winning cake was certainly impressive, it pales in comparison to the intricate majesty of this Victorian wedding cake. The groom - Admiral Markham - designed it himself! I wonder what his new wife thought of it. Yes, it was beautifully intricate, but it was also 5-foot high...

 

If you know of any other culinary Victorian masterpieces, why not share them in the comments below?

 

Happy Baking!
The Secret Victorian