The chef who whipped up an 8ft cake in tribute to a racing legend

Now that’s something you don’t see every day. It’s Desert Orchid in cake.

But it happened in 2012 when chef Stacie Stewart baked a life-size tribute to the horse-racing legend.

‘We worked on the cake for four whole days’

Stacie, from Whitburn, was commissioned by bookie Victor Chandler to bake the massive madeira of steeplechasing star Desert Orchid.

The request came as a special day at Royal Ascot was dedicated to him, with the Victor Chandler Chase.

Stacie said at the time: "We worked on the cake for four whole days and we are so proud of what we have done.

Stacie Stewart (second left) with her Grandad Ernest Fowler  and staff Mandy Scott, and Hannah Warwick-Soden with the cake of racehorse Desert Orchid.placeholder image
Stacie Stewart (second left) with her Grandad Ernest Fowler and staff Mandy Scott, and Hannah Warwick-Soden with the cake of racehorse Desert Orchid. | se

200kgs of madeira cake

"The cake itself is madeira and it measures eight-and-a-half feet by four feet and weighs 200 kilograms - so I really think it is life-size.

"It is definitely the biggest cake I have ever made and I think it might be the first-ever life-size horse cake that has ever been made.

"We drove the cake down, but it took us a while, as it is best not to go too fast when you have an eight-foot cake in the back!"

Stacie Stewart (left) and Mandy Scott with the large cake which was baked in Stacie's Beehive Bakery.placeholder image
Stacie Stewart (left) and Mandy Scott with the large cake which was baked in Stacie's Beehive Bakery. | se

A deluge of interest in Stacie’s skills

Stacie reached the finals of Masterchef in 2011, impressing top TV chefs John Torode and Gregg Wallace with dishes such as pork and creamed leeks with pease pudding.

It sparked a deluge of interest in the self-confessed Mod - and a manic 2011 as her services came into demand.

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