Updates

Unexpected and welcome update

In March 2009, almost 33 years after the bicentennial birthday cake was dismantled, we received a most surprising email. Kristin, who lives in California, wrote that “your website is the only one I know of that talks about the bicentennial birthday cake made by Sara Lee. I have one of the frosting paintings from the birthday cake. It is a fantastic picture of the Alamo.” Indeed it is. Kristin acquired the painting from a former employer, one of the organizations who originally received some of the royal icing paintings back in 1976. Although she says the painting’s frame, also made of royal icing, is disintegrating now, the painting itself is still in good shape, as you can see.

Maybe one of the Sara Lee pastry chefs will stumble on this website some day and be astonished that a piece of his work still survives more than three decades later. A baker usually doesn’t have that experience, especially if he’s any good. 

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