How To Make A Flag Cake For the USA, UK, Italy or Singapore

Make A Cake
American

American Flag
Earlier in July I wondered how to make a cake for July 4th and the whole month at my Toastmasters Club meetings showing the American flag. I now know you can use raspberries or strawberries and white icing, and red food colouring. (For an American or UK flag for the blue add blueberries.)

Singapore Flag

Singapore
Cheapest, smallest, simplest. Buy a cupcake. Cover half with white frosting. Put red jam or dyed red over the other half. (Or red foil taken off a wrapped chocolate.) Cut white frosting into a crescent and five small five point stars. And / or add the letters Sg. And place the cake on a large plate on a print out of the Singapore flag.

Italian Rainbow cake
Making a cake with a design on top is relatively easy. More time is needed to bake a cake with colour all the way through. rainbow cakes are popular and impressive. The easiest mutlicolour cakes are two colour or three colour.

For example, the red, white and green of the Italian flag.

Italian red, white and green food, in colours of the national flag. Photo by Exapler from Wikipedia.

Multi-Colour Sandwiches
I have also at the World Travel market in London, England, in November, seen multicolour sandwiches, layers of different coloured bread, celebrating a national flag.

Red Food Colouring
When I looked at rainbow cakes most cooks said that natural dyes such as beetroot and strawberry gave very pale colours and you would get better results from food colouring.

You can also get red and white colours using Jello (American brand of jelly).


UK Flag
If you are in London you could make an England cake which is much easier. the England glag or St Goerge's cross is a red cross of plus sign on a white background.



England flags are sold off in supermarkets the day after an England football match.  (The Swiss flag is white cross on red.) the Red Cross ambulance is a thick red cross in the centre of white background with a large white surround.

DIY & BOUGHT FLAG CAKES
Simple flag cakes in red and white
https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/a-slice-of-patriotism
https://bakeavenue.com/products/singapore-flag-cake
Elaborate cakes showing flags, personalities, landmarks, Merlions and more
https://mothership.sg/2015/08/this-is-the-amazeball-result-when-19-super-creative-patissiers-bake-birthday-cakes-for-singapore/
YouTube How to make a flag cake (for a US flag)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svRuAovIfmI
How to bake a green pandan cake with red and white Singapore flag topping using cream cheese.
http://www.foodiebaker.com/pandan-coconut-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting/
Edible photo topping on backing sheet you peel off, From UK, free shipping to UK and can be posted worldwide:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Birthday-Cake-Edible-Image-Printed-Topper-Decoration-PERSONALISED-Mobile-Phone

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages.

Singapore National Day Celebrations To See: Oct 6, 9, 10

Flag of Singapore

Singapore National Day is August 9th, and it celebrates independence in 1965 from Malaysia, now the neighbour with whom Singapore makes constant efforts to stay on good terms.

The national languages of Singapore are English, Chinese (Mandarin), Malay and Tamil.

Events to watch in person or on TV:

1 The parade.

2 The speech.

3 The fireworks.

Things to do:
Volunteer to help.
Attend events at your Community Club.
Watch TV.
See the parade.


Birthday Banner at Community Club in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Photograph flags in streets and banners adorning Community Clubs.
Select red and white outfits to wear, such as white shirts and blouses, red ties and jackets, red shoes, red brooches..
Find red and white food or drink such as:
White bread and tomatoesL yogurt and strawberries, milk, white lassi, red and white plates.

Writing from Singapore in the week of Friday 28 July 2019 I can tell you that the Singapore flag has been displayed along the streets and on the buildings for days.

Singapore flags reflected in the pool. Cashew Heights. Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.




Flags on a balcony at Cashew Heights condo complex.

Happy Birthday Singapore vertical banner. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Features on the vertical banner to notice and point out to tourists: red and white of the flag with a crescent and stars, the Merlion symbol, the fireworks

I am president of Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Club and we will be wearing red and white, the colours of the national flag, at our meeting held two days earlier, July 7 2019. Other Toastmasters Clubs will do the same.

You can buy Singapore flags to drape over the back of the car's exterior wing mirror. Novelty, souvenir and stationery shops also sell attractive round badges with the flag symbol.

A preview of the fireworks takes place on August 6th. You can see a video preview online. At the weekend, on Saturday 10th of August, 2019, another five fireworks displays will be in the heartlands, the suburbs.

Good vantage points are high residences or offices or rooftop bars (which might sell tickets or increase prices like on New Year's Eve). If you can hear te fireworks but not see them at a buidling such as a hotel, try walking around to a public area such as a stairwell or lift lobby on the other side of the building.

Check last train times. Wear read and white and keep your camera charged and with you ready to capture the magic moments.

Make A Cake
American
Earlier in July I wondered how to make a cake for July 4th and the whole month at my Toastmasters Club meetings showing the American flag. I now know you can use raspberries or strawberries and white icing, and red food colouring. (For an American or UK flag for the blue add blueberries.)

Singapore
Cheapest, smallest, simplest. Buy a cupcake. Cover half with white frosting. Put red jam or dyed red over the other half. (Or red foil taken off a wrapped chocolate.) Cut white frosting into a crescent and five small five point stars. And / or add the letters Sg. And place the cake on a large plate on a print out of the singapore flag.

Red Food Colouring
When I looked at rainbow cakes most cooks said that natural dyes such as beetroot and strawberry gave very pale colours and you would get better results from food colouring.

Flags and badges
Flags and pages are sold at novelty stores, cheap Singapore dollar or two dollar stores, stationery stores.

You can buy a hat with the letters SG for 5 Singapore dollare from the shop in the YWCA.

Useful Websites
FIREWORKS
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ndp-2019-fireworks-to-be-set-off-from-singapore-river-for-the-first-time

DIY & BOUGHT FLAG CAKES
Simple flag cakes in red and white
https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/a-slice-of-patriotism
https://bakeavenue.com/products/singapore-flag-cake
Elaborate cakes showing flags, personalities, landmarks, Merlions and more
https://mothership.sg/2015/08/this-is-the-amazeball-result-when-19-super-creative-patissiers-bake-birthday-cakes-for-singapore/

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages.

More About Eton Mess and Summer Puddings Worldwide

Making meringue is a good way to use up egg whites which are left over from using egg yolk to make mayonnaise.

I tried excellent Eton Mess meringue at The Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, north of Derby. 

Eton Mess

Eton Mess is named after the town of Eton in England. I had previously had Eton Mess in Eton, which is across the bridge from 

Windsor.

I have also tried making it at home. It can look like it says, a mess, unless you make the cream into elegant waves and peaks on top on a large platter. Another way to serve it is in individual servings in glass bowls so you can see the red colour of the fruit peaking though the white. The fruit helps offset the scariness of the meringue.

It is also a way of serving up the broken remains of meringue from a pavlova from tea time. But be careful about keeping cream. At home and runny cream offered to add to a pavlova would usually be served separately in a jug, which can be kept in your fridge and brought out when needed, to be sure it doesn't go off. But I would more usually add cream after dinner, rather than at tea team.

Pavlova

Pavlova is a dish of circular solid meringue with fruit in a dip in the centre, made popular when served by a hotel to attract customers at tea time with a dessert named after the dancer Pavlova who had a successful tour. Pavlova is claimed as a national dish invented by both New Zealand and Australia.

When I visited Australia and New Zealand I tried to track down where it was made first. As far as I remember, it was served at a hotel in one country, named after Pavlova there, then mentioned on their menu or history or the local newspaper; but a similar meringue with fruit, not necessarily circular  as a raised ring with a base in the middle, appeared perviously in a recipe in a book or magazine in another country.

Nowadays, 2016, we get fruit all year in the UK, not just summer, flown in from the Channel Islands which are warmer, and grown in greenhouses in 'the garden of England', Kent. However, the fruit at other times of year is not as soft and flavourful and juicy. When fruit is abundant in summer the prices come down and the most popular puddings include Summer Pudding, made in a small mound with fruit encased in bread soaked to a red or black currant colour.

Whilst is it exceptionally hot in the UK in summer 2016, hotter than Europe where may Brits are taking holidays, it is winter in New Zealand and Australia. In previous centuries you had food in the season when it was harvested locally. But now you can fly to England or Australia and New Zealand for summer weather and summer puddings twice a  year. 

The BBC has comments and links to recipes for Eton Mess.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/eton_mess

The Hayes, where I enjoyed Eton Mess this month, is one of a group of three centres in the UK. More details about them from: http://cct.supafi.co.uk