Jubilee Cakes
Sian Purdy Godbold
Carmel College
Year 13 Food Technology, full-year project
Teacher: Sandy Goonan
Sian developed gift-wrapped fruit cakes for her client, the school principal, to present as thank-you gifts to members of the 50th jubilee committee.
After extensive research into commemorative items and the history of the school and its founders, the Mercy Sisters, Sian discussed her ideas with her client. She originally wanted to make gift boxes but decided this would not fit the budget, and that she would gift-wrap a food item instead.
Sian consulted food technologist Carol Pound at several stages of her project, and, having rejected chocolates on the grounds of cost, decided a cake would suit the recipients. Her client looked at the options and picked the fruit cake as most suitable, especially as it could be made well in advance.
Sian began trialling fruit cake recipes, comparing attributes-convenience, time, cost, taste, yield, storage and keeping qualities. She found that those with a higher proportion of fruit tended to be more stable and sturdier, and that the fruit content was important to the taste. Rather than using a pre-packed mix, she purchased each variety of fruit individually, having concluded that it resulted in a better quality cake.
Her trialling included finding the most appropriate sized and shaped tins, then on finding the best method of lining them and covering the top for baking, to prevent excess browning.
Sian identified three suitable recipes, two of which were made with non-alcoholic ingredients, which her client had suggested as more appropriate for a school environment.
As many of her peer group dislike fruit cake, Sian decided to get the opinion of older people. Her survey group of older teachers, her teacher's parents and the members of their Mah Jong club, overwhelmingly preferred the cake made with brandy, noting that it had better flavour, colour, moistness, fruit and texture.
Trialling continued as Sian baked the chosen cake with a variety of patterns for decoration, using almonds and/or cherries. Baking affected the appearance, as when the rising moved the cherries out of the pattern. Sian talked to a professional cake decorator, who recommended she put the fruit on after cooking and hold it in place by using an apricot glaze. After considering the decorated cakes, Sian's client selected an almond version.
Sian contemplated various styles of packaging and decided, with budget and appearance both in mind, to wrap the cakes in fabric. Her client selected cotton voile from a range of samples, to be tied with maroon (the school colour) ribbons.
Sian also made sample gift cards, using a flax rectangle pasted on to the card with spiral shells. Her client requested both versions-the blue (the Mercy Sisters' colour) and the smaller maroon ones. Sian concluded her work by making information labels, which listed the ingredients for each cake, and costing each cake and how many could be made per recipe lot.
Sian made 37 cakes altogether – baking eight big and eight small ones during her busiest week.
The project was highly successful, so much so that Sian didn't find out how well 
her cakes would have kept – recipients reported back that they couldn't wait for the cakes to mature but gave in to temptation and ate them within days!
Teacher comment
Sian's work was an example of excellent Technological Practice because of her extensive research and trialling, as well as the successful end result.
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