It will be one of those romantic moments to treasure.
Newlyweds Stuart and Joanne Booth will tenderly gaze into each others
eyes pick up the special wedding cake knife and together plunge it into
the three tiers of a 50lb “growler’.
The pair both aficionados of the pork pie will celebrate their nuptials
on Saturday with a world first.
They and their 100 guests will not be tucking into an iced fruit cake
after the reception. Instead they will be treated to portions of a
championship-winning pork pie, lovingly baked in Huddersfield and
served, of course, with a spoonful of mushy peas.
The zany idea is set to be a highlight of the wedding of 45-year-old
Stuart, a self-employed builder, and 39-year-old Joanne Robinson, a
senior home care worker for Kirklees Council.
They are to tie the knot at Huddersfield Register Office and then enjoy
a reception at the Pennine Manor Hotel, complete with the three-tier
pie.
It is being prepared and baked in a five-hour marathon by Simon Haigh
and his team of master butchers and bakers at Hinchliffe’s Farm Shop at
Netherton champion pie-makers.
Stuart, of Ripponden, is along-serving member of the Pork Pie
Appreciation Society, based at his local, The Old Bridge Inn.
So much so that his wedding has led to this year’s pork pie
championships being delayed to April 9.
He said: ‘My brother Kevin is the president of the Society and it was
his idea to do something so different.
“Both Jo and I enjoy a good pie and a pint and she happened to mention
how much fun it would be to have a pork pie wedding cake. Kevin heard
about it and said: ‘Leave it with me’.
“We have mentioned it to many of the guests and they think it’s a great
idea. There is a buffet for the reception, but we plan to serve the pie
and peas later in the evening.
“We re then heading off on honeymoon to the Lake District and plan a
stop off in Keswick, where one of our previous pie champions has a
shop.
We know we’ll get a good welcome there.” Both Stuart and Jo have been
married previously. Stuart has two sons, Andrew and Christopher.
Simon Haigh, of Hinchliffes, said: “It’s a tough challenge. We don’t
think anyone has tried a wedding cake pie before there is a lot of work
involved.
“We had a test run and baked a 20lb base pie. It was an ordinary pie,
albeit on a large scale, and went down a treat. Let’s hope it goes all
right on Friday night when we bake for real”.
by Neil Atkinson News Editor Huddersfield Daily Examiner 15/03/05
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