Couple shocks guests with three-tiered pork pie wedding cake

By Douglas Whitbread via SWNS

A newly-wed couple stunned guests at their reception by treating them to a three-tiered PORK PIE wedding cake - packed with their favorite meaty flavors.

Self-confessed pie lovers Jade and Andrew Patterson said they wanted to give friends and family an unforgettable experience when they tied the knot on March 10.

The base of the cake, weighing a whopping 8lb (3.5kg,) was packed with traditional stuffing, whilst master chefs filled the final two tiers with chorizo and black pudding.

Jade, 31, first discussed the idea with Turnbull’s butchers, in Alnwick, England, two years ago but had then put her plans on hold due to the pandemic.

But last week, her wedding guests finally got to sample a slice of the warm, savory pudding, and to Jade's delight, they seemed to "love" the unusual concept.

Jade said: “We really wanted to make sure our guests were nice and full and enjoyed the day, and we just thought, ‘What more do you want after a few drinks than a bit of pie?’”

“We got a lot of comments saying they loved it, and to be honest, there wasn’t a lot left over, which I was quite surprised about.”

She added: “Pork pies are just part of our family - we just love going to the local butchers and helping their business.”

Pie fans Jade, a podiatrist from Amble, Northumberland, and her plasterer husband Andrew, 38 said they often indulged in the savory bakes after visiting their local butchers.

So when they began to plan their wedding two years ago, they decided to ask Turnbull's if they could transform the humble meat pie into a show-stopping cake.

Jade said: “We’re big fans of pork pies, especially from our local butchers, which is Turnbull’s. So we contacted them and asked them what they could do.

“They gave us loads of options - we could have mini ones, like piles, or they could do one big one or tiered ones, and we said we’d like it to be tiered in three.

Turnbull’s master baker, Phil Dickinson, who has worked at the butchers for 20 years, was responsible for the epic creation.

The base of the pie, which followed a traditional recipe, took five hours to cook, with the upper tiers then decorated with pastry petals and flowers.

Philip Dickinson aka ‘Baker Phil’ from Turnbull’s Northumbrian Food, making the pie. (Turnbull’s Northumbrian Food via SWNS)

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Phil said: “As far as we can tell, this is the second pork pie wedding cake we have made here at Turnbull’s in our 140-year history!

“A pie of this size is only for the die-hard pork pie fans”

“What surprised me the most was the divide of opinion on choosing the pork pie over a more traditional cake.

“Some loved the idea whilst others thought it was totally wrong!”

When the finished cake was presented to guests at the wedding, Jade said it had “shocked” some attendees.

She said: “Some of them knew about it, but not many, and I think they were quite shocked, but it was very popular.”

But the bride said she and her new husband also had a surprise of their own when they attempted to cut into the savory pudding for the first time.

Jade said: “It was quite difficult to cut - it was really quite hard to get the knife in.

“It had been out on display all day, and when it came time to cut it, our wedding coordinator said, ‘It’s actually still really warm in the middle because it’s just so big.’

She added: “There’s a couple of photos where we are bursting out laughing because we can’t get the knife through it.”

Jade said that she hoped the pork pie wedding cake had left a lasting memory on her wedding guests.

She said: "We’ve been to quite a few weddings before, and we never really remember getting the cake passed around.

“We’re the first people among our friends to have a pork pie wedding cake – everyone else has had sweet ones and sponges and things.

“But pork pies are just part of our family, and we just love going to the local butchers and helping their business."