A 12-Foot-High Cake Fit for the Plaza

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The New York Sun

It has taken famed cake maker Ron Ben-Israel’s team of 17 chefs three months to finish the 12-foot-high Plaza Hotel replica cake in time for the hotel’s 100th birthday.

The team used 1,728 eggs, 350 pounds each of granulated sugar, flour, and butter, 700 crushed cookies, and 18,000 pounds of powdered sugar. Baked in 16 sections, it weighs about 2,200 pounds.

“In the words of my clients, it’s the second-biggest cake in the world,” he said.

“The biggest one is going to be the one we are going to make for the opening.”

The cake will feed more than 1,000 people, he said.

The actual structure of the Plaza cake is hollow and made out of sugar dough like a gingerbread house. The surrounding streets make up the cake that will be eaten at the party, and the Plaza part will likely be displayed in a case for several months, the organizer of the party, Orly Daniell, said.

Using photographs, renderings, and his own observations, Mr. Ben-Israel said he personally sculpted the hundreds of cornices, windows, and mouldings. Using a silicone cast, he was able to recreate his works to create what he describes as a replica of the building down to the street lamps and exact number of arches and balconies.


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