Going for world record was a real piece of cake

This story was updated Nov. 15, 2004.

By Jim Downing
Seattle Times staff reporter

GREG GILBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES Christiann Thomas carefully balances the final Krispy Kremes atop a doughnut wedding cake yesterday at the Simcha Celebrations Showcase in Issaquah. The cake — at 5 feet, 3 inches — is being submitted for entry into Guinness World Records as the largest doughnut wedding cake.

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The pile of 1,818 Krispy Kremes is expected to set a Guinness World Record. The doughnut mountain headlined the first Simcha Celebrations Showcase, a trade show yesterday in Issaquah for Jewish weddings and Bar and Bat Mitzvahs.

Why a doughnut cake?

For one, Krispy Kremes are kosher: Every two months, a rabbi blesses and certifies each of the chain's kitchens. And compared with traditional wedding cakes, at $6 or more a serving, a pile of doughnuts, at $6.99 a dozen, can be a bargain.

"Doughnut wedding cakes are very popular now," said Carin Freedel, chief executive officer of Mitzvah Mavens, which hosted the event. A "doughnut cake" is really just a pile of doughnuts. For weddings, the pile can be frosted, decorated and organized into tiers like a traditional cake.

Freedel said that going for a world record was "just one of those ideas." After confirming with Guinness that no size record for a doughnut wedding cake had been set, Freedel arranged for Krispy Kreme to sponsor the event and provide the doughnuts (all Original Glazed). Christiann Thomas, 26, who teaches high school in Fife, did most of the heavy lifting on the cake, starting with a base of 170 doughnuts.

	GREG GILBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES To certify the doughnut cake's size, Diane Rise, a weights-and-measures inspector from the state Department of Agriculture, rolls out her tape measure and gets to work yesterday.

At one point, the doughnut pile listed. Onlookers fretted. "We had to take off about five layers" and rebuild, Thomas said. "It's a pretty light ... doughnut; ... That's why we had that compression."

As a teenager, Thomas made ice-cream cakes in her family's Dairy Queen on Vashon Island.

Despite that experience, and even though each doughnut weighs just less than 2 ounces, Thomas said that three hours as a Krispy Kreme crane took a toll. "I am sore — my back and calves especially," she said.

In the end, concerns about stability stopped the wobbly cake's growth. Eager to make the record official before a collapse, Thomas stacked a final spire of doughnuts and called for a measurement.

Just before 1 p.m., Diane Rise, a weights-and-measures inspector from the state Department of Agriculture, pulled out her tape and made the official call: 5 feet, 3 inches.

Rise usually checks measuring devices such as grocery-store scales and propane meters. This was her first measurement of a world-record attempt. After checking the cake's height, Rise, suffering from a cold, headed home. "If you decide to set another record, give me a call," she said.

Krispy Kreme staff members then began disassembling the cake and handing out doughnuts five at a time.

While the cake may well establish a Guinness World Record for unsupported wedding cakes made out of doughnuts, it would not be the largest wedding cake. Chefs at the Mohegan Sun Hotel and Casino in Uncasville, Conn., baked a 15,032-pound wedding cake in February.

At the Issaquah show, many of the 89 other booths displayed one-of-a-kind fusions of traditional and modern Jewish culture.

Jordana Rene, of Vashon Island, showed her Japanese-style ceramic Seder plates. Marci Catanzaro, owner of Airmazing Balloon Creations, displayed Jewish-themed party balloons. And Greg Bennick, Seattle's only Jewish juggling comedian, told jokes.

Jim Downing: 206-515-5627 or jdowning@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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